Farm & Field
Could Genetically Engineered Animals be Coming to a Plate Near You?
Tucked away in a University of Missouri research building, a family of pigs is kept upright and mostly happy by a handful of researchers. Two new litters recently joined the assembly of pudgy, snorting, pink piglets. While they look like an ordinary collection of pigs one might find in hog barns all over the country,…
Read MoreThe Rising Energy Costs Of Convenience In The Kitchen
To make or not to make a homemade pie? That is a classic holiday dilemma. Do you take the easy way out and buy a fairly decent frozen pie, or do you risk making your own, resulting in a potentially burnt and lumpy version? While there is something special about that homemade option, every cook…
Read MoreThe Other Natural Gas: Making Energy From Waste
Every day, a facility on the outskirts of Grand Junction, Colorado takes in eight million gallons of what people have flushed down their toilets and washed down their sinks. The water coming out the other end of the Persigo Wastewater Treatment Plant is cleaner than the Colorado River it flows into. The organic solids strained from…
Read MoreDietary Guidelines Deliver Win for Midwest Meat Industry
New federal guidelines for healthy eating announced Thursday do not urge Americans to eat less meat, delivering a big win to Midwest meat farmers and ranchers. Initial recommendations by scientific advisors suggested Americans could be more environmentally friendly by cutting back on meat. Although the final version of the dietary guidelines issued every five years by the U.S. Departments…
Read MoreGoing whole hog toward sustainability?
A global effort is underway that may change the way we look at waste from farm animals. China, Brazil, Costa Rica, and India, along with others, are all developing new technologies that use biodigester systems that essentially convert cow and pig manure into clean, renewable energy. Here in the United States, Smithfield Foods, the largest…
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