The Future of Food, Agriculture, and Aquaculture

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caltrek
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Beans In Toast Could Revolutionise British Diet
January 20, 2023

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) Scientists are aiming to revolutionise British diets by slipping more UK-grown beans into our daily bread.

Researchers and chefs at the University of Reading aim to encourage British consumers and food producers to switch to bread containing faba beans (commonly known as broad beans), making it healthier and less damaging to the environment.

The £2 million, three-year, publicly-funded ‘Raising the Pulse’ project has officially begun and is announced today (18 January 2023) in the Nutrition Bulletin journal.

Five teams of researchers within the University of Reading, along with members of the public, farmers, industry, and policy makers, are now working together to bring about one of the biggest changes to UK food in generations.

This is by increasing pulses in the UK diet, particularly faba beans, due to their favourable growing conditions in the UK and the sustainable nutritional enhancement they provide.
Read more of the EurekAlert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/977256

Read more on this topic in a Nutrition Bulletin article here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nbu.12601
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Microbes Could be Used by Farmers as Natural Fertilizer for Poor Soil
January 23, 2023

Introduction:
(Eurekalert) A study supported by FAPESP and reported in an article published in ISME Journal identified 522 genomes of archaea and bacteria associated with the roots and soil of two plant species native to the Brazilian montane savanna ecoregion known as campos rupestres (“rocky meadows”). Hundreds of microorganisms hitherto unknown to science were identified, showing that the ecoregion is a biodiversity hotspot and that many new organisms have yet to be described and classified in Brazil.

The discovery could potentially be a basis for the development of biological substitutes for the chemical fertilizers used by farmers, especially those containing phosphorus.

“Phosphorus is normally present in the soil, but not always in a form that plants can use. Most of the microorganisms we found make phosphorus soluble so that plants can absorb it,” said Antônio Camargo, first author of the article. The study was conducted during his PhD research with a scholarship from FAPESP at the State University of Campinas’s Institute of Biology (IB-UNICAMP) in São Paulo state.
Further extract:
“Previous research focused on plants’ mechanisms for adapting to the harsh conditions of this montane savanna and often ignored microorganisms. Our study shows that microorganisms can play a key role in plant adaptation to the extreme conditions of this environment. In particular, they supply the phosphorus need to fuel plant growth,” said Rafael Soares Correa de Souza, one of the corresponding authors of the article. Souza is affiliated with the GCCRC and was supported by FAPESP.

The researchers expect their discoveries to contribute to the creation of products that replace chemical fertilizers based on phosphorus, one of the crop nutrients most widely used by Brazilian farmers. More than half the phosphate fertilizer used in Brazil is imported, mainly from Morrocco but also from Russia, Egypt, China and the United States.
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/977388
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Twenty Four Groups To Secretary Vilsack: Strengthen Packers & Stockyards Act
January 30, 2023

Introduction:
(Common Dreams) WASHINGTON - Twenty four groups signed a letter to USDA Secretary Vilsack today urging that the USDA seize upon an open rulemaking process to strengthen protections for farmers and ranchers under the Packers & Stockyards Act. The agency is revisiting inadequate farmer and rancher protections from industry monopolies in a series of long-overdue rulemakings. The letter was written and circulated by national advocacy organization Food & Water Watch.

Ineffective and outdated Packers & Stockyards Act rules have created an unfair market that preferences corporate power over fairness and competition. Passed over 100 years ago to limit monopolistic practices in the meatpacking sector, the act’s legacy has been tarnished by decades of corporate abuse. Lax antitrust oversight, vertical integration that concentrates corporate power, and tournament systems that pit contract poultry growers against one another have contributed to a highly consolidated food and farm system that crushes the competition the act was designed to protect.
  • “Today’s meat and poultry industries are more consolidated than ever. Years of ineffective, opaque rules and lax enforcement have gutted federal authority to maintain fair, competitive market practices, and farmers and ranchers are paying the price,” said Krissy Kasserman, Food & Water Watch factory farm organizing director. “Secretary Vilsack and the Biden administration must seize this opportunity to restore competitive, just and equitable market practices that level the playing field for hardworking family farmers and ranchers.”
A Food & Water Watch report found that just four corporations slaughter 83% of the nation’s cattle. The top four corporations in hog and poultry processing also dominate the market with 66 and 51 percent market share respectively. Meanwhile, a staggering 99.5% of all domestic broiler chickens are grown by contract growers.
Read more here: https://www.commondreams.org/newswire/ ... yards-act
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New Rules Would Limit Sugar in School Meals for First Time
February 3, 2023

Introduction:
(AP via Courthouse News) — U.S. agriculture officials on Friday proposed new nutrition standards for school meals, including the first limits on added sugars, with a focus on sweetened foods such as cereals, yogurt, flavored milk and breakfast pastries.

The plan announced by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack also seeks to significantly decrease sodium in the meals served to the nation’s schoolkids by 2029, while making the rules for foods made with whole grains more flexible.

The goal is to improve nutrition and align with U.S. dietary guidelines in the program that serves breakfast to more than 15 million children and lunch to nearly 30 million children every day, Vilsack said.

“School meals happen to be the meals with the highest nutritional value of any meal that children can get outside the home,” Vilsack said in an interview.

The first limits on added sugars would be required in the 2025-2026 school year, starting with high-sugar foods such as sweetened cereals, yogurts and flavored milks.
Read more here: https://www.courthousenews.com/new-rul ... rst-time/
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‘I’m Proud To Back This Vision’: Anne Hathaway Invests In Vegan Egg Tech

6th February 2023

Anne Hathaway has invested in a company that creates egg proteins without using chickens.

San Francisco-based The EVERY Co (also known as EVERY) uses precision fermentation (PF), a technology that creates protein using micro-organism tanks.

This is Hathaway’s first investment in a B2B company, and The Devil Wears Prada actor said she is “proud” to be a part of its journey.

Following her investment (for an undisclosed amount), the company has raised a total of $230 million to date.

“The need to transform our food system has never been clearer or more urgent,” Hathaway said in a statement. “An important piece of the puzzle is in nature-equivalent animal proteins, such as EVERY has been developing. I’m proud to back this vision of a better future.”

https://plantbasednews.org/news/celebri ... g-protein/
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Study Reveals Grandparents Spoil Grandchildren with Sugar-loaded Foods and Drinks
February 13, 2023

Introduction:
(EurekAlert) CHICAGO, February 13, 2023 — Sugar, treats and everything sweet – that’s what grandparents let the grandkids eat. According to new research published in the February issue of The Journal of the American Dental Association (JADA), more than two thirds (72%) of mothers indicated that grandparents give their young children sugary foods and beverages. Mothers typically described that grandparents fed large amounts of cariogenic, or cavity-causing, foods and beverages (for example, candy, baked goods, juice, and soda) or did not limit their grandchildren’s consumption of cariogenic foods and beverages.

Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh, West Virginia University and the University of Michigan conducted an in-person, two-year study of 126 participants to examine which factors influenced mothers to talk with grandparents about giving grandchildren sugary foods and beverages.
The results, published in JADA, show that of even though 72% of mothers said their children’s grandparents give them sugary foods and beverages, only slightly more than half (51%) addressed the issue with grandparents. Factors that influenced whether mothers had this conversation included:
• The frequency at which the grandparents and children interacted
• The mothers’ dependency on grandparents for childcare
• The quantity of sugary foods and beverages provided by grandparents
• The strength of the relationship between mothers and their children’s grandparents

"I have many happy memories of raiding the candy jar at my own grandparents’ house, and as a parent, I’ve hesitated with some of these talks myself,” said ADA spokesperson Dr. Genaro Romo, a Chicago-based dentist. “Yet, cavities are the most common chronic childhood disease and can cause undue pain, as well as issues with speaking, eating, playing and learning. Over time, in addition to dental health concerns, a diet with excess added sugars puts kids at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, and obesity, among other health concerns.”
Read more of the EurekAlert article here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/979442

For the results of the study as presented in JADA: https://jada.ada.org/article/S0002-817 ... /fulltext

caltrek’s comment: Another reason for people of the grandparent generation to unjustifiably resent the findings of modern science?
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High Input Costs Might Turn More Farmers to Regenerative Practices
by Chris Clayton
February 2, 2023

Introduction:
(Investigate Midwest) WICHITA, Kan. — While fertilizer prices are coming down, Ohio farmer and no-till legend David Brandt said high input costs are at least one factor driving some farmers to look more at no-till systems and cover crops as a way to reduce nutrient and chemical needs.

“We have seen more interest in the last 100 days than we have in a long time,” Brandt told DTN/The Progressive Farmer on the sidelines of the “No-till on the Plains” conference in late January.

Brandt noted a lot of farmers who pre-bought fertilizer and chemicals before last year are now facing input costs 25% to 30% higher than last year.
“I think there are a lot more guys looking to try to find the answer,” he said.


Further extract:
Blake Vince, a farmer from Ontario, Canada, who described Brandt as one of his American mentors, said agriculture needs an army of people to accelerate the pace of regenerative agriculture. He called on farmers to use their voice to educate others and “be a disruptor” to conventional thinking.
Read more here: https://investigatemidwest.org/2023/02 ... ractices/
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