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Hard-hit Ohio community turns to gardens to help stretch food dollars

Hard-hit community learns to grow food

WILMINGTON, Ohio — Many of the new gardeners didn’t know how to grow vegetables, and weren’t sure what to do with them once they did.

New breed of Home Economics focuses on careers instead of homemaking

HOUSTON — In just 40 minutes, Cafe Mirabeau would fill with hungry patrons — and every dish needed to be delectable, every plate a model of perfect presentation.

Bill Gates pushes for more focus, advancements in agriculture to help hungry, poor in Africa

DES MOINES, Iowa — The world can make huge strides in reducing hunger and poverty by helping the world’s poorest farmers become more productive, Microsoft Inc. co-founder Bill Gates said Thursday.

Gates Foundation takes agriculture efforts beyond seeds and fertilizer

SEATTLE — The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced plans Thursday to move beyond seeds, fertilizer and agriculture extension services and into politics and public policy in its efforts to bring a green revolution to sub-Saharan Africa.

Vilsack launches new agriculture agency, says USDA must sharpen its research focus

WASHINGTON — The USDA must sharpen the focus of its science and research efforts to emphasize areas where it can make an impact on society, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said Thursday.

Robert Gates calls Nobel laureate Borlaug a ‘warrior against hunger’ at memorial ceremony

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Colleagues and friends of Norman Borlaug remembered the Nobel Peace Prize winner on Tuesday as a humanitarian who “built armies of agricultural workers” to combat famine in the world’s developing countries.

Gates calls Nobel laureate Borlaug a ‘warrior against hunger’ at memorial ceremony

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — Colleagues and friends of Norman Borlaug remembered the Nobel Peace Prize winner on Tuesday as a humanitarian who “built armies of agricultural workers” to combat famine in the world’s developing countries.

Sugar beet debate leaves farmers waiting as Colo.’s Boulder County reconsiders biotech crops

BOULDER, Colo. — Famuer Rasmussen Jr. and five other farmers filed what they thought was a routine request to grow genetically modified sugar beets on public land in Colorado’s Boulder County. The county already had allowed genetically altered corn.

Perennial wheat holds promise for farmers, environment but decades more research needed

ROSS TOWNSHIP, Mich. — As Steve Culman squatted in the southwestern Michigan farm field, he used his left hand to gently clasp several dead wheat stalks still in the ground, then pointed with his right toward something remarkable near the bottom of them.

Scientists, foodies and farmers join Univerisity of Wisconsin debate over Pollan’s ‘Food’ book

MADISON, Wis. — One best-selling book advocating fresh, local foods is shaking up America’s Dairyland.

GAO report: Agriculture Department failed to tell schools about recalls of suspect food

WASHINGTON — Federal authorities failed to tell schools about recalls of potentially tainted peanut products and canned vegetables, and cafeterias may have unknowingly served them to children, the Government Accountability Office reported Tuesday.

Norman Borlaug, who developed crops that helped save millions from world hunger, died at 95

DALLAS — Scientist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Norman Borlaug rose from his childhood on an Iowa farm to develop a type of wheat that helped feed the world, fostering a movement that is credited with saving up to 1 billion people from starvation.

A look at honors bestowed on Norman Borlaug

Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, the father of the “green revolution,” died Saturday at his home in Dallas at age 95. Here is a look at some of the honors he received:

Nobel Prize-winning scientist Norman Borlaug, father of the ‘green revolution,’ dies at age 95

DALLAS — Agricultural scientist Norman Borlaug, the father of the “green revolution” who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in combating world hunger and saving hundreds of millions of lives, died Saturday in Texas, a Texas A&M University spokeswoman said. He was 95.

Study says climate change threatens water, food security for 1.6 billion people in South Asia

KATMANDU, Nepal — Effects of climate change including the melting of Himalayan glaciers threaten water and food security for more than 1.6 billion people living in South Asia, according to a study released Wednesday.

‘Crazy’ ants attacking honeybees as they spread across southeast Texas, vexing beekeepers

DALLAS — A species of ant that has ruined sewage pumps, fouled computers and made it difficult for homeowners to enjoy their yards has a new target: the honeybee.

Wyoming looks to join other western states in growing sunflowers, other oilseeds for biofuels

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Wyoming’s agriculture industry is looking at the oilseed crops camelina, canola and sunflowers as part of an effort to diversify farming and produce the seed stock for biofuel.

Campus cuisine: More dorm cooking and individualized dining hall takeout

Once upon a time, eating in a college dorm meant soup in a hotpot or getting pizza delivered. The most interesting thing about the campus dining hall was often the salad bar.

Researchers hope tiny parasite can help protect Midwestern soybeans from destructive insects

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. — An insect no bigger than a comma is being studied as a natural predator that farmers could use instead of chemicals to protect the nation’s soybean crop from aphids.

Pecan growers look beyond nutshell to space for help perfecting million-dollar nut crop

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Space is preparing to go a little nuts.

Farming with Oxen 101: VT college students learn old-fashioned, sustainable agriculture

POULTNEY, Vt. — Devin Lyons typically starts his days this summer cooking breakfast with fresh eggs from the farm’s chicken coop. Then, depending on the weather, he and a dozen other college students might cut hay in the field using a team of oxen, turn compost or weed vegetable beds.

Study finds forest conservation in Indonesia could be as profitable as palm oil plantations

BANGKOK — Selling credits for the billions of tons of carbon that are locked in Indonesia’s tropical rain forests could be as profitable as converting these areas into palm oil plantations, a study released Friday found.

Pig farm shows how agriculture can turn one cause of global warming to partial solution

STERKSEL, Netherlands — The 2,700 pigs on the farm that John Horrevorts manages yield more than ham and bacon. A biogas plant makes enough electricity from their waste to run the farm and feeds extra wattage into the Dutch national grid.

Women bear largest burden in hunger crisis raging in Africa and across developing world

BULAWAYO, Swaziland — Phetsile Ndwandwe, short, skinny and 23 years old, accepts an apple from a development worker and nibbles at it, stripping the peel with her teeth before handing the fruit to Siphokazi, her baby daughter.