Tamar Barkay, distinguished professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, is one of two Rutgers professors recently elevated to the rank of fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The world’s largest general scientific society, AAAS selects its fellows based on their efforts in advancing science or fostering applications considered scientifically […]
Archives for November 2015
Education, Engagement And Access Are The Pillars Of Getting School Kids To Eat More Produce
This article features Jennifer Shukaitis, MPH of the Department of Family and Community Health Services at Rutgers Cooperative Extension… FoodCorps is a national nonprofit that operates in 17 states and Washington, DC. The organization works by putting FoodCorps members into schools to help connect kids from preschool to 12th grade with real food… “There are three pillars of the program. One is knowledge, which is the food education piece. The second is engagement. This involves hands-on gardening and teaching kids where food comes from. Third is access to fresh food, which we do with farm-to-school programs to boost the amount of fresh healthy foods served like fruits and vegetables,” said Shukaitis.
How to Slow Climate Change With a Fake Volcano
There’s a cheap, quick, dirty, and controversial way to combat global warming that isn’t on the agenda of the United Nations climate summit in Paris, which runs from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11. It involves replicating the planet-cooling effect of a volcanic eruption. When Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines blew in 1991, its emissions briefly reversed most of the global warming that had occurred since the start of the Industrial Revolution… Rutgers University climatologist Alan Robock is highly skeptical of what he sees as tinkering on a planetary scale. Robock, 66, is a onetime Peace Corps volunteer whose website features pictures of himself braving the cold in Antarctica and posing with Fidel Castro in Cuba. The late Edward Lorenz, a pioneer of chaos theory, was Robock’s adviser on his Ph.D. thesis in meteorology at MIT. Robock’s list of 26 downsides to geoengineering ranges from the vital (“whose hand is on the thermostat?”) to eye of the beholder (“affect stargazing”)… Strangely, Keith and Robock wrote a paper together last year with other authors and agree on much of the basic science. Where they disagree is on how to weigh costs and benefits. Without singling out Robock, Keith says many scientists are exaggerating the risks because they don’t trust the world’s governments to handle such a powerful instrument.
Do Alabama’s Restaurant Preferences For Local Translate To Other States, Especially The Garden State?
The Ideation Fresh Foodservice Forum has become an important part of the New York Produce show and Conference with operators, distributors, producers all joining together to find ways to boost produce consumption and bring us closer to the USDA goal of half the plate being accounted for by fruits and vegetables… So when we heard that a new hire at Rutgers had brought with her some research tying together produce farmers and independent restaurants we signed her up quick and we asked Carol Bareuther, Contributing Editor at Pundit sister publication PRODUCE BUSINESS to find out more: “When I got hired here at Rutgers, the department head called in. Because I’m an assistant professor with Rutgers, I’m on a tenure clock, and he said at the time, I think it would be best for you to wait until January, because if you start in November, it means your tenure clock has already started, so you’ll be behind. I know you want to start, and you want the income. And I said this is not why I really want to do extension. It’s not about the income. I just want to get started right away interacting with the farmers,” said Kenesha Reynolds-Allie, Agricultural Agent with New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station at Rutgers University.
It’s Easy to Confuse Thanksgiving, Christmas Cacti
This article was written by Lisa Chiariello, Master Gardener Coordinator for Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Sussex County… There are actually two different species of the genus Schlumbergera which flower in November and December that are found as h…
High Unemployment Stresses South Jersey Food Bank
Gary Howard never envisioned himself needing help from a food bank, but that changed in February. Howard, 61, of Egg Harbor Township, lost his job in receiving when the Showboat Casino closed in September 2014. With his unemployment benefits coming to an end, he had to do something… And that has led to a strain on the Community FoodBank of New Jersey-Southern Branch, which is struggling to meet an 11 percent increase in demand,” said Evelyn Benton, executive director of the food bank branch… The numbers are grim: Rutgers University’s “Rutgers against Hunger” report found that 77 percent of emergency food clients in the state said they’ve had to chose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel. That’s up from 40 percent in 2006… Similar increases were found in other decisions: 70 percent of respondents said they had to choose between food and paying rent, while 73 percent had to choose between food and medicine.
GARDENER STATE: N.J.’s Newest Ambassador Named
This article was written by Nicholas Polanin, associate professor and agricultural agent II at Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station Cooperative Extension of Somerset County… Rebecca Carmeli-Peslak of Millstone Township has been chosen a…
Ask Well: Do Cranberries Offer Health Benefits?
Cranberry juice is a popular folk remedy for staving off urinary tract infections and the berries contain chemical compounds with potentially powerful antibacterial properties. But clinical trials that have tested cranberry products have yielded mixed results, possibly because studies tested juices and supplements with varying amounts of active ingredients. Many trials also had high dropout rates… Cranberries contain chemical compounds called proanthocyanidins that can prevent E. coli bacteria from sticking to the bladder walls, “preventing the first step in the infection process,” said Amy Howell, an associate research scientist at the Marucci Center for Blueberry and Cranberry Research and Extension at Rutgers University. Dr. Howell explained that if bacteria cannot stick to a cell, they cannot multiply and produce toxins… Most cranberry juices you will find in grocery stores contain added sweeteners or are mixed with sweeter juices. To get enough of the active cranberry ingredients, choose a drink with at least 25 percent pure cranberry juice, Dr. Howell said, and drink eight to 10 ounces a day.
Residents Resist Tidal Flooding, an Increasing Threat to the Jersey Shore
Tidal flooding has been increasing along the Jersey Shore and it’s expected to get worse. Flooding challenges the O’Neills’ access to doctors or repairmen or houseguests. Flooding has increased more than 600 percent in the last 60 years at Atlantic City and Sandy Hook, according to NOAA data from those two places, which have a long history of tidal gauge data compared to other points on the coast… Atlantic City and Sandy Hook ranked third and fifth in a list of 45 sites in the nation for increased flooding in a 2014 NOAA study… As sea levels rise, the Mallard Island woes will spread along the Shore, according to Lisa Auermuller, watershed and outreach coordinator for Rutgers’ Jacques Cousteau Coastal Education Center, based in Tuckerton… Trouble comes down to inches, according to Dave Robinson, state climatologist at Rutgers University. “When you think about it, there are areas that are just precariously above sea level – when you raise it up 6, 10, 12 inches – that’s the difference between having a dry road and a road that’s underwater,” he said.
Dr. Bruce Clarke to Receive the 2016 USGA Green Section Award
Honoring his more than 30 years of leadership and research, the United States Golf Association has named Dr. Bruce Clarke, of Rutgers University, as the recipient of the 2016 USGA Green Section Award. Presented annually since 1961, the USGA Green Section Award recognizes an individual’s distinguished service to the game of golf through his or her work with turfgrass… Clarke, of Iselin, N.J., is an extension specialist of turfgrass pathology in the department of plant biology and pathology at Rutgers, and is the director of the Rutgers Center for Turfgrass Science. Clarke has authored or co-authored 75 refereed journal articles and more than 200 industry publications, and he has edited three books, including the second and third editions of the Compendium of Turfgrass Diseases. He is also a frequent contributor at turfgrass conferences throughout the world… “While the efforts of scientists throughout the country advance turfgrass research and help provide golf with exceptional playing conditions, Dr. Clarke goes much further,” said Dr. Kimberly Erusha, managing director of the USGA Green Section.