"Aquaponics offers solutions to foodborne illness outbreaks"

There are over 250 identified foodborne diseases that are caused by bacteria, viruses, and parasites infecting humans throughout the world. Amongst the most common, and most publicly known, is Escherichia coli (E. coli), which can be found in leafy greens, meat, and other produce. Offering proven lower…

Greenhouses help Kyrgyz women to create family income

Gardening is our pride,” says Gulzat Saibiddinova, a mother of three in the small Kyrgyz village of Alga. After her husband Altynbek lost his seasonal job in Moscow—one of the…

Good bacteria contribute in fight against pathogens in food processing environment

Disease-causing bacteria like Escherichia coli O157:H7 and Salmonella enterica can survive sanitization in beef processing facilities. Scientists and collaborators in the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA), Agricultural Research Center (ARS) are investigating how this happens while also…

Over 30,000 seed samples from seven genebanks secured in Global Seed Vault

A total of 85 boxes with thousands of seed samples will this week be deposited in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault. This deposit – the biggest since February 2020 – focused on vegetables, particularly tomatoes. The boxes containing 30,410 seed samples were sent for security conservation at Svalbard. Seven…

CAN: Minister Bibeau launches second half of $20-million food waste reduction challenge

On Tuesday, the Minister of Agriculture and Agri-Food, the Honourable Marie-Claude Bibeau, and the Member of Parliament for Burnaby North–Seymour, Terry Beech, hosted a virtual event to launch the novel technology streams of Canada's Food Waste Reduction Challenge, an initiative under the Food Policy for…

How healthy are horticultural plants grown in polluted cities?

Urban activities release particles into the environment that can contain considerable amounts of metals and metalloids which may enter the trophic chain including humans,…

"Plant breeding in EU can compensate production losses"

A new study by HFFA Research GmbH demonstrates that plant breeding in the European Union drives socio-economic and environmental sustainability and can partially compensate production losses potentially resulting from the implementation of the EU Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies. In the context…

Ben McCanna / Press Herald Photographer

"How do we fix our broken food system? Invest in local organic farms"

Over the past year, there have been numerous examples of how the current food system in the United States has failed us in the face of a pandemic. At the same time, there were stories of success and glimpses of hope, too. Many direct-to-consumer farms experienced a boom in business as consumers turned to…

Kids in NYC food deserts continue hydroponic farming education at home

Teens for Food Justice (TFFJ), a nonprofit with a mission to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to fresh and healthy food through youth-led, school-based hydroponic farming, is helping kids living in NYC's food deserts continue growing nutritious produce and engaging with food justice content during…

Access to foods is impetus of Pennsylvania's urban ag program

Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding announced approval for $500,000 in funding to support 42 projects through the Pennsylvania Farm Bill's Urban Agriculture Grant Program. The projects funded include everything from refrigeration equipment to agricultural infrastructure such as greenhouses, raised…

The tomato: from scary to lovely

One favorite fruit that is consumed in countries all over the world today is the tomato. It’s used in sauces, soups, and in many other ways. But the juicy tomato wasn’t always loved by the masses.…

UN launches hunt for start-ups and enterprises changing the face of food systems

The UN Food Systems Summit has announced a competition to identify the best small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from across the world who are transforming food systems for a better tomorrow. The Summit has launched a unique contest, named “Best Small Business: Good Food for All”, which will surface…

Azerbaijan and Russia discuss lifting ban on tomato and apple exports

Azerbaijan’s Food Safety Agency and Russia’s phytosanitary agency Rosselkhoznadzor have discussed further measures to remove restrictions on the export of Azerbaijani tomatoes…

Dutch cucumbers possibly involved in UK E. coli outbreak

An outbreak of E. coli O157 in the United Kingdom - that affected 36 people - has been linked to a fast food product containing imported cucumbers. After investigations into…

Antigua and Barbuda interested in hydroponic farming

Over the weekend, the minister of Agriculture of Antigua and Barbuda, the Honorable Samantha Marshalls visited a hydroponics farm in New Winthorpes to learn more about the innovative farming technique. After the visit, she said "Yesterday, I was elated to visit a hydroponics farm to learn more about the…

Italian growers learn to deal with ToBRFV

The annual production of tomatoes in Italy, including greenhouse and open field productions, on average exceeds 1,000,000 tons from an acreage of almost 25,000 hectares, the numbers noted between 2016 and 2020 show. With the exception of a few hectares located in high-tech greenhouses in the north of the…

Canadian majority believes modern planting techniques are unnatural

The safety of the food that is consumed has continually increased over time. Conversely, modern technologies and communication allow misinformation to be widely accessible,…

Virus free asparagus seed improves grower’s bottom line

The asparagus seed harvest in New Zealand is started two weeks earlier than previous seasons. The harvest of asparagus seeds would normally run from mid-March through to the…

“Washing is not enough to mitigate E.coli when processing leafy greens”

Recently, the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) and CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) in the United States disclosed the founding of a multistate outbreak of E. coli 0151:H7 investigation: the outbreak was linked to leafy greens. However, this is not the first time an outbreak involving…

FDA: ‘Foreseeable hazard’ if leafy greens are still grown near cattle or dairy farms

Last week, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it would take ‘two important steps to advance the safety of leafy greens’. These steps will impact the way leafy…

"Awareness about quality food consumption poses a challenge for Indian horticulture"

“When the pandemic has passed, we do not want to go back to normal,” says Kunal Kasera. “We definitely think we could go to some better place.” Kunal is the founder of Trufarm Co., an agtech company that has recently begun operations in the city of Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh, India. They currently own a…

Nanoelectronics to build smarter packaging for safer food

Michigan State researchers are working to develop smart packaging to improve the world’s food safety and security with the support of new grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture. “The motivation for this work is really strong,” said the grant’s principal…

FDA warns all California Central Coast entities involved in leafy green production

On April 6, the Food and Drug Administration fired an unmistakable warning shot at the leafy greens industry. "Hopefully, this will be a call to action that gets to the root…

Two new ToBRFV-contamination in the Netherlands

There are two new tomato companies contaminated with the Tomato brown rugose fruit virus (ToBRFV) in the Netherlands, as became apparent from a new status update from the NVWA…