‘I want to be a scientist,’ thanks to 4-H Agri-science in the City

Not a teacher. Not a fireman.

When he grows up, 8-year-old Jamir Green wants to be a scientist.

“It seems fun,” he said. “You can make chemicals and medicines.”

As a second-grader at George Washington Carver STEM Elementary School on Cleveland’s East Side, Green was inspired by Rob Isner, who has led the school’s 4-H Agri-science in the City program since it began in 2014.

In Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood, Tony Staubach offers the same program at Rothenberg Preparatory Academy.

As 4-H staff members, Isner and Staubach integrate food- and farm-related science activities during school, in after-school programs, in 4-H clubs and at summer day camps.

Thanks to a new 4-H program, many students at George Washington Carver STEM Elementary School in Cleveland now say science is their favorite subject.

Thanks to a new 4-H program, many students at George Washington Carver STEM Elementary School in Cleveland now say science is their favorite subject.

“When I started the program, most students said science was their least favorite subject,” Isner said. “Now, more than half say it is their favorite. They only have the agri-science program once a week, but we’re having an impact.”

Annette DiGirolamo, a recently retired second-grade teacher at Rothenberg Preparatory Academy, said the program is “invaluable.”
“The students have watched chicks hatch, explored the properties of air, and conducted experiments with force and motion, sound and vibration,” she said. “The scientific process is continually reinforced, fostering skills of observation, critical thinking, accurate data collection and cooperation.”
ESSENTIALS
Agri-science in the City programs provided by Ohio 4-H focus on students in kindergarten through sixth grade.
  • In Cincinnati, nearly 500 students participated from March 2014 through May 2015, when students who say they believe it is possible to farm in the city increased from 54 percent to 74 percent, and students indicating they want to work in food or farming increased from 15 percent to 31 percent.
  • In Cleveland, nearly 600 students participated during the 2014–15 school year. At the end of the year, 83 percent gave the program an “A;” 67 percent said they wanted to learn more about agriculture the next year; and 42 percent said it was “very likely” they would attend a career tech program in agri-science in high school.

Heart-Healthy Garden Program: ‘The Gift that Keeps on Giving’

Don Tedrow in Ross Heart Garden

Don Tedrow assists another Ross Heart Hospital Community Garden participant harvest radishes after a summer 2015 healthy living class.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Don Tedrow’s heart is full of gratitude.

In January 2015, Tedrow was shopping at a home improvement store when he began feeling “strange, feeling some pressure,” he said.

He went home, and he and his wife headed to the Emergency Department at the The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

“They kept me overnight, did some tests, and found out I had an 80 percent blockage in my main artery,” Tedrow said.

After a stent was inserted to open the blockage, Tedrow participated in the medical center’s Cardiac Rehabilitation Program.

“That was excellent,” he said. “A life-changer.”

While there, Tedrow learned about the new Ross Heart Hospital Community Garden program, a collaboration between the medical center and Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES), which he participated in during the summer.

“It was the perfect follow-up,” Tedrow said, “because I had learned how to exercise in rehab, but I didn’t know what to do with my diet.”

The program, which combines gardening with healthy-living classes, started in 2015. It was the brainchild of Jim Warner, food and nutrition program director with the medical center’s food service administration. Warner also is involved with a similar program with The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

To read more: http://go.osu.edu/heartgarden

 

How to make a brownfield green: OARDC team turns waste into soil

What to do with an “87-acre wasteland of glassy slag”? The fix came — richly — from the sewers.

What to do with an “87-acre wasteland of glassy slag”? The fix came — richly — from the sewers.

In Chicago, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center scientist Nick Basta and his colleagues are helping restore “an 87-acre wasteland of glassy slag” using topsoil made from biosolids. Basta is a professor in the School of Environment and Natural Resources.

Biosolids are treated sewage sludge. Once treated, they’re safe to use, free of pathogens and full of nutrients that help plants grow. In this case, the sewage came from Chicago’s sanitary sewer system.

In test plots at the site, a biosolids-based soil blend made by Basta and team worked better than a wood-chip-based compost at supporting plants and beneficial soil organisms.

The slag is waste from steel mills that used to be on the site.

“You have to bring in the soil [to restore the site],” Basta said in a Dec. 16 story in TerraDaily. “Why not connect the dots and bring in what’s available locally?”

New place for plants — and for migrant birds, too?

  • The steel mill site, located on Chicago’s southeast side, is called the Lake Calumet Cluster site.
  • In 2010, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency added the site to the Superfund National Priorities List.
  • Superfund is the federal program that investigates and cleans up the worst hazardous waste sites in the U.S.
  • The restored Lake Calumet site will hopefully become a rest stop for birds migrating along the nearby shoreline of Lake Michigan, the TerraDaily story said.

Read about more new research by Nick Basta here.

Read the TerraDaily story here.

OARDC scientists nab national honors; have ‘positive impact on society’

Ken Lee (photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES)

Ken Lee (photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES)

Prominent professional groups recently honored two Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center scientists, one of whom works on food and health, one on alternative rubber production.

In December, Ken Lee, professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology, was elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He joined four other Ohio State faculty members who were elected to the association last year.

Ohio State President Michael V. Drake said Ohio State’s new AAAS Fellows “demonstrate the wide reach of Ohio State research. They exemplify the university’s mission of creating the knowledge and discoveries that make a difference in people’s lives.”

Also in December, Katrina Cornish, professor in the Department of Horticulture and Crop Science and Department of Food, Agricultural and Biological Engineering, was named a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Cornish was one of two inductees — along with Vice President for Research Caroline Whitacre — from Ohio State in 2015.

Katrina Cornish (photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES)

Bruce McPheron, the university’s interim executive vice president and provost, said, “We at Ohio State are extremely proud of the accomplishments of Drs. Whitacre and Cornish. Their contributions to innovation are superb examples of the positive impact that the university has on society.”

Impact: Good food and health, sustainable rubber

  • Lee, who specializes in innovative ways to improve the human condition through food, is the director and lead investigator of Ohio State’s Food Innovation Center.
  • Cornish, who’s developing new, more sustainable sources of natural rubber, holds the Endowed Chair in Bio-based Emergent Materials and is an Ohio Research Scholar.

Read more here and here.

Boosting urban food security — and with it, farms and nutrition

Cleveland’s Gateway 105 Farmers’ Market is one of more than two dozen farmers markets in and around Cuyahoga County participating in the Produce Perks program. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

Cleveland’s Gateway 105 Farmers’ Market is one of more than two dozen farmers markets in and around Cuyahoga County participating in the Produce Perks program. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

A program called Produce Perks is tackling northeast Ohio’s urban food deserts while boosting small farms and food security.

Participating farmers’ markets give two-for-one incentive tokens, or “Produce Perks,” to customers who use an Ohio Direction Card — their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits — to buy food. The program provides a dollar-for-dollar match up to $10 for every dollar spent at the market on produce.

The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Food Policy Coalition — established by local food leaders, including Ohio State University Extension’s Cuyahoga County office — runs the program.

“Produce Perks has brought many low-income and food-insecure residents to farmers’ markets for the first time,” said Nico Boyd, formerly the community development coordinator in the office and the coalition’s project coordinator. “Not only does it help stretch people’s food dollars to buy more fresh, local produce, it keeps food dollars here.”

“Families can stretch their food dollars by utilizing Produce Perks to double their whole-food purchases,” said Veronica Walton, who manages the Gateway 105 Farmers’ Market in Cleveland for the Famicos Foundation. “The relaxed atmosphere at farmers markets is perfect for conversations about meal preparation, food storage and preservation, all of which decrease food insecurities.”

Essentials

  • Some 55 percent of Clevelanders live in food deserts. People in food deserts have little access to fresh, healthy, affordable food.
  • OSU Extension’s Cuyahoga County office recently expanded Produce Perks to include 30 area farmers markets. A subgrant from Wholesome Wave, a nonprofit targeting food issues, funded the expansion.
  • Another Wholesome Wave subgrant allowed OSU Extension’s Hamilton County office to expand a produce buying incentive program in greater Cincinnati.
  • When the Broadway Farmers’ Market in Cleveland’s Slavic Village joined the Produce Perks program, it saw a 191 percent increase in Ohio Direction Card sales in a single year, according to an article in northeast Ohio’s Fresh Water e-magazine.

Learn more about the Produce Perks program here.

Working to protect Columbus’ drinking water — while also managing costs

Hoover Reservoir is a major source of water for Columbus. The 20 billion-gallon impoundment lies in a rapidly growing area north of the city. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

Hoover Reservoir is a major source of water for Columbus. The 20 billion-gallon impoundment lies in a rapidly growing area north of the city. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

High nitrate levels at a Columbus water plant last year led to a two-week, no-drink advisory for pregnant women and infants younger than 6 months old.

Preventing such problems drives the city of Columbus’ new, in-development Watershed Master Plan.

Consultancy CDM Smith leads the effort with help from, among others, specialists from Ohio State University Extension.

Myra Moss and Joe Bonnell, plus faculty emeritus Bill Grunkemeyer, are helping the firm identify and prioritize agricultural activities in the Scioto River, Big Walnut Creek and Alum Creek watersheds that could impact water reaching the city’s water plants.

Protecting Columbus’ watersheds “will help control treatment and reservoir operation costs and reduce risks in delivering safe drinking water,” said Julie McGill, water resources engineer with CDM Smith.

“The fewer contaminants entering the water plants,” said Bonnell, Extension’s watershed management program director, “the less technology — and money — required to remove those contaminants.”

Moss, Bonnell and Grunkemeyer have unique expertise in water issues, sustainable planning and consensus building.

“OSU Extension brings deep, unique experience in working with the agricultural community, developing comprehensive plans and delivering educational programs aimed at changing public behavior,” McGill said. “This lets them reach out to farmers and other stakeholders with simple, straightforward dialogue that can change mindsets.”

Essentials

  • Columbus’ Watershed Master Plan stands to benefit 1.1 million central Ohioans by safeguarding their drinking water sources and spending their water revenues wisely.
  • Columbus’ main drinking water sources, the Scioto River and Big Walnut Creek, receive runoff from 1,200-plus square miles of land, 72 percent of which is agricultural, before reaching the city’s Dublin Road and Hap Cremean water plants.
  • Runoff of fertilizer from farmland can be a major source of nitrates in the Scioto River.
  • Other challenges when treating Columbus’ water include atrazine, a weed killer; Cryptosporidium, a protozoan sometimes in manure runoff and failing septic systems; and phosphorus from fertilizer, which can contribute to harmful algal blooms.

Learn more about the city’s watershed planning here.

A simple, low-cost way to grow more food

Urban Farms of Central Ohio, part of the Mid-Ohio Foodbank, uses high-tunnel technology developed by OARDC scientists to train new farmers and help feed the hungry. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

Urban Farms of Central Ohio uses high-tunnel technology developed by OARDC scientists to train new farmers and help feed the hungry. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

High tunnels help farmers grow more food of higher quality, and Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center scientists are working to widen their use.

Especially suited to small and urban farms, the simple, low-cost structures make the growing season longer.

Inside, fruits and vegetables ripen earlier in spring and yield later in fall, with no need for fossil-fuel heat.

“High tunnels translate into greater food production, greater food security and greater potential farm income,” said OARDC scientist Matt Kleinhenz.

At OARDC facilities in Piketon and Wooster and on cooperating farms, Kleinhenz and OARDC colleague Brad Bergefurd are studying high tunnels, documenting their benefits and refining the best ways to use them. Then, they’re sharing their findings with farmers.

“We’ve used OARDC’s high tunnel research to increase our impact by providing high-quality produce for more months of the year,” said Dana Hilfinger, farm manager for Urban Farms of Central Ohio (pictured above, right).

“We’re a nonprofit commercial farming organization providing fresh produce access to food-insecure individuals,” she said. “We’ve been able to market our produce earlier in the season, generating more revenue to support our mission and generally supporting central Ohio’s local food economy,”

Essentials

  • In Ohio, high tunnels can extend the marketing season of a farm from six months to year-round.
  • High tunnels increase a farm’s annual food production. Warm- and cool-season crops are grown and sold in succession. Hundreds to thousands of pounds of more and different kinds of produce are taken from tunnels when outside fields are dormant. That means more revenue to growers and greater choice and health benefits to consumers.
  • Weather extremes disrupt normal farming practices outside, but not so much inside high tunnels. High tunnels protect crops from rain, snow, wind, cold and other stresses, including some pests and disease-causing pathogens. Tunnel production can use less fertilizer, irrigation, pesticides and labor.

Get further details on this research here.

How U.S. metal foundries can save $40 million a year

New OARDC research will benefit businesses like Columbus Castings, shown here, say OARDC’s Nicholas Basta, left, and the Ohio Cast Metals Association’s Russ Murray, right. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

New OARDC research will benefit businesses like Columbus Castings, shown here, say OARDC’s Nicholas Basta, left, and the Ohio Cast Metals Association’s Russ Murray, right. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

What to do with 10 million tons of sand every year that would otherwise go in a landfill? Use it to grow plants and industry.

Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center scientists Nicholas Basta and Elizabeth Dayton worked in tandem with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to do detailed testing of spent foundry sand for such toxins as heavy metals. The sand is a byproduct of the metal casting industry.

Their findings fed into a risk assessment by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The assessment determined that spent foundry sand, when put back to use in some soil applications, is safe for people’s health and the environment. The finding applies only to silica sand from aluminum, iron and steel foundries.

The work has opened new business doors. Ohio’s green industry now can manufacture and market new soil mixes using the sand. And the state’s many metal casting foundries can reduce their landfilling costs, save money and stay competitive.

“Based on this research, Ohio EPA is developing new rules for beneficially reusing spent foundry sand,” said Russ Murray, executive director of the Ohio Cast Metals Association. “We’re confident these rules will provide opportunities for Ohio foundries to significantly reduce their disposal costs for the sand. This should make these foundries more competitive.”

Essentials

  • Ohio is the No. 1 metal casting state in the nation. Its 200-plus foundries provide 22,000 jobs and produce metal castings for products such as cars, trucks, tractors, turbines, aircraft and appliances.
  • Reusing 10 percent of the 10 million tons of spent foundry sand sent to landfills every year can save U.S. foundries about $40 million annually. That’s based on an average disposal cost of $40 a ton.
  • The potential savings for Ohio and U.S. foundries will be a leg up in an increasingly competitive international market.
  • Reusing spent foundry sand will also create new businesses and jobs. These businesses and jobs will be based on using spent foundry sand to make new soil blends and soil substitutes.

Read more about this research here.

How youth can dive into science of water

Two Ohio 4-H projects — one available now, the other in 2016, both based on hands-on learning — focus on water’s importance. (Photo: Digital Vision.)

Two Ohio 4-H projects — one available now, the other in 2016, both based on hands-on learning — focus on water’s importance. (Photo: Digital Vision.)

Meera Nadathur, 15, wants to work in environmental sciences.

As a step toward that goal, the student at Cincinnati’s Sycamore High School last year completed Ohio 4-H’s Ways of Knowing Water project. It and some 200 other projects for Ohio 4-H members stress science and hands-on learning.

“One of my favorite experiences was visiting the Greater Cincinnati Water Works treatment plant to learn the entire drinking water purification process,” she said. “I was able to view every step of the process firsthand and gain knowledge about it from the very experts who ran the plant.”

A member of the Gorman Farm 4-H Club, Nadathur was one of the more than 200,000 youth ages 5-19 who participated in Ohio 4-H in 2014. Some 18,000 other Ohioans, including Nadathur’s club’s adviser, Cindy Capannari, helped as volunteers.

The organization, which is Ohio State University Extension’s youth development program, celebrated Ohio 4-H Week March 8-14. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences at The Ohio State University.

Exploring water is especially timely given last year’s crisis in Toledo, said Joe Bonnell, OSU Extension’s program director for watershed management and one of the project’s developers. Last August, toxins from a Lake Erie algal bloom led that city to ban tap water use for three days.

Changes in climate, weather and land use, among other things, are more and more affecting Ohio’s rivers, lakes and streams, he said.

“I think the youth who complete this project will gain a greater appreciation for the value of water in their lives and communities, which hopefully will lead them to taking an active role in protecting their local water resources,” he said.

Read the full story …

Kale! Kale! The gang’s all here … in an Ohio State greenhouse growing veggies for students

Lesa Holford, right, corporate executive chef with Ohio State University's Student Life Dining Services department, and Courtney George, a sophomore food science major, tend plants they’ve helped grow in a university greenhouse. (Photo: K.D. Chamberlain, CFAES Communications.)

Lesa Holford, right, corporate executive chef with Ohio State University’s Student Life Dining Services department, and Courtney George, a sophomore food science major, tend kale and basil plants in a university greenhouse. (Photo: K.D. Chamberlain, CFAES Communications.)

There’s a new spin to eating on campus.

Ohio State’s Student Life Dining Services department and the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences have teamed to grow some of the produce served in the university’s dining halls.

In a greenhouse run by the college’s Department of Horticulture and Crop Science, plant experts from the department, food experts with Dining Services and student volunteers oversee hundreds of robust kale, basil and romaine lettuce plants.

After harvest, the crops go into such dishes as Caesar salads, caprese sandwiches, and kale and bacon tarts (recipe here), all served in campus eateries.

Systems like this one are part of the growing “farm-to-table” movement. Farm-to-table systems aim to shorten the distance as much as possible between where a food is produced and where it’s consumed.

Fresh from the Buckeyes’ backyard

  • Horticulture and Crop Science staff “have taught us so much,” said Lesa Holford, corporate executive chef with Student Life Dining Services. She said she’s more than pleased with the project’s first fruits: more than 230 pounds of greens and herbs in the first three months.
  • Zia Ahmed, senior director of Student Life Dining Services, said, “One day (the project) may lead to a significant amount of production coming out of our own backyard to feed our students. … It’s a great privilege to have the opportunity to grow our own food.”
  • To contact the sources: Lesa Holford at holford.8@osu.edu; Zia Ahmed at ahmed.290@osu.edu.

Read more.