More than 630,000 Ohio children live in food-insecure households — they aren’t sure where their next meal is coming from. That’s enough to fill Ohio State’s football field, Ohio Stadium, six times over. “One of the biggest misperceptions I’ve seen about hunger in Ohio,” CFAES’s Pat Bebo says, “is that people think it occurs only in very poor households.” Read the story.
health
Algal bloom effort releases report
Ohio Sea Grant, on behalf of Ohio State, the University of Toledo and the Ohio Department of Higher Education, has released the annual report for the first year of funding for the Harmful Algal Bloom Research Initiative (HABRI), which seeks solutions for harmful algal blooms in Ohio. Included are details on 18 new studies; some involve CFAES scientists. Read the press release. Read the report.
3 ways to celebrate Ag Day today
Today, March 15, is National Agriculture Day. See how CFAES is celebrating — by working to provide clean water, health and food security — here, here and here (and also on our Facebook page).
140 ways to prep for mushroom season
For many, spring means mushrooms, especially morels. But not all fungi are tasty; some are deadly. Learn to identify 140-plus species, both edible and poisonous, in OSU Extension’s Mushrooms and Macrofungi of Ohio and the Midwestern States (166 pp., $26.25). Learn more.
What to do if you’re worried about lead in your water
Concerned about lead in your drinking water based on the news from Flint, and now the news from Sebring in northeast Ohio? CFAES water quality specialist Karen Mancl gives tips and perspective …
Helping Ohio school kids not go hungry and be healthy
OSU Extension’s nutrition program for children and teens, which helps fight hunger and improve health, has ramped up nearly ten-fold in the past three years. Still, there’s even more work to be done. Read the story. As CFAES’s statewide outreach arm, OSU Extension makes the college’s expertise available to everyone living in Ohio. (Photo: SNAP-Ed program, Richland County, Ohio.)
New way to treat lead in soil: Save $22,500 per acre
Nick Basta, a scientist in our college, has developed a new, much cheaper way to treat lead in soil (video, 2:14). Using compost and other material, it costs 75 percent less than the next-cheapest option ($7,500 an acre vs. $30,000) and can benefit cash-strapped cities. Lead in soil is a health risk to kids, especially in cities, and a snag for urban farming. Basta is shown here working in Cleveland, which SmartPlanet calls one of the most progressive cities in the U.S. for urban farming.