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Chinese scientists have developed a cost-effective method of converting coal into protein, which they say could feed livestock much more efficiently than natural plants, while using a tiny fraction of the land. According to Our World in Data, grazing land for livestock and farming land for animal feed production combine to take up an astonishing 40 million square kilometers (15.4 million square miles) of land. That's well over a quarter of the Earth's entire dry land area, and nearly 40% of the land defined as "habitable." This is one of the reasons the meat-heavy Western diet is under fire as...

NATIONAL APRICOT DAY Apricot lovers from all over the United States observe National Apricot Day every year on January 9th. #NationalAprcotDay Related to the peach, the apricot's velvety flesh is quite similar. However, the texture of the golden-orange fruit is firmer, and the flavor more tart than its cousin's. Since we easily preserve the apricot, we enjoy this versatile fruit all year long - fresh, canned, and dried. Apricots are found the world over but originated in northeastern China near the Russian border in ancient times. Later, the fruit was introduced to Europe and Armenia. The apricot found its way...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

Pack of feral pigs caught on camera damaging lawns in Bexar County neighborhood VIDEO AT LINK............. A pack of 10 wild hogs rooted up several lawns in a Bexar County neighborhood over the holiday weekend. The pigs were caught on camera damaging multiple yards as they used their snouts to forage for underground food. The neighborhood, located about three miles south of SeaWorld, was hit a few weeks earlier, resulting in major damage to multiple yards. One of the homes that was initially hit had its yard completely uprooted. The more recent incursion left damage to at least four properties....

Founded in 2018 by National Day Calendar® and Juanita's. NATIONAL MENUDO MONTH In January, National Menudo Month recognizes an iconic Mexican soup made with beef tripe and hominy. Mexican families serve this family favorite at gatherings and special celebrations. It is also rumored to be the perfect cure for hangovers. Celebrate by sharing your Menudo tradition with loved ones and creating new family memories. Quality ingredients, cooking time, and the cook’s special seasoning or sazón make Menudo unique. However, Menudo can be time-consuming to prepare, but the reward is worth waiting! There are also many regional variations. It is typically...

The settlement occupants left an abundant and continuous record of seeds, legumes and other foods...By studying these archaeological layers, Professor Kennett and colleagues were able to discern the types of plants that were being collected in the warmer, humid days before the climate changed and in the cooler, drier days after the onset of what we know now as the Younger Dryas cool period.Before the impact, the inhabitants' prehistoric diet involved wild legumes and wild-type grains, and small but significant amounts of wild fruits and berries.In the layers corresponding to the time after cooling, fruits and berries disappeared and their...

The world is literally a greener place than it was 20 years ago, and data from NASA satellites has revealed a counterintuitive source for much of this new foliage: China and India. A new study shows that the two emerging countries with the world’s biggest populations are leading the increase in greening on land. The effect stems mainly from ambitious tree planting programs in China and intensive agriculture in both countries. The greening phenomenon was first detected using satellite data in the mid-1990s by Ranga Myneni of Boston University and colleagues, but they did not know whether human activity was...

The Russian government is taking urgent measures to stabilise the situation in the local egg market where prices have soared more than 40% this year. Egg farmers claim that the industry is in “a perfect storm”. -snip- Russia’s federal veterinary watchdog Rosselhoznadzor recently greenlighted egg imports from Turkey. This country, alongside Azerbaijan, is expected to help Russia to fill the gap in the egg market, the agricultural ministry commented. The price hike has happened due to a perfect storm in the Russian egg industry, Leonid Kkolod, an independent agricultural analyst, told the local press. Over the past 2 years, Russian...

An aircraft owned by "RHS Consulting" (a cloud seeding company) left KFAT (Fresno/Yosemite Intl. Airport) this AM for presumably some cloud seeding over the Sierra Nevada. Wonder who is footing the bill? Ag interests? The state? Fill those reservoirs! Tracking: https://www.flightradar24.com/N7344L/336eca3e "N7344L" registration: https://registry.faa.gov/AircraftInquiry/Search/NNumberResult?nNumberTxt=7344L Company Website: https://www.skywaterventures.com

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

Using reconnaissance and infiltration methods worthy of blockbuster heists or painstaking counterfeit operations, a growing number of criminals are making off with liquid gold by draining wineries of their finest vintages with elaborate schemes. Last summer, thieves in Paris pulled off a caper worthy of a big-budget Hollywood film. Bandits drilled through the basement walls of a city wine collector's private cellar to make off with 300 bottles of rare wine, aged for decades and valued at $300,000. The criminals used the sprawling Paris catacomb system to get close to the subterranean collection. Authorities believe they had specialized knowledge of...

The National Potato Council isn't happy about this potential change.According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, when Americans eat vegetables, they’re mostly eating potatoes and tomatoes. In 2019, the average American downed almost 50 pounds of potatoes over the course of the year, and ate around 31 pounds of tomatoes — and it’s not totally surprising that French fries and pizza sauce significantly contributed to our annual totals. But in the future, when the USDA starts adding up our yearly veggie totals, tomatoes may take the top spot on a technicality. Because there’s a chance that the...

The state of Pennsylvania had the highest increase in grocery prices over the last year, according to a report from Consumer Affairs. Overall, grocery prices in the U.S. have gone up 5.3% year-over-year, but grocery inflation has varied from state to state. Consumer Affairs, a customer review and consumer news platform, partnered with market intelligence provider Datasembly and looked at grocery price data in 15 categories, covering 150,000 stores in all 50 states and in Washington D.C. According to the data, the commonwealth has experienced the biggest hike in grocery prices, seeing an 8.2% increase in 2023 alone. Vermont (7%),...

Vladimir Putin has been mocked by Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko over Russia’s shortage of eggs. Mr Putin’s ally confronted him over the skyrocketing prices of the kitchen staple, with the entire exchange caught on camera at the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council session in St Petersburg. At the event Mr Putin, 71, was also spotted bizarrely stretching his feet as he waited to greet several fellow ex-Soviet republic leaders, including Mr Lukashenko, 69. Former farm boss Mr Lukashenko teased the Russian leader that Belarus’s agricultural industry was in better shape than Russia’s. He said: ‘We have achieved a high level of...

Stronger than plastic and tougher than glass, the resin-filled material is being exploited for smartphone screens, insulated windows, and more. CREDIT: WILEY‐VCH VERLAG GMBH & CO. KGAA, WEINHEIM / CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Thirty years ago, a botanist in Germany had a simple wish: to see the inner workings of woody plants without dissecting them. By bleaching away the pigments in plant cells, Siegfried Fink managed to create transparent wood, and he published his technique in a niche wood technology journal. The 1992 paper remained the last word on see-through wood for more than a decade, until a researcher named Lars...

The Asian longhorned tick is rapidly gaining a foothold in the United States and “poses a serious threat to livestock” according to the USDA. Since its discovery and proper identification in 2017, the coverage area of the tick has spread to 19 U.S. states, the USDA reported. The deadly consequence of their expansion was shared by Ohio State University researchers in the Journal of Medical Entomology: Two cows and one large bull died from exsanguination by the ticks, meaning drained of blood to the point of death. Each unfortunate cow likely endured tens of thousands of bites. While only the...

The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you. If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located. This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked. It is impossible to hijack...

NATIONAL FRENCH FRIED SHRIMP DAY On December 21st, seafood lovers celebrate National French Fried Shrimp Day. Enjoyed all year long, this delicious dish delights many across the country. #FrenchFriedShrimpDay Americans eat more shrimp than any other seafood. The word prawn is used loosely to describe any large shrimp, sometimes known as jumbo shrimp. Some countries use the word prawn exclusively for all shrimp. Preparing the shrimp for consumption usually involves the removal of the head, shell, tail, and sand vein. There are many ways to cook shrimp. Common methods of preparation include baking, boiling, broiling, sauteing, frying, and grilling. Cooking...

MIAMI – Simmons Prepared Foods voluntarily recalled TGI Fridays Honey BBQ flavored boneless chicken after consumers reported finding plastic under the breading. The recall with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service applies to about 26,550 pounds of chicken bites manufactured on Oct. 3 and distributed nationwide. The were no reports of injuries. For more information, visit this page: VIDEO AT LINK.......... Simmons Prepared Foods, Inc. Recalls Boneless Chicken Bites Products Due to Possible Foreign Matter Contamination SIMMONS PREPARED FOODS, INC. FSIS Announcement WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2023 - Simmons Prepared Foods Inc., a Van Buren, Ark. establishment,...

An FDA spokesperson said that one of the agency’s theories for the WanaBana cinnamon applesauce contamination was “economically motivated adulteration.” The lead contamination in recalled cinnamon applesauce pouches that potentially poisoned at least 65 children may have been intentional, the Food and Drug Administration said on Friday. The FDA has been investigating the lead contamination in the cinnamon-flavored applesauce products from Florida-based food manufacturer WanaBana since October. The agency has homed in on the cinnamon specifically as the source of the lead. A spokesperson for the FDA said that one of the agency’s current theories is that the cinnamon contamination...