I recently went shopping and bought a bag of salad that says “best if used by June 14” on the packaging, a carton of milk that says “sell by June 17,” and a package of eggs that says “use by June 20.” I’m confused by what all these different dates mean.
Those food label dates are confusing to many people—more than a third of consumers throw away food once the date on the label has passed because they mistakenly think the date is an indicator of food safety, according to a 2017 study by the Harvard University Food Law and Policy Clinic and the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future.
But for most foods, the date label is a manufacturer’s best guess as to how long the product will be at its peak quality. With only a few...
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Taxes, on average, are going down for owners of farmland across Ohio and are expected to decline at an even faster rate beginning in 2020, a study by researchers with The Ohio State University shows.
The average value of agricultural land across the state has dropped by a third since a recent change in how the state calculates taxes for farmland owners, according to a study by Robert Dinterman and Ani Katchova, two agricultural economists with the College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
Starting in 2020, farmland values in the state likely will drop by another one-third, said Dinterman, a postdoctoral researcher with CFAES. With values going down, owners of agricultural land in the state should see similar declines in their taxes....
Tip 1: Ohio State student farm: Some Ohio State students are spending their summer helping fight hunger. Working at the 4-acre Ohio State Student Farm, located at CFAES’ Waterman Agricultural and Natural Resources Laboratory in Columbus, the students are growing more than 30 varieties of fruits and vegetables, are learning about and practicing urban farming, and are donating some of what they grow to local food security efforts. Read more about the farm in “Crops for change” on our CFAES Stories website, go.osu.edu/CyXd, and on the farm’s website at go.osu.edu/CyXb.
Tip 2: Cicadas emerging in parts of Ohio: Millions of 17-year cicadas are emerging in Stark, Trumbull, Jefferson, Mahoning, and Columbiana counties in northeast Ohio. The big,...
I’d like to feed my family more home-cooked meals, but sometimes after a long day at work, it’s easier to stop at a restaurant for takeout. Do you have tips about how to better optimize my time for making dinner at home?
First, you can take some measure of comfort in knowing that your household isn’t the only one that seems to be spending more money on takeout rather than cooking at home.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2015, the average household spent an average of $3,008 per year on dining out. That number has increased over the past couple of years, with the average household spending $3,154 on food away from home in 2016, and $3,365 in 2017.
However, if you want to lessen the amount of money your household spends on takeout...
A brood of cicadas that slumbered underground for nearly 17 years has emerged in northeast Ohio crawling, flying, and hitting buildings and trees.
While above ground, the bugs will eat a little, mate a lot, then die.
The 17-year cicadas arrive in the millions and though they’re distinct from locusts, by the sheer number of them you might think you’re experiencing one of the 10 Biblical plagues.
“Some people are creeped out,” said Eric Barrett, an assistant professor and Ohio State University Extension educator in Mahoning County. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
The early sightings of this brood of 17-year cicadas in Ohio have been in five counties:...
We plan to grill this weekend for Memorial Day but my husband and I can’t seem to agree on how to cook the hamburgers. I like them medium rare like a steak, but my husband says the burgers should be cooked until they are well done. Which one of us is right?
Unlike steaks, hamburgers, and any ground beef meals, should be cooked until they reach an internal temperature of 160 degrees Fahrenheit to help lessen your chance of developing a foodborne illness, said Sanja Ilic, the state food safety specialist for Ohio State University Extension. OSU Extension is the outreach arm of The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
Even though beef steak and ground beef are both beef, steak can be safe to eat at a minimum internal...
COLUMBUS, Ohio—An expert in nutrition and how foods play a role in disease prevention from The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) is available to discuss with the media about the relationship between cancer and diet in light of the recently released study on the issue.
A study published May 22 in the JNCI Cancer Spectrum found that an estimated 80,110 new cancer cases among adults 20 and older in the United States in 2015 were associated with eating a poor diet.
The study evaluated seven dietary factors: a low intake of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and dairy products; and a high intake of processed meats, red meats, and sugary beverages such as soda. The study also found that low whole-grain consumption...
COLUMBUS, Ohio—If your lawn is more brown than green or dense with dandelions, you can probably blame Mother Nature.
Those shifts in temperature we appreciated in Ohio last winter, moving from freezing to above freezing and back and forth, have taken a toll on lawns across the state.
As the underground moisture froze and thawed repeatedly, the water in the soil expanded and contracted, and that could have pushed up roots, exposing them and possibly killing them, said Todd Hicks, turfgrass pathology program coordinator with The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
“Some peoples’ lawns look like they were seeded with dandelions,” Hicks said.
Other lawns came out of winter with many bare patches of soil,...
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Even if the United States eventually reaches a trade agreement with China, the damage done from the ongoing trade war could take years to undo, according to an agricultural economist with The Ohio State University.
It took a while to build a Chinese market for U.S. products, including American soybeans, and it will likely take considerable time to rebuild that market, said Ian Sheldon, a professor with Ohio State’s College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES).
“Trade negotiations don’t get resolved in months; they take years. It’s not simple. These are the two largest economies in the world, essentially mud wrestling. I think we’ve reached the point of no return,” said Sheldon, who serves as the Andersons...
WOOSTER, Ohio—Although the stalks and leaves of a corn plant can be turned into ethanol, the high cost of collecting, storing, and transporting the material has limited its use in producing the fuel.
Ajay Shah, an agricultural engineer with The Ohio State University College of Food, Agricultural, and Environmental Sciences (CFAES) is testing a method that could cut the cost of collecting and delivering corn plant material for making ethanol by up to 20%.
Shah just received a $1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to test the effectiveness of a new method that harvests and transports corn plants intact, the ears together with the stalks. Shah’s strategy has the potential to spur the lagging industry of so-called cellulosic ethanol—ethanol produced...
