African Swine Fever is Getting Too Close for Comfort

A Google map of the Caribbean Ocean showing the distance from the island of Hispaniola to the southern tip of Florida.

About 20 percent of Vermont dairy farms raise pigs as well as dairy cows. Ninety percent of these farms raise pigs seasonally, and their health concerns may not be a priority for farmers. However, there is growing concern about the global spread of African swine fever (ASF), a deadly foreign animal disease (FAD) of pigs that was identified in two Caribbean countries during 2021. Continue reading “African Swine Fever is Getting Too Close for Comfort”

UVM Assisting with Farm to Plate Food Security Plan

A farm market with many colorful vegetables for sale such as tomatoes, purple broccoli, radicchio, and brussel sprouts.

On February 1, 2023, stakeholders from around Vermont gathered in Montpelier to work on a Vermont Food Security Plan. Organized by the Vermont Farm to Plate Food Security Strategy team, the meeting was for stakeholders with food system knowledge and experience, to experiment with and give input to the proposed food security plan writing process and tools. Continue reading “UVM Assisting with Farm to Plate Food Security Plan”

Food Systems Research Center Welcomes New Director

headshot of Polly Ericksen

Earlier this year, Polly Ericksen was appointed as the inaugural director of the UVM Food Systems Research Center (FSRC), a collaborative partnership between UVM and the U.S. Department of Agriculture Agricultural Research Service (ARS). She officially joined UVM in December after moving to Vermont from Nairobi, Kenya, where she spent the past nine years as the Program Leader for Sustainable Livestock with the International Livestock Research Institute.

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Research on Genetically Modified Food Labels Published

A man and woman are grocery shopping and reading the label on a jar of food.
Image source: U.S. Food & Drug Administration

Community Development and Applied Economics Professor Jane Kolodinsky published a new article in the Journal of the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, with co-authors UVM Mathematics and Statistics Professor Jeff Buzas, Nick Rose, Food Systems PhD candidate, and a colleague from the University of Kentucky, Associate Professor Yuging Zhang. Continue reading “Research on Genetically Modified Food Labels Published”