URBANA, Ill. ­– Dried snack foods such as apple chips are a convenient alternative to fresh fruit, providing longer shelf life and easier storage. Consumers increasingly demand product variety, so companies coat such snack foods with fruit and vegetable powders to enhance taste and sensory appeal.

The farmdoc team is pleased to announce that Corteva Agriscience is joining the project as a platinum sponsor, contributing to farmdoc’s commitment to providing farmers with information and resources to make sound management decisions.

URBANA, Ill. – You may not think of the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) if you’re aiming for a medical career. But health education is, in fact, a major part of the curriculum in ACES’ Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN) where students can pursue a pre-health track through the human nutrition concentration.

URBANA, Ill. – Many students hear “college is the best four years of your life.” A time for learning and building skills, it’s also a time to meet people, make friends, and be independent.

Some students pack those experiences into a much shorter time frame.

URBANA, Ill. – In January 2020, professor Jeffrey Brawn was named the inaugural Stuart L. and Nancy J. Levenick Chair in Sustainability, the first endowed chair in the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences (NRES) at the University of Illinois. A pandemic-belated ceremony happened yesterday on the Urbana campus.

URBANA, Ill. -- Millions of people in Asia are dependent on rice as a food source. Believed to have been domesticated as early as 6000 BCE, rice is an important source of calories globally. In a new study from the RIPE project, researchers compared domesticated rice to its wild counterparts to understand the differences in their photosynthetic capabilities. The results can help improve future rice productivity.

URBANA, Ill. – Deep in an Indiana forest, a team of scientists skulked atop hillsides after dark. Carrying radios and antennas, they fanned out, positioning themselves on opposite ridges to wait and listen. Their quarry? Endangered Indiana bats and threatened northern long-eared bats.

URBANA, Ill. – Postmenopausal women have increased risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease due to loss of estrogen from metabolic changes. A high-fat diet further exacerbates the disease, which can progress to cirrhosis and liver failure. Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is an effective treatment, but it carries increased risk of breast cancer, uterine cancers, and cardiovascular disease.

URBANA, Ill. – Organic farmers often struggle to meet the nitrogen demands of corn and other crops. Unlike conventional farmers, with their easy access to inexpensive inorganic nitrogen fertilizers, fewer commercial options are available for organic growers.

URBANA, Ill. – A University of Illinois research team plans to develop a food education curriculum for low-income families, focusing on food management and cooking strategies for better nutrition and less waste. The project is part of a $15 million, five-year grant from the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) that brings together partners from 14 institutions in the first national academic research network on wasted food.