In his State of the Union address last week, President Biden touched on a topic close to the hearts of U.S. consumers: food prices. In this election year, we can expect high food costs to come up repeatedly, with candidates from both parties invoking price gouging, shrinkflation, and corporate greed. But who do consumers blame? And how do political leanings shift those opinions? A University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign economist explains. 

Consider the globe, spinning silently in space. Its poles and its middle, the equator, remain relatively stable, thermally speaking, for the duration of Earth’s annual circuit around the sun. The spaces between — Earth’s temperate zones — experience seasons, with their characteristic temperature extremes. 

An unassuming brown bovine from the south of Brazil has made history as the first transgenic cow capable of producing human insulin in her milk. The advancement, led by researchers from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and the Universidade de São Paulo, could herald a new era in insulin production, one day eliminating drug scarcity and high costs for people living with diabetes. 

On March 8, over 300 people gathered to dedicate the “Dr.

Early childhood is an important time for learning about nutrition and establishing healthy eating behaviors. Young children rely on parents to provide food options, and the availability of food in the home affects their dietary choices.

Andrew and Karlie Bowman, the innovative minds behind the popcorn brand Pilot Knob Farms, have won the 2024 Glen “GB” Brandt Prize for Ag Entrepreneurism, a prestigious award recognizing a grower, producer, or farmer who exemplifies an entrepreneurial spirit and advances innovation in agricultural practices and products.

The award announcement was made on March 5 at the 2024 AgTech Summit, hosted by the University of Illinois Research Park.

Illinois landowners could be eligible for $5,000 in free soil analyses and consultation with a University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign research team in exchange for participating in a historic project seeking to learn how soils have changed over 120 years. 

Emphasizing the need for interdisciplinary teams to provide “bundles” of services to solve major development challenges around the world, international economist Chris Barrett spoke to several groups at the University of Illinois as part of his visit to the Center for Advanced Study MillerComm lecture series, hosted by the Department of Agricultural and Consumer Economics (ACE) and co-sponsored by over 30 units on campus including the Office of International Programs

March is National Nutrition Month™, an educational and informational campaign sponsored by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. This year’s theme is “Beyond the Table,” encouraging people to think about nutrition from farm to fork, including food production and distribution to grocery stores and farmers markets. It includes how we eat at the table, on the go, in schools, restaurants, games, and events, and emphasizes sustainability and decreasing food waste.