News

How COVID-19 impacts food waste along the supply chain.

From Farmdoc Daily

The Covid-19 pandemic has created massive disruptions in the food system, from farm to fork. In some cases, we have observed and experienced severe food shortages. In others, food cannot reach end consumers and is ultimately wasted. Food waste is not new or novel in our current food system; however, images and reports of whole fields being plowed under and millions of gallons of milk being dumped during a time of such economic hardship and increased food insecurity raises questions about how Covid-19 has impacted food waste along the supply chain.

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Dr. Hope Michelson tells us about her research and why it matters in under three minutes.

Watch the video below!

Just published! Catalina Herrera-Almanza, a new assistant professor in ACE and CEOS affiliate, co-authored a study on community-based health interventions in Madagascar and their effects on women's fertility choices. Read the full article in the Journal of Health Economics. 

Herrera-Almanza, C. & Rosales-Rueda, M. F. (2020). Reducing the cost of remoteness: Community-based health interventions and fertility choices. Journal of Health Economics, 73, 02365, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2020.102365

Check out the first episode of the CEOS Podcast: "Birds and Neonic Pesticides": an interview with the authors of a newly published study on how neonicotinoid pesticides affect bird biodiversity in the U.S.

Thanks to Dr. Madhu Khanna and Dr. Ruiqing Miao for the being the guinea pigs for this first interview. Please excuse the audio quality, this was recorded on home computers during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Find the full study in Nature Sustainability: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-020-0582-x

Republished from the University of Illinois press release, August 10, 2020

URBANA, Ill. ­– Bird biodiversity is rapidly declining in the U.S. The overall bird population decreased by 29% since 1970, while grassland birds declined by an alarming 53%.

Valuable for so much more than flight and song, birds hold a key place in ecosystems worldwide. When bird numbers and varieties dwindle, pest populations increase and much-needed pollination decreases. Those examples alone negatively impact food production and human health.

Likely reasons for the far-reaching and devastating declines include intensified agricultural production, use of pesticides, conversion of grassland to agricultural land, and climate change. A new study from University of Illinois points to increased use of neonicotinoid insecticides as a major factor in the decline, says Madhu Khanna, distinguished professor in agricultural and consumer economics at U of I and co-author on the paper, published in Nature Sustainability.