From Our Experts
Allen R Williams, Ph.D., Understanding Ag, LLC Did you know that the health of plants, animals, ecosystems and humans is inextricably tied to plant phytochemical diversity? So, what are phytochemicals? In short, they are compounds naturally produced by plants that help the plants thrive in challenging conditions, fight off competitors, pest insects and disease. When […]
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Ray Archuleta, Understanding Ag, LLC Concerns about the US food chain supply made their way into the mainstream this week, as more meat processing and packaging plants suspend operations temporarily due to coronavirus outbreaks in the workforce. When Smithfield Foods announced it was shutting its Sioux Falls plant indefinitely, CEO Ken Sullivan warned that doing […]
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Allen R Williams, Ph.D., Understanding Ag LLC By the time you read this we will be fully into summer 2020. In many parts of the country it has been much cooler than normal well into the month of May. Even here in Mississippi we have had a very pleasant spring. Nighttime temperatures in the 40s […]
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by Shane New and Gabe Brown Empty shelves and meat cases in grocery stores, oil at negative prices, record unemployment, skyrocketing national debt, the COVID-19 pandemic has affected many aspects of our lives. This crisis has exposed the weaknesses and vulnerabilities of our current system, prompting the need and opportunity for a change. Change has […]
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By Ray Archuleta, Understanding Ag, LLC Food is relationship In my previous blog, I examined several institutional, philosophical and educational issues that have created unintended social distancing in agriculture. In this article, I want to shift the focus to examine another type of “social distancing.” This one involves the “relationship” we have with our food. […]
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By Sara Keough MS, CNS, LDN – Eco-Nutritionist “People are fed by the food industry, which pays no attention to health, and are treated by the health industry which pays no attention to food.”-Wendell Berry It may have been this quote from one of my heroes, farmer and activist Wendell Berry, that inspired me years ago […]
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Ray Archuleta, Understanding Ag, LLC Recently, I went to a local sandwich shop, hoping for a sit-down lunch. But instead I walked into a nearly empty restaurant. This empty area made me feel uneasy, like I had walked into a futuristic sci-fi movie displaying the de-population of humans by some strange pestilence. A sense of […]
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By Gabe Brown, Understanding Ag, LLC It’s the time of the year when many of us are thinking about growing a garden. With the ongoing pandemic highlighting the importance of having a healthy immune system, it is more important than ever that we do what we can to ensure that we are growing and consuming […]
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By Shane New Understanding Ag, LLC I want to preface this blog by stating up front that some may find the contents controversial. My intentions are not to belittle the current situation, anyone or anything an individual does. My intention is to promote thought and conversation as to how our country can move forward so we, […]
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By Gabe Brown and Shane New, Understanding Ag, LLC The continuing COVID-19 pandemic is having a major impact on economies all over the world. Businesses are being closed, work hours reduced and many people have been laid off. The stock market has lost a full one-third of its value in a very short time. This […]
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