Jessica Naudziunas

The sustainable hand

Jessica Naudziunas — Thu, 07 Jun 2012 22:00:00 +0000

The farmer of future will grow food and raise animals with tomorrow in mind. They’ll know contributing to the food supply is not enough. If the soil, air and water they use to produce food is damaged, good luck feeding anyone.

Soccer Star With Soap Opera Roots Aims At Olympics

Jessica Naudziunas — Mon, 07 May 2012 23:11:00 +0000

Indiana University soccer star Orianica Velasquez is on a mission — to get to the London Olympics with Colombia's women's soccer team. And she wants to send a message about the country where she was born.

"My dream is to get a medal for Colombia," she says, adding that she wants to show the world "it's just not violence, it's just not drugs — we can play soccer and we can do great things because we have great people there."

The coach of the Colombian women's team, Ricardo Rozo, says he didn't discover Velasquez's raw athletic talent on the field — he discovered it on TV.

Missouri ponders protections for animal ag

Jessica Naudziunas — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:57:37 +0000

There's a Missouri bill moving through the statehouse that essentially would lock in the legality of current animal production methods in the state.

Milk Not Jails Makes Partners Out Of Farmers And Ex-Cons

Jessica Naudziunas — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 22:21:00 +0000

What's plentiful in upstate New York? Cows and prison inmates, to name a few things.

Reformists in the two communities don't make natural allies, but organizer Lauren Melodia is trying to do just that.

"I was living in this prison town, and at the same time, the dairy industry was in a lot of turmoil," Melodia tells The Salt. "We thought this [dairy] might be the perfect ally in trying to build a different economy in upstate New York, and shift some of the economic dependency away from the prison system."

So Melodia formed the non-profit Milk Not Jails.

For many ranchers, profits dry up

Jessica Naudziunas — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 17:55:20 +0000

With ground beef selling for record prices, you might think cattle ranchers are raking in the profits.

Fake meat from Missouri

Jessica Naudziunas — Fri, 23 Mar 2012 18:49:47 +0000

While only 2 or 3 percent of people in the U.S. are vegetarians, more than 40 percent of Americans age 18-29 choose to eat meatless once a week.

A Texas-sized profit-squeezing beef crisis

Jessica Naudziunas — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:11:39 +0000

Maybe you’ve noticed that the price of beef is going up, rather dramatically. No matter what supermarket aisle you’re in, don’t look for relief from any time soon.

Translating science into news

Jessica Naudziunas — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 18:16:52 +0000

Scientists researching complex topics often come up empty-handed when it comes time to explain their findings. It’s hard to distill years of intricate, complex research into tiny bytes a layman can understand.

Assessing the additives

Jessica Naudziunas — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 23:05:07 +0000

Pick up your favorite packaged food and read the ingredient list.

If you stumbled over any of the words or a color jumped out at you, you might be looking at what’s known as a food additive.

Nixon answers questions on flood protection

Jessica Naudziunas — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 16:12:56 +0000

Governor Jay Nixon met with Missouri Levee and Drainage District members in Columbia this weekend. He and other state and federal officials responded to over eight months of questions from farmers and others on how Missouri’s waterways will be protected from future massive flooding. This is the first time a Missouri governor attended an annual levee district association meeting in over 15 years, and with good reason, as Governor Nixon addressed the standing room only crowd, he branded 2011: “the year of natural disasters.”