Students from Appalachian State University (ASU) are heading to France with a “reimagined” row house using soy-biobased products to compete against 20 global teams in the Solar Decathlon Europe 2014. According to the United Soybean Board, soy-based, formaldehyde-free plywood as well as durable floor matting are important features of Maison Reciprocity, ASU’s solar-powered row house developed with their partner school, …
Panera Bread and Millennials
How many of you remember the Panera EZChicken campaign? If so, you know that it sparked a social media response from the agriculture community due to the way farmers were portrayed who did not farm the way Panera wants their food ingredients farmed. Panera did issue an apology and you’ll hear another one in this week’s program.
Silent Auction Benefits Interns & Aggies
It’s a familiar sight at a lot of conferences. The silent auction. This one is for the Animal Agriculture Alliance and took place at the Stakeholders Summit About $4,000 were raised this year. There were some great agnerd items like an iPad mini, Mophie phone charger and more. The funds are used to support the AAA summer intern program and …
KernelQuest for Your Smart Phone
Look down on your smart phone! It’s a bird, it’s a plane – it’s Captain Cornelius! The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) just launched a new smartphone/tablet game featuring beloved character Captain Cornelius. “KernelQuest is a game of skill, maneuverability and all-around corniness. Join Captain Cornelius, our a-maize-ing superhero in green spandex, as he defies gravity and weaves his way …
AAA College Aggies
The Animal Agriculture Alliance presented scholarships to several of the members of the current College Aggies Online group. Last November the Alliance announced the winners of the fall competition. Members of the University of Wisconsin, Madison Association of Women in Agriculture formed the top-scoring club with 229,820 total points, earning $5,000.00. Louisiana State University Les Voyageurs came in second place …
Millennial Staffers on the Hill
The first panel discussion of the 2014 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit focused on millennial staffers on the hill. Moderating the discussion was Chandler Keys, The Keys Group. The panelists each spoke first with ideas for approaching elected officials effectively, especially since the first step is often with a millennial generation staffer like themselves. I selected a quote from each …
Farmland: The Student Perspective
On May 8, the documentary Farmland was shown in Ames, Iowa and many Iowa State students were able to attend the showing. I was able to catch up with Brady Zuck, a senior in animal science, afterwards and ask him what his thoughts were on the film. In the interview, that you can listen to fully below, Brady talks about …
Cooking for Millennials
At the 2014 Animal Agriculture Alliance Stakeholders Summit we’ve heard a lot about food and what millennials like and what triggers their choices. However, I liked a comment by Jason Clay, World Wildlife Fund, who said we’ve got 7 billion food experts in the world. So really, regardless of what generation you’re in we all have opinions about food. An …
College Cafeteria Confidential
It might sound like something secret but a panel of college “Millennials” talked about “College Cafeteria Confidential: Millennials in the Lunch Line.” Our moderator was Rob Morasco, Sodexo USA. During his session I heard some terms like sustainability and food justice from the George Washington University students participating. I got some contrasting views from two of our panelists. First up …
African Seed Industry Dominated by Local Start-Ups
Locally-owned African seed companies participating in a program to offer high-yield crop varieties to smallholder farmers across the continent have collectively become the largest seed producers in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report released today at the Grow Africa Investment Forum alongside the World Economic Forum on Africa. The analysis by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa …