NIFA Update with News for You, Aug. 9, 2017

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August 9, 2017

Success Story

Students

Students at 2-year Colleges and Vocational Schools More Likely to Be Hungry 

For the majority of college students, having enough food is not on the list of challenges they face in their education. "Consistent with what most people probably believe intuitively, food insecurity is not a major issue at elite four-year campuses," says University of Illinois agricultural economist Craig Gundersen. However, a recent study shows that, for some college students, hunger is definitely one of the problems they face and this can impede their ability to succeed in college. 

The data show students who attend 2-year colleges and vocational schools are generally from poorer households. They don't have to live on campus in dorms with required meal plans in dining halls. In fact, they are more likely to be still living at home with their parents. If their parents are food insecure, then so are they. Gundersen believes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly known as the Food Stamp Program) is the best social safety net to combat food insecurity in the United States. 

The study, "Assessing food insecurity on campus: A national look at food insecurity among America's college students," is written by Kristin Blagg, Craig Gundersen, Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, and James P. Ziliak. It is published online by the Urban Institute. This report was funded in part by the Lumina Foundation and NIFA.

News for You

Agriculture Secretary Proclaims National Farmers Market Week

Perdue

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue has proclaimed Aug. 6-13 as National Farmers Market Week. This is the 18th year USDA has supported local producers by encouraging families to meet and buy from the farmers and other vendors at their local farmers market.

Throughout the week, thousands of U.S. farmers markets will highlight the range of produce, fruit, meat, dairy, and specialty products available from their local and regional farmers. USDA’s National Farmers Market Directory makes it easy to locate farmers markets in towns and neighborhoods across the country. Buying directly from farmers and ag-entrepreneurs has an outsized impact by helping diversify farm incomes and supporting other businesses to keep more money in the local economy. Photo Credit: USDA

Secretary Perdue and SCORE Sign MOU

Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with officials from SCORE, the nation’s largest volunteer network of expert business mentors, to support new and beginning farmers. The agreement provides new resources for beginning ranchers, veterans, women, socially disadvantaged Americans and others to help them both grow and thrive in agribusiness. USDA and its partners across rural America are working with SCORE to support new farming and ranching operations, and identify and recruit mentors with a wealth of agricultural experience. SCORE mentors will partner with USDA and a wide array of groups hard at work serving new and beginning farmers and ranchers, such as the FFA, 4-H, cooperative extension and land-grant universities, nonprofits, legal aid groups, banks, and technical and farm advisors.

Sonny with 4-H students

Secretary Visits Purdue 4-H Exhibition Complex 

As part of Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue's "Back to Our Roots" RV trip, he toured the Indiana State Fair and visited the 4-H Exhibition Complex. While at the complex, he met with the Biotechnology Team who helped him create a non-newtonian fluid currently being tested in bullet proof vests. He also visited their Maker Space and saw his first 3-D printer in action.

2030

Call for Community Input - Science Breakthroughs 2030

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine study Science Breakthroughs 2030: A Strategy for Food and Agricultural Research is seeking your help in identifying ambitious scientific opportunities in food and agriculture, with special attention to ideas empowered by insights and tools from disciplines of science and engineering not typically associated with food and agriculture.

Share your ideas on our “Idea-Buzz” challenge website—a discussion platform where you will be asked to post your perspectives and ideas for innovative scientific approaches and research concepts. The platform is simple to use and allows contributors to see and comment on all ideas posted. Readers can vote for the ideas they like. Everyone who contributes an idea will be acknowledged in the final study report. In describing your idea, please comment on how the science and engineering approach you describe might:

  • Address a major challenge in food and agriculture
  • Create a novel opportunity to advance food and agricultural science
  • Help overcome a technological barrier
  • Fill a fundamental knowledge gap that currently holds back progress in the food and agriculture fields.
Hannah Sawyer, VT

Research Extension/Education and Experiential Program Grows Next Generation of Plant Scientists

The many mysteries of plants and how they can be used to examine everything, from studying DNA to feeding an ever-growing global population, are at the center of a summer project aimed at growing the next generation of scientists.

This is the first year of the four-year project that is funded by NIFA. A group of eight students from universities across the East Coast are spending five weeks in labs on the Virginia Tech Blacksburg campus followed by five weeks at one of the university’s Agricultural Research and Extension Centers. 

Glenda Gillaspy, head of the Department of Biochemistry, Virginia Tech, and principal investigator on the project, said this experience will help set the students up for success and build top-notch scientists with skills needed to address the challenges that lie ahead.

I loved working in the lab and putting my knowledge to work said Hannah Sawyer, a junior studying agriculture and agricultural education at Virginia State University. Sawyer wants to lead a life of service and said that going into the science of agriculture is a great avenue to do this. "I want to do something for the world, and I feel like agriculture is the best way I can help," said Sawyer.

Grants and RFA Announcements

USDA Announces Support for Ag Science Entrepreneurs

NIFA announced the availability of $400,000 to help university researchers bring their discoveries to the marketplace. The Innovations in Food and Agricultural Science and Technology (I-FAST) competition is a joint initiative of NIFA and the National Science Foundation (NSF). The I-FAST Competition identifies previously awarded NIFA-funded research teams that would benefit from additional support. I-FAST winners will receive mentoring, training, and funding to accelerate the translation of their NIFA-funded research into products and services that can make an impact in the global economy.

The competition will award eight university teams $50,000 each. The awards enable the team members to participate in NSF’s Innovation Corps (I-Corps), a six-month entrepreneurial training program. Teams are also eligible to apply for additional funding through the USDA Small Business Innovation Research Program, administered by NIFA.

The pre-application open period is Aug. 3 to Sept. 8, 2017