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Making a Difference
Study Shows Color Coding Nutrition Labels May Promote Healthier Eating
Researchers at University of Florida are evaluating whether color-coded nutrition facts panels could enhance consumers’ use of nutrition facts panels (NFPs) to make healthier choices. The research team discovered color-coded NFPs can attract more attention and make it easier for consumers to make healthier purchase decisions. They also reduce the time needed for such decisions. The NIFA-supported project also found that the color-coded system also simplified the decision-making process. Participants found it easier to process nutritional information and make purchasing decisions when presented with the colored labels. Read more about their research.
Woman looking at product label. Image courtesy of Adobe Stock.
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2025 Hatch Lecture Nominations Close June 6
Nominations for the William Henry Hatch Lecture will close on Friday, June 6. The Hatch Lecture is part of a Memorial Lecture series sponsored by NIFA and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU). Given at the APLU Annual Meeting, the lecture honors one of three important historical figures of the Land-grant University System: William Henry Hatch, Seaman A. Knapp, and Justin Smith Morrill.
This year’s lecture will honor William Henry Hatch, a Congressman from Missouri who championed the Agricultural Experiment Station Founding Bill, which became law in 1887, and to celebrate the accomplishments of the Experiment Station System that the Hatch Act created. The William Henry Hatch Memorial Lectureship recognizes outstanding contemporary leadership in research and outstanding contributions as a researcher.
Submit nominations no later than June 6 using this form.
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 NIFA Awards Nearly $23 Million to Thwart Devastating Citrus Greening Disease
NIFA has funded 14 projects with nearly $23 million through the Emergency Citrus Diseases Research and Extension (ECDRE) program. The ECDRE program brings scientists and citrus industry representatives together to find scientifically sound solutions that combat and prevent citrus greening (HLB) at the farm-level. This year’s grants include one coordinated agricultural project utilizing gene editing technologies to speed up the development of non-transgenic HLB tolerant citrus varieties. Other awarded grants will focus on improving ongoing oxytetracycline injection treatments in HLB infected citrus, investigating therapeutics and their delivery into the citrus phloem, developing novel Asian Citrus Psyllid antifeedant insecticides and establishing the molecular characterization of HLB susceptibility genes, among others.
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University of Alaska Extension Finds Invasive Plants Are Not Pollinator Favorites
University of Alaska Cooperative Extension Service professionals knew that many community members are hesitant to remove invasive plants, such as bird vetch and white sweetclover, because they fear harming pollinator populations.
For two summers, Alaska Extension entomologist Alex Wenninger monitored the number and type of pollinating wasp and bee visitors to a variety of common native flowering plants as well as bird vetch and white sweetclover. Using this data, she calculated the importance of each species to pollinators across various metrics such as the number of pollinator species found on each plant species and the abundance of those pollinators.
Bird vetch was last in every metric, and white sweetclover performed only slightly better. Read more about this NIFA supported Extension work.
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Students ask USDA AI Fellow Kyle Psilopoulos for technical advice and guidance on their approach. USDA image.
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The National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) is committed to ensuring that its programs and services are accessible to all individuals, including individuals with disabilities and individuals with limited English proficiency. If you need a reasonable accommodation to participate in any NIFA event, please contact the appropriate Program staff no later than 10 days prior to the event. To find Program staff by event, please visit the NIFA Calendar of Events. NIFA Language access services, such as interpretation or translation of vital information, will be provided free of charge to limited English proficient individuals upon request. If you need interpretation or translation services please visit NIFA language services or contact Lois Tuttle, Equal Opportunity Specialist, at Lois.Tuttle@usda.gov or (443) 386-9488 no later than 10 days prior to the event.
NIFA’s mission is to invest in and advance agricultural research, education, and Extension that solves societal challenges. NIFA’s investments in transformative science directly support the long-term prosperity and global preeminence of U.S. agriculture. Keep informed about NIFA, USDA, our Land-grant and non-Land-grant university partners, and stakeholders with the NIFA Update. Read past issues online, sign up for email updates or follow us on X (formerly Twitter) @USDA_NIFA, #NIFAImpacts or LinkedIn @usda-nifa.
If you wish to submit a news item or information, send an email to NIFAUpdate.
USDA is an equal opportunity lender, provider, and employer.
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