Something to Chew On

When a rural grocery store becomes untenable, the repercussions can be far-reaching. Access to fresh and healthy foods is crucial for community vitality and overall well-being. By cultivating robust partnerships, embracing diverse ownership models, and formulating a comprehensive transition plan, rural grocers can proactively address sustainability and operational challenges before they escalate b...

Water, the essence of life itself, stands as our most indispensable resource, yet often goes unappreciated. Water scarcity and sustainability pose formidable hurdles with far-reaching implications for communities, economies, and ecosystems. To navigate these challenges effectively, innovative research endeavors, advancements in agricultural technology, and collaborative partnerships across academi...

In an era of transformative global shifts—defined by evolving commodity trade patterns, the rise of online shopping, and economic challenges—a critical reevaluation of biosecurity strategies is imperative. Collaborative efforts through international partnerships, innovative approaches in business and technology, and the integration of multidisciplinary methods are essential for ensuring food secur...

Milling of wheat into flour seems like it would be pretty straight forward.  An application that simply requires running seed though a crushing process and sifting out the flour as the appropriate particle size is reached.  The reality is milling is very complex, technically challenging and requires fully interdisciplinary participation.  Variations in the quality of the flour from the perspective...

Is our current food system sustainable?  The consumption of seasonal, locally produced food sustains nutritional value, reduces the carbon footprint, and supports the growth of local economies. In many ways we have lost our connection to food — including understanding where our food comes from, how it is produced, the comradery developed in sharing food, and why it is important to eat seasonally a...

There are so many needs when it comes to food, including the availability of food and its impact on health. How does one make a difference to meet these needs? The ability to identify needs and a passion for making a difference is what drives today's guest, Vickie James, Coordinator of the Manhattan/Riley County Food and Farm Council. In this discussion, Vickie details the Food and Farm Council's...

Food availability and food security are not always guaranteed on college campuses. Issues of food insecurity and a lack of food certainly do not end at the campus borders, but rather extend out into the city, the region and the world. If we treat these problems individually, we will fail collectively.  Where does student health fit into the global food system? How does nutrition connect to a colle...

Poetry provides a conduit for engaging readers in fostering feelings and understandings. Food, creativity, language, and words all play a significant role in our lives and relationships. In the latest episode of Something to Chew On, Traci Brimhall, professor in the Department of English at K-State and Kansas Poet Laureate, shares about her passion for poetry and food. She draws a connection betwe...

How do we maintain relevant information on public health in the arena of local food producers?   Is there a connection between food security and food safety? How do we make information on mitigating these challenges available? In this podcast, we will discuss these issues and more with Londa Nwadike, Extension Associate Professor of Food Safety for Kansas State University and the University of Mis...

The agriculture industry has advanced in many positive ways, including increases in productivity and efficiency, but the cost of those advancements could be high. Current research in agronomy is seeking ways to manage food production that will feed an ever increasing population with improved efficiency, productivity and nutritional value.    Ignacio Ciampitti, professor of agronomy at Kansas State...

The sustainable production of beef cattle and other animal protein is complex, and the achievement of 'net zero' production from an environmental perspective is challenging at best, making it difficult to know where to begin. Areas of focus in this field include using food waste streams as quality animal feed, gathering all the areas of expertise need to tackle sustainability, impacting the microb...

The study of cereal grains comes in many forms, from the fundamental investigation of grain components and their functionality, to processing technologies, to the development of healthy food products ready for consumption.  In this podcast, we welcome Sajid Alavi, professor of grain science and industry, to discuss the importance of cereal grains research in the sustainable production of grain-bas...

When a mechanical engineer, a microbiologist and a food scientist collide, big things happen in a very small way. The old adage, "it takes a village," appropriately describes the importance of an interdisciplinary approach to solving food challenges. In this podcast we talk with Dr. Shih-Kang "Scott" Fan, professor of mechanical engineering at Kansas State, about his work on the development of a "...

The country of Ukraine is a major worldwide producer of cereal grains and cooking oils.  The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine has put food security at risk for many parts of the world.  Our guest for this episode is Antonina Broyaka, former dean of the faculty of economics and entrepreneurship at Vinnytsia National Agrarian University in Ukraine.  Following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Broya...

This summer, 24 recipients from the 2022 Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders program joined K-State faculty in learning about leadership in civic engagement. In this episode, we are pleased to welcome one of those participants, Saykwayee Harmony Henry from the Republic of Liberia. Saykwayee is a mother, public speaker, entrepreneur, advocate for the rights of women and children...

This podcast episode features a team of K-State lipid researchers to help us understand food through basic lipid research and how this work improves what we eat. For this conversation, we welcome Ruth Welti , distinguished professor of biology and director of the Kansas Lipidomics Research Center; Kathrin Schrick , associate professor of biology; and Timothy Durrett , associate professor of bioche...

In this podcast,  Jeongdae Im , Jeffrey and Joy Lessman keystone research scholar and assistant professor in the  Department of Civil Engineering  discusses destructive greenhouse gases in the food system. From hay bales to landfills, plastics to wastewater, the intersection of engineering and microbiological science has allowed Im to tackle multiple challenges in studying ways to mitigate the neg...

In this podcast, we talk with Prathap Parameswaran , associate professor in the Department of Civil Engineering at K-State. Parameswaran's research focuses on the use of anaerobic microorganisms in a continuous system that produces energy and isolates materials that might be used to increase soil nutrients and more. Parameswaran discusses his approach to combating water contamination and its impor...

In this podcast, we talk with Sonny Lee, assistant professor in the Division of Biology at K-State. Lee's work touches on many areas of microbiome research and casts a wide net in laboratory studies, mining data from peers to aid in complex evaluations, and working with students and colleagues capable of critical thinking and problem solving. Lee discusses how we are in the infancy of understandin...

Listen to our first podcast of 2022, where we discuss weed management techniques, old and new, and the tools being developed to achieve food crop yield optimization with Vipan Kumar , Ph. D., Assistant Professor in the Department of Agronomy at Kansas State University. Weeds can reduce food crop yields by more than 30%.  In this podcast, Kumar discusses the ways in which this problem might be solv...

In this episode, we host Dr. Philip Hardwidge , associate director of the Center on Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine and Pathobiology at Kansas State University. Dr. Hardwidge's research focuses on understanding, treating and preventing diarrheal disease caused by bacterial pathogens. These pathogens represent important threats to food safety, bios...

In celebration of World Food Safety Day, this week we are joined by researchers from the  Food Science Institute  at Kansas State University:  Sara Gragg , associate professor;  Randall Phebus , professor; Carla Luisa Schwan, postdoctoral fellow; and  Jessie Vipham , assistant professor.   World Food Safety Day aims to draw attention to foodborne risks and inspire action to prevent, detect and man...

This week, Dr. Sara Gragg , associate professor of food science in the Department of Animal Sciences and Industry , discusses how and where pathogens access meat. The study of E. coli, salmonella and other toxin-producing pathogens has been a major focus of researchers at Kansas State University for many years. Gragg has presented extensively on the topic of food safety and studies processes in fo...

In this podcast, we talk with Dr. Justin Kastner , associate professor in the Department of Diagnostic Medicine/Pathobiology in the College of Veterinary Medicine at Kansas State University. Kastner co-directs the interdisciplinary  Frontier   program, which is focused on crossing disciplinary borders, and overseeing scholarly activities for several academic units. Since food production, shipping...

How do we plan to feed 9.8 billion people by 2050? Increasing the availability of sustainable, arable land through the use of modern robotics could help to expand food production, and reduce the need for destruction of forested land.    In this episode of our podcast, we talk with Dr. Dan Flippo , Patrick Wilburn Keystone Research Scholar in biological and agricultural engineering at Kansas State...