- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
UC Davis genetic resources analyst Adi Damania responded in a letter to the Woodland Daily Democrat to an article on global warming published in the same newspaper by another UC Davis researcher.
The original article, summarized in this blog entry, provided details of a new report about the projected impact of global warming on Yolo County agriculture.
Damania made the point that plant genetics may be the ticket to maintaining a viable agriculture industry in a warmer climate with less rain. Adapting to global warming, he wrote, "will require a change...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
In the media coverage of Proposition 2's campaign and passage, reporters have made liberal use of puns. Here are a few examples:
Prop 2 . . .
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would crack the state's egg industry
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lays an egg for state producers
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is a study in cage fighting
There were many more, but Jim Downing of the Sacramento Bee came up with what I think is the best pun. In a story published last Saturday, he wrote:
"To a huge majority of California voters, it seems, the chicken does come before the egg."
For the story, Downing spoke to animal...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The latter third of a 1,100-word article on backyard chickens published today in the Christian Science Monitor was based on information from UC Davis Cooperative Extension specialist Francine Bradley.
The article was a trend piece on growing interest in keeping chickens in urban or suburban settings to supply families with fresh eggs, organic fertilizer and pest control.
Bradley told reporter Maryann Mott that the responsibility taken on when adopting chickens is no different from that for more traditional pets, like dogs and cats.
"If you're going to be the steward of an animal, you should know how to take care of it before you...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
The Santa Rosa Press Democrat ran a story today marking harvest time for North Coast artisan olive oil producers. Though the area's high-end olive oil producers are "making money," reporter Robert Digitale wrote that the high labor cost associated with harvest makes olive oil production a "labor of love."
With information from UC Cooperative Extension farm advisor Paul Vossen, the article compared the small-scale, specialty olive oil production of the North Coast with large-scale olive operations in California's Central Valley.
The...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
You may have heard it before, but it bears repeating: beer is healthy in moderation. The Birmingham (Alabama) News ran a story yesterday with all the details from UC Davis brewing scientist Charles Bamforth. Bamforth, chair of the UC Davis Food Science and Technology Department, is the author of "Grape vs. Grain, A Historical, Technological, and Social Comparison of Wine and Beer" (available for just $17.82 on Amazon.com).
According to the story,...
