science

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA's rich science and research profile.

For a lot of people, the food we eat gives us energy to get through the day. However, it’s important to realize that food is more than just calories; there are compounds in food that are essential to strengthening our bodies and improving our health. Food is functional. These compounds may not be essential for normal functioning in humans, but they do have a beneficial effect on disease prevention and general health.

Scientists at Ohio State University (OSU) have conducted research on two foods that could aid in the fight against prostate cancer: tomatoes and soy. With support from USDA’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture, the Center for Advanced Functional Foods Research and Entrepreneurship at OSU has developed a cancer-fighting tomato soy juice.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA's rich science and research profile.

Amber Waves, the flagship magazine of the Economic Research Service has embraced the digital age with its recent launch of a mobile application that readers can download free on iPads and other tablets. It’s among the first government magazines to be available via a mobile app. Readers can now access the magazine on the bus or metro, on a plane, in the classroom – essentially anywhere and anytime - with a touch to their screen.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA's rich science and research profile.

“High tech” isn’t always about images from outer space or a new computer technology, or even the genetic composition of a key crop.

Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are using a high-tech science called “epigenetics”—which means “above genetics”—to help achieve something even more wonderful: a healthier future for our children.

We have a tremendously productive agriculture sector in the United States. In my lifetime, agriculture production has tripled. In 1950, a dairy cow produced about 5,300 pounds of milk each year; today, it’s 22,000 pounds per year.

As the oldest of 11 children, Barbara C. Weber is accustomed to being the “first.” With top family ranking comes responsibility, and Weber had plenty of it.

Growing up on her family’s 160-acre dairy farm in Bloomington, Wis., Weber, along with her siblings, helped clean the barn, pick up eggs and tend to the animals.  Her innate curiosity and connection to nature led to her love of science.

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This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA's rich science and research profile.

Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but the scientists of USDA’s Agricultural Research Service (ARS) still have some sweet news to share:  In a classic case of turning trash into treasure, they’ve created a biodegradable plastic made from sugar beet pulp.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA's rich science and research profile.

In 2011, close to 15 percent of U.S. households had trouble meeting their food needs. This phenomenon is known as food insecurity, and it means that at some time during the year, these households lacked adequate food for one or more household members due to insufficient money or other resources for food.

Almost three years ago, two biology professors at Delta State University in Mississippi brainstormed how to give science undergraduates research experience in microbiology and entomology.

They hit upon the idea of searching for “science gold” in the bellies of bugs.

Professors Tanya McKinney and Ellen Green received $40,000 through a grant for under-represented colleges from the U.S. Forest Service to help with the project. As part of their research experience, students in the program search the guts of beetle larvae to discover new cellulases, enzymes that break down cellulose, an organic compound that helps make plant cell walls rigid.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA's rich science and research profile.

With restaurant and take-out meals an everyday occurrence for many, the choices we make when eating out can have a big impact on our health. Federal surveys find that Americans, on average, get 32 percent of their calories from foods ordered from restaurants, fast food places, and other away-from-home sources, up from 18 percent of calories 30 years ago.

This post is part of the Science Tuesday feature series on the USDA blog. Check back each week as we showcase stories and news from USDA's rich science and research profile.

Chances are that among many of the Americans who made a New Year’s resolution, nutrition figures somewhere in their goal. They may be aiming to shed a few pounds, or opt for a healthier diet, or perhaps they’re going for the whole package of a healthier lifestyle encompassing both diet and exercise.

While it’s not exactly a New Year’s resolution, a group of federal agencies is making a fresh start this month with the Interagency Committee on Human Nutrition Research (ICHNR), co-chaired by Dr. Catherine Woteki, USDA Chief Scientist and Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, and Dr. Howard Koh, Assistant Secretary for Health in the Department of Health and Human Services. The committee was chartered in 1983 and will be reestablished in 2013.