A support group and a lab in the St. Louis area provide resources for people with the allergy to mammal products — and evidence that its effects can be reversed.
Michael Katrutsa walks through rows of tomatoes on his 20-acre produce farm in Camden, Tennessee. His crops also include sweet corn, watermelon, cantaloupe, peppers, cucumbers, okra and more. Credit: John Partipilo, Tennessee Lookout
We hope you had a nice week -- we were off for a quick vacation, and are back with lots of new Ag & Water Desk stories from across our new newsrooms and reporters.
Our homepage right now shows the range of people and places our new cohort is digging into in their first months on the job. We have stories from the Gulf and Southeast to tribal country in the Missouri basin -- stories of faith and culture, food and community, small farms and climate adaptation and more.
Our reporters at the Tennessee Lookout, Mississippi Free Press and Arkansas Times teamed up to look at a World Wildlife Fund report (funded by the Walton Family Foundation, which also provides major funding for the Ag & Water Desk) considering whether the Mississippi River delta region has an opportunity to become the "next California" for growing specialty crops like berries as the climate warms.
This potential shift could be an economic boon for farmers looking to diversify their crops. But our reporters found it comes with all kinds of unexpected challenges -- like new pests and diseases to deal with, more labor-intensive, hands-on harvests and questions of where to market new products that could bolster local food systems.
“We are forward-thinking farmers who want to change, who want to do something different,” said sixth-generation Arkansas farmer Hallie Shoffner, who is putting WWF’s models to the test through a nonprofit called the Delta Harvest Food Hub. “We know we cannot make as much money as small farms in the current agricultural economy.”
We have lots of other collaborative projects in the pipeline right now, on hot topics like the 2024 election, state wetlands policies after the Supreme Court's Sackett decision and access to air conditioning amid increasing extreme heat.
Thanks as always for keeping up with us, and stay tuned.
Yours,
Annie Ropeik Assistant Director, Ag & Water Desk
📻🎧 Farm to Trouble on NPR
Did you catch the Ag & Water Desk on your local public radio station last week? Desk contributor and St. Louis Public Radio reporter Eric Schmid brought our series on agricultural runoff into the Gulf of Mexico to NPR's All Things Considered on Aug. 15. Listen here.
Shifting produce growth to the Mid-Delta comes with hurdles: it requires buyers willing to try new markets, understanding of new crops’ diseases and needs, specialized equipment like cold storage and lots of expensive hands-on labor.
By Cassandra Stephenson, Tennessee Lookout; Illan Ireland, Mississippi Free Press; and Phillip Powell, Arkansas Times
Worker Carolyn Preble helps out Tennessee farmer Mike Katrutsa at the farm's produce store, restocking tomatoes. Credit: John Partipilo, Tennessee Lookout
Thousands of Catholics converged on the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to New Orleans last week for the Fête-Dieu du Mississippi. The procession's concept of a blessing from God bestowed upon a fleet of ships and those who come out to witness it has deep roots in Louisiana tradition.
By Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator
Clergy and congregants pushed the 14-foot-tall golden sculpture, called a monstrance, through the streets of Baton Rouge to the Mississippi River. Credit: Elise Plunk, Louisiana Illuminator
Since May, many enrolled in the Food Distribution Programs on Indian Reservations (FDPIR) and senior commodity food programs have faced shortages and delayed, incomplete or missing deliveries.
By Grace Fiori, Buffalo's Fire
A woman stocks rice at the Houston Food Bank in 2020. Credit: Lance Cheung, USDA
