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.
A man records a video of music group Big Blue Sky performing during a Sept. 13 music cruise on the upper Mississippi River. Credit: Mark Hoffman, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
The Ag & Water Desk is launching a new series called Curious Basin, where we're answering readers' questions about the Mississippi River, its tributaries and things happening across the greater watershed. The pieces can address basic questions (such as ”How long is the Mississippi River?”), weird myths, and other explorations of environmental issues in the basin. No question is too big, too small, too simple or too strange. The answers will be brief, informative and, we’re sure, interesting!
We know our curious readers are full of burning questions, and we want to make sure we address the issues that interest you. Help guide us by sending us your questions. Please fill out the form below and we'll get to work!
Meanwhile, we're also continuing to create the Desk stories you've come to expect.
Desk reporter Jess Savage, of WNIJ, reported that college students are going hungry at a higher rate than the U.S. population as a whole. More than a quarter of college students across the country lack consistent access to food. By comparison, about 13% of households in the U.S. experience food insecurity, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Some campuses are responding with programs to tackle student hunger. At Northern Illinois University, students can pick vegetables from a school garden and join a free meal prep program. Other schools offer food pantries, assistance in applying for food stamps, and systems to donate meal swipes to their peers.
University of Missouri Kansas City Food Assistance Coordinator Carlen Fidler said there’s a myth that “if you're going to college, like, it's a rite of passage to be poor and only eat ramen. And I really don't believe that needs to be true.”
Desk reporter Madeline Heim, of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, wrote about the centuries-long tradition of music inspired and transported by the Mississippi River. The river's role as a major shipping artery and a force of nature, as well as its historical and cultural significance to the nation, beckons to artists. As riverboats carried songs north and south, jazz and the delta blues spread across the heart of the country. Groups like Big Blue Sky continue to pay homage to the river in their music today.
You can read the full story here and, while you're at it, listen to Madeline’s Mississippi River playlist here.
