Free Republic

Preliminary research offers clues about what may shape your cravings for sweets.Key Pounts: New research indicates genetics may influence how strongly you perceive sweetness and how rewarding sweet foods feel, which can shape your food preferences and eating habits. A preliminary study of nearly 500,000 people found that those with a higher genetic predisposition to prefer sweets ate about 7 grams more of sweet foods each day. Dietitians suggest that choosing naturally sweet foods, pairing sweets with protein or fiber, and gradually reducing added sugar can help you manage a preference for sweets. The difference between happily skipping dessert and...

Drive from Buffalo into Genesee County and you will pass fields that have grown corn and soybeans for generations. Soon, thousands of those acres will be covered by steel and glass. New York state is forcing industrial-scale solar plants onto rural communities that never asked for them, and the people who live there are discovering just how little their voice counts when a governor decides differently. The Mandate Behind The Mess.. New York is tearing up rural communities, wiping out wildlife sanctuaries, and burying prime agricultural soil under solar installation in the name of green energy. The root of this...

War is never a picnic, and the American Civil War became the deadliest war in US history. What everyone thought would end in a matter of weeks became a four-year battle between the Union and the Confederacy. The amount of supplies and rations needed was sometimes underestimated because the war dragged on, and soldiers on both sides had to get creative with their meals. Soldiers during the Civil War were used to having their meals cooked for them, so it was a steep learning curve out on the battlefield and with sparse ingredients. The rations were technically edible but not...

...Republicans have spent years warning that China should not be allowed to buy American farmland. But some Republican insiders are getting paid by the Chinese-controlled company sitting squarely in the middle of that fight.... ...Among them are former aides to Republican Sens. John Warner and Susan Collins, a former House Republican Conference official, and a former U.S. Department of Agriculture official.... ...disclosure lists DeLacy, Ross, Joel Roberson, and former USDA official Peter Tabor lobbying more broadly on “issues related to foreign ownership of agricultural land.”..

Highly pathogenic avian influenza in Korea (Rep. of ~) Suspected outbreak (Disease never reported before in the Republic of Korea). Emergency report Information received on 12 Dec 2003 from Dr Chang-Seob Kim, Chief Veterinary Officer, Animal Health Division, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), Gwacheon: Date of the report: 12 Dec 2003. Date of initial detection of animal health incident: 11 Dec 2003. Outbreaks: Location Eumsung district, Chungcheong-buk province, in the central part of the country) No. of outbreaks: 1 farm [This is not good news, as recent outbreaks of Avian Influenza have been in the southeastern most part of...

Are we about to see a disruption of the avocado supply chain? It's possible. Violent criminal drug cartels are connected with much that goes on in our neighbor to the south, Mexico — and that includes the highly lucrative market for avocados in the United States. At least four drug cartels — designated as foreign terrorist organizations by the Trump administration — operate in the region, profiting not only from narcotics trafficking but also from extortion schemes targeting the lucrative avocado industry. Security threat shuts down avocado pipeline from Mexico to the US https://t.co/zrY4Kn4q3a pic.twitter.com/XGGYFTgr0r— New York Post (@nypost) August...

The courier said that he was given the vials by Yusen Zhou, who worked for China's Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and that the vials were intended for Fang Li, a researcher at the University of Minnesota. ... The courier said that he was given the vials by Yusen Zhou, who worked for China’s Academy of Military Medical Sciences, and that the vials were intended for Fang Li, a researcher at the University of Minnesota who has co-written papers with Zhou. Laboratory testing from DHS and the FBI confirmed that porcine epidemic diarrhea virus spike protein was in the vials,...

With ASF ‘dangerously close to our shores,’ APHIS is preparing to protect its pig herd.The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) highlighted ways it was looking to combat a potential outbreak of African swine fever (ASF). During the House Agriculture Committee’s Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy and Poultry hearing, “A Review of USDA Animal Disease and Response Efforts,” held April 18, USDA Marketing and Regulatory Programs Under Secretary Jenny Moffitt, and APHIS Veterinary Services Associate Deputy Administrator Alecia Naugle, fielded questions from subcommittee members about preparedness strategies. The hearing was held in advance of...

Two new studies examining gray wolves in California paint a complex picture of life on California’s ranching landscapes: wolves eat cattle more than anything else and the presence of the predators causes significant stress among livestock. ... wolves from the Lassen and Harvey packs in northeastern California were primarily eating cattle. They collected scat samples during the summer months of 2022 and 2023 and found 72% of wolf scat contained cattle DNA. .... Wolves are a state and federally recognized endangered species. The first confirmed wolf entered California in 2011, following a nearly 100-year absence. The California Department of Fish...

When people see Timothy Barkman's four-horned Jacob sheep at his farm near Lingle, they stop and stare at the ancient breed that looks part biblical legend and part heavy-metal mascot. The breed likely originated in Syria roughly 3,000 years ago. Timothy Barkman raises the rare heritage breed on his family's 105-year-old homestead. They're an the ancient breed that looks part biblical legend and part heavy-metal mascot. (Timothy Barkman) ======================================================================================== When people see Timothy Barkman's four-horned Jacob sheep at his farm near Lingle, they stop and stare. The sheep look unlike almost anything else grazing Wyoming pastures. Their piebald coats are...

Labour is poised to encourage farmers to give up beef production and plant lentils to help combat climate change. On Wednesday, the Government's long-awaited "farming roadmap" proposed helping landowners switch from high-emission farming – such as cattle – towards "growing oilseeds and pulses" to meet the increased demand for plant-based goods. "Farmers will play a critical role in delivering this transition by adopting practices that reduce emissions while sustaining productive, commercially viable businesses," the Government said. The farming roadmap is intended to set out a long-term vision for British agriculture. It is seen as an attempt by the Government to...

Archaeologists uncovered the earliest known evidence of cereal harvesting in the Canary Islands, according to a report in La Brújula Verde. The discovery was made at the C008 cave complex at the Roque Bentayga rock formation on Gran Canaria. The site was likely used as a granary, for plant processing, and, later, as a burial ground by the ancient Canarians, a people of Amazigh, or Berber, origin, between the tenth and the thirteenth centuries. Excavations within the caves yielded over 200 lithic artifacts. Microscopic analyses of wear patterns on some of the objects, particularly a small basalt knife, determined that...

According to a statement released by the University of York, analysis of grape seeds recovered from mud at the bottom of wells carved into the rock at the Etruscan and Roman site of Cetamura del Chianti suggests that vintners there cloned vines that produced white berries. Oya Inanli of the University of York said that a majority of the seeds in the study were dated to between 300 B.C. and A.D. 300 and belonged to this single variety of grape. After the Romans conquered central Italy, new varieties of grapes were introduced to the site. The study also showed that...

You've probably heard that adults should aim for 10,000 daily steps. This one-size-fits-all approach provides a clear message, though it doesn't consider how varied human lifestyles and bodies are. In 2024, an international team of researchers found that even the most sedentary among us could ward off the harmful effects of sitting by incorporating more steps into our day. Sedentary lifestyles are increasingly common, and we know they're linked to higher odds of dying from cardiovascular disease (CVD), greater risk of cancer and diabetes, and a shorter lifespan. Those risks are lower for people with higher step counts and faster-paced...

The case in Andrews County included an infested dog. Another case included a goat in Gillespie County. by Three more cases of New World screwworm were confirmed in Texas by the U.S. Department of Agriculture on Monday, bringing the total number of cases to five. One new case is in Andrews County, nearly 400 miles north of Zavala County, where the first case was reported last week. The new cases are in different animals. In La Salle County, about 80 miles southeast of Zavala, a calf has been infected. In Andrews County, a veterinarian submitted the samples from an infested...

Australian beef exports to China could be hit with a 55 per cent tariff within days. Earlier this year, Beijing announced a quota on Australian beef of 205,000 tonnes a year...

Karell Reader’s heart sank when she saw acres of apple trees piled up on her neighbor’s Watsonville farm last month. Her neighbor used to sell apples to California cider empire S. Martinelli & Company, but he was forced to bulldoze dozens of apple trees after the company canceled his contracts. For farmers in Pajaro Valley, a fertile region between Monterey and Santa Cruz, growing and selling Newtown pippin apples to Martinelli’s had been a lifeline for over a century. But now, apple farmers like Reader’s neighbor are scrambling to find solutions after the 158-year-old company blindsided them by canceling their...

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (FOX26) — A woman was arrested after an investigation near an orchard revealed stolen fruit and drug paraphernalia on Tuesday, deputies say. A Fresno County Deputy was on patrol in the area between Kingsburg and Parlier, noticed a car pulling out of a nectarine orchard near the intersection of Zediker and Rose avenues around 2 a.m. The deputy stopped the car and contacted the driver, 40-year-old Zulema Garcia Cruz. Garcia Cruz was arrested for having outstanding warrants for drug possession and petty theft. During a further search of the orchard, the deputy found a pickup truck with...

Here’s another painful reminder to never follow the leftists who smugly told us to “follow the science”: The Democratic Party of Wisconsin can’t seem to tell a cow from a bull. That’s not only embarrassing in America’s Dairyland, such confusion during milking could prove fatal. In a now-deleted social media post, the party welcomed National Dairy Month with an image of wispy white clouds, blues skies, and two beefy bulls. As others in my beloved purple home state have helpfully pointed out, you can’t milk a bull. And, again, pity the fool who tries. Actually, the mistake is quite fitting...

Abraham Enriquez, who is in the runoff for Texas’s 19th Congressional District, said his campaign is rooted in faith, coalition building, and bringing West Texas values to Washington. “I’ve had the honor of organizing and creating an organization, not based out in DC, not based out in Austin, based out right here in West Texas, that today has grown into one of the largest organizations that has brought in over a million new evangelical Christians into the Republican coalition. That organization has also been a partner to the Domestic Policy Council of the White House, both Trump Administration One and...