Choices Conference Emphasizes Collaboration on Food, Nutrition Issues

Looking to learn more about food trends, cooking heart-healthy meals for families or exploring strategies for teaching nutrition education through school gardening? Then come to the 2010 Choices Conference Mar. 10-11 at the Michigan State University (MSU) Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center.

Choices 2010: Collaboration: There’s Room at the Table is expected to draw more than 200 attendees, including school educators, MSU Extension educators, community and nonprofit organization members, healthcare workers, nutritionists and dietitians. Participants will come to the table on MSU’s campus from across the state to network, learn and collaborate.

“The Michigan Nutrition Network and MSU Extension health and nutrition programs serve limited income families and children with nutrition education programs promoting healthy eating and physical activity,” said conference coordinator Melissa Lonsberry. “The Choices Conference continues to bring together people from diverse backgrounds and professions to discuss and collaborate on emerging and ongoing issues around food, nutrition and health, especially as they relate to disease prevention and the promotion of being physically active. There is room at the table for all at Choices.”

Wednesday’s program will be devoted to professional development through in-depth training sessions. Sessions include food preservation, preparing healthy foods kids will eat, how to use school gardens to teach nutrition lessons, and a poverty simulation and cultural competency session. There will also be a half-day session on coaching strategies for managers.

Thursday’s sessions feature nationally known speakers such as Gerri French, registered dietitian and certified diabetes educator; Dr. Robert Murray, Nationwide Children’s Hospital; award-winning Chef Jamie Minton, Morrison Healthcare Food Services; Dru Montri, association manager for Michigan Farmers’ Market Association, and Mary Jo Asmus, president of Aspire Collaborative Services.

“Participants can learn about improving access and acceptance of local foods—and how chocolate can be a health food!” said Lonsberry. “They can also learn from two executive chefs how to prepare tasty, healthy food for the family. Zumba Dancing and Boot Camp activity breaks will allow participants to stay active, too.”

Meals will be prepared by the award-winning Kellogg Center staff and will feature a variety of Michigan food products, such as dried cherries, apples, maple syrup and ice cream from the MSU Dairy Store. Michigan-produced beers and wines will be available for purchase during the Wednesday night dinner.

Full-conference registration is $175, single-day registration is $100 and registration for the Wednesday dinner only is $50. Early-bird registration ends Feb. 24, and all full-conference registration fees will increase by $25 after that date. Interested participants may register now online at http://web7.anr.msu.edu/choices/Registration.aspx.

Lodging is available at the Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center. To reserve a room, contact the Kellogg Center at 517-432-4000 and indicate you are with the “ANR Week: Choices Conference.”

For more information on the 2010 Choices Conference, visit http://web7.anr.msu.edu/choices/ or contact Melissa Lonsberry at lonsberr@anr.msu.edu or 517-432-5250.

 

MSU Alumnae Gives Back to Students

For Rachel Williams of Wharton, Texas, providing two scholarships to Michigan State University (MSU) animal science majors is a way to give back.

After completing her graduate degree at MSU in agricultural communications, Williams returned to Texas and started her own business, Ranch House Designs, a graphic design and communication firm.

“No matter where I go, I always seem to run into a fellow Spartan who is making a big impact in agriculture and has a great story to share about their time at MSU. I chose to give these scholarships to help other young people enjoy their MSU experience, just as so many others helped me while I was a student at MSU,” she explained.

Williams donated $1,000 for two (2) $500 scholarships. One scholarship is in the name of Ranch House Designs of Wharton, Texas and the other is in the name of V8 Ranch of Boling, Texas. V8 Ranch is her family’s Brahman and Shorthorn seedstock operation.

“I chose MSU because of the opportunity to learn from two of the all-time greatest beef cattle educators ever: Dr. Harlan Ritchie and Dr. Dave Hawkins,” Williams said. “I wanted other students to have the save experience.”

Nicole Starr of Manawa, Wis., was selected to receive the Ranch House Designs scholarship. Starr is a junior animal science major and has worked at the MSU Purebred Beef Cattle Center during her collegiate career. Starr, whose family operates Starr Polled Herefords, has an extensive record of involvement in junior Hereford activities on a state and national basis. Last summer, she completed an internship with the American Hereford Association.

Lance Schoenbine of Auburn, Mich., was selected as the recipient of the V8 Ranch scholarship. Schoebine is a junior animal science major who has worked at the MSU Purebred Beef Cattle Center during his collegiate career. He has been very involved with Limousin cattle on a state and national level and is very active in many of their junior activities. Schoenbine’s interests rest in the beef cattle production side. He has been recognized by his instructors as having excellent potential to be in management for seedstock or commercial cattle operations.

“After earning my master’s at MSU, I discovered a large group of fellow MSU alumni who are leaders in animal science,” Williams said. “When I attend industry events and livestock shows, I am so proud to see the outstanding work being done by MSU animal science faculty, staff and students, especially in the beef cattle area.”

 

Students Get Opportunity to Redesign Landscape Architecture for Campus Icon

At registration, students in Dr. Patricia Crawford’s Community Project Design I class never would have thought they could play a role in history – after all, it’s a landscape architecture (LA) class.

Landscape architecture students from the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction (SPDC) were assigned to redesign the landscape of Agriculture Hall, which turns 100 this year. Crawford, an associate professor, asked her students to develop a design plan and concept sketches for the area surrounding Agriculture Hall.

The idea for the project started when Dr. Scott Witter, dean of SPDC, and Crawford were walking by the building talking about  the fact that this year marks a century for Ag Hall.

“Our students can have an impact on making Ag Hall look like it should and update it for the next 100 years,” Witter said.

The idea fit in with what Crawford hopes to accomplish in the class each time she teaches it.

“This project is really perfect for what we do in this class,” Crawford said. “We really look to our community and try to work on projects that have an impact.”

Students agreed and realized the importance of the project.

“This project is really important,” said Alex Fenech, a senior in the LA program, “We get to be a part of history. One hundred years from now, when thinking about another redesign, people will refer to our designs.”

The project included a presentation and ‘hand-off’ to the deans with a special presentation of all the ideas in the Agriculture Hall atrium. In their designs, students played off the history of Agriculture Hall, as well as acknowledging the changes on campus since it was built. The presentation to deans, directors and faculty members served as an opportunity to test students’ skills at relaying their design ideas in person.

 

People I love: Joy Landis

Lately, the only certain thing around here is uncertainty. The College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, MSU Extension and the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station are restructuring, but no one is sure if and how they will play a role in a more nimble ANR@MSU.

What I do know is this: I work with amazing people. Brilliant people. People that make me proud of ANR@MSU and any shape or form it takes in the future.

One of those people is Joy Landis.

How do I love Joy? Let me count the ways:

• Crop Advisory Team Alerts: During the growing season, fruit, vegetable, field crop and landscape farmers count on CAT Alerts from the Integrated Pest Management Program at MSU for updates on weather, pests, diseases, events and emerging issues. Joy makes sure the CAT Alerts make it to my email inbox, and about 9,300 others.
• Enviro-Weather: There are more than 60 weather stations operating throughout Michigan to feed constantly updated weather information into scientific models that help farmers and homeowners make decisions. Joy is part of the team that keeps that tool running smoothly, and makes sure their messages are consistent and relevant.
• Fill-in-the-blank.msu.edu: Apples.msu.edu, blueberries.msu.edu, cherries.msu.edu, grapes.msu.edu… Joy has had a hand in designing and populating so many useful Web sites it’s tough to keep track.
• @LandisJ: A year ago, I remember Joy asking me for tips on using Twitter effectively. These days, I’m often “retweeting” her excellent links to useful information. She makes ANR@MSU look as good as it is!
• IPM Travels to Central Asia: $1.25 million in renewed funding from the federal government will allow Joy and her colleagues to continue promoting better pest management in key central Asian food crops. Joy traveled overseas with the project this summer and made sure we were all updated via the project blog.

Along with all of the great work Joy does for ANR@MSU, perhaps what makes me appreciate her most is her humble nature.  I didn’t even know Joy had won the Michigan State University All-University Distinguished Academic Staff Award this year until I read about it. Just one more reason to admire Joy and the work she does to better agriculture and natural resources at Michigan State University.

Who do you admire? Have you told them lately?

 

MSU Extension tapped to support H1N1 flu vaccination program

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Michigan State University Extension will support Michigan’s H1N1 inoculation program by mobilizing its statewide network to reach the most vulnerable residents across Michigan.

The Michigan Department of Community Health called on MSU Extension, with offices in 82 counties, to help quickly spread the word about the importance of vaccination.

“The MSU Extension plays a very important role in educating our public about the seasonal and H1N1 flu and how people can help prevent the spread of the virus,” said Janet Olszewski, director of the Michigan Department of Community Health.  “We appreciate the partnership we have with the Extension for our outreach efforts.”

Extension’s presence throughout Michigan uniquely positions it to reach those most in need of immunizations, said Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of the MSU College of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

“MSU Extension staff members and volunteers already have relationships established with most of the groups targeted for immediate vaccination,” Armstrong said. “We’re already in contact with people working with children and youth, pregnant women and other at-risk populations through programs such as the Breast Feeding Initiative, daycare provider training, nutrition education and 4-H. It just makes sense to use the resources MSU Extension already has in place to get out a message as important as this.”

State health authorities recommend the first people to receive the vaccine should be: pregnant women; those having regular contact with children younger than 6 months old; health care and emergency medical services personnel; all people from 6 months through 24 years old; and those 25 through 65 years old with underlying health conditions.

Supporting public health programs is part of the mission of service for MSU. A year ago it was a designated community liaison for the five Michigan counties selected to participate in the National Institutes of Health’s National Children’s Study. Aimed at uncovering the causes of autism, cerebral palsy and asthma, the project will bring more than $70 million in research dollars into the state.

“The Ingham County MSU Extension office has been highly responsive to the changing landscape of public health challenges in our community,” noted Ingham Medical Director Dean Sienko. “From H1N1 control to neighborhood vegetable markets to chronic disease prevention, MSU Extension is a key partner of the Ingham County Health Department.”

For up-to-date information on seasonal and H1N1 influenza, visit www.michigan.gov/flu.

 

MSU research, service programs to close if funds vetoed

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Scores of Michigan State University Extension offices and research stations across the state are jeopardized by a potential funding cutoff, if Gov. Jennifer Granholm blocks appropriations from reaching them.

That’s the assessment of Jeffrey Armstrong, dean of MSU’s College of  Agriculture and Natural Resources, who faces shutting down 82 Extension offices, 15 agricultural and biological research stations and other bioeconomy-based research and Extension programs.

If a gubernatorial line-item veto is issued for state funding of the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station and MSU Extension, the two programs will no longer receive federal matching dollars or millions of dollars in grant funding, he said, and will cease to exist.

“The Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station system and MSU Extension are providing the research, development and education for Michigan’s emerging ‘green’ economy,” Armstrong said. “If funding is eliminated or withheld, we destroy our ability to build the one economic sector in which Michigan has an advantage.”

Those programs, with some 3,000 associated workers and many more residents who rely on their services, are funded under a budget bill on the governor’s desk totaling $64 million for the fiscal year that started Oct.1. Because a budget wasn’t in place in time for the start of the fiscal year this month, a continuation budget funds government programs until the end of the month.

But withholding of October’s payment for Extension and Experiment Station research and education has raised concerns that funding for these critical MSU programs is on the chopping block.

If funding is cut for the two programs, MSUE and MAES will be immediately impacted. Operations such as animal care and completion of critical research harvests will continue until the university can divest such assets. The university is in the process of reviewing all contracts to determine how they can be phased out, Armstrong said, since match requirements cannot be met.

“MSU does not have the resources to fill the gap left by eliminating valuable research and Extension,” Armstrong said. “The university is already challenged in its effort to keep tuition low and compete as a world-class institution in an economic climate that is predicted to get worse in the next few years.”

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For more information…
ANR@MSU on Flickr
ANR@MSU on YouTube
Situation media coverage
Tell Your Story
Budget Impacts on MSU Research and Extension

 

Michigan State University Extension 4-H Event Fuels Interest in Science

Would you like to make your own biofuel? During the “4-H Science Blast,” youth and families can try their hand at biofuel production and several other science-oriented activities from 9 a.m. to noon, October 31 at Michigan State University’s (MSU) Agriculture Hall Atrium.

Rocketry is just one of the 4-H SET programs in which youth can participate.

In addition to turning common substances into biofuel, visitors will also use wind and leg power to create electricity (and learn about energy conservation), command a robot and learn how they are built, learn how a group of Saginaw high-schoolers ran a school bus on used cooking oil, and launch a rocket.

Offered by MSU Extension 4-H Youth Development, the “4-H Science Blast” demonstrates how the Michigan 4-H program –which celebrated its 100th birthday last year — keeps its programming up to date, addressing today’s issues and needs.

“4-H has always been about science. Even 100 years ago, 4-H was created to take research from our land-grant universities, put it in the hands of youth, and have those youth bring the latest research-based techniques back to their families,” said Jake DeDecker, program leader for Michigan 4-H science, engineering and technology (SET) programming. “Today, Michigan 4-H’s SET programming gets kids excited about science through everything from robotics and bio-energy to animal and plant sciences.”

On a national level, 4-H has vowed to use its influence and unique public-private partnership to prepare one million new young people to excel in science, engineering, and technology by 2013. Programs like Michigan’s “4-H Science Blast” are combating some disturbing statistics. According to the 2005 National Assessment of Educational Progress (also known as the Nation’s Report Card) only 18 percent of U.S. high school seniors are proficient in science. Just five percent of today’s U.S. college grads earn degrees in science, engineering or technology — compared to 66 percent in Japan and 59 percent in China according to the National Science Board.

“The ‘4-H Science Blast’ will introduce youth and their families to science, engineering and technology in a way that’s not intimidating or scary — even though the event takes place Halloween morning!” says Michigan 4-H state program coordinator Julie Chapin. “They don’t need to know they’re helping to fight some daunting statistics. They just need to come and have fun!”

Anyone can attend the free program. Parking in the lot adjacent to Agriculture Hall is also free of charge for the event. For driving directions, go to http://maps.msu.edu/files/driving.pdf. Go to http://maps.msu.edu/files/MSUcampus.pdf for a detailed campus map.

 

Michigan State University Product Center Teams with L&L Food Centers to Reward Michigan Entrepreneurs

Local food will take center stage during the Making it in Michigan conference, presented by the Michigan State University (MSU) Product Center on Nov. 11 from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Lansing Center. Two winning food entrepreneurs will earn more than bragging rights at this year’s event.

L&L Food Centers will award two Michigan food products coveted shelf space in their eight mid-Michigan grocery stores as part of the third annual MSU Product Center specialty food show.

“L&L is a Lansing company,” said Rick Zahm, L&L Food Centers general manager.  “We’ve been here for 78 years and MSU has been here for more than 150, so we’re excited to work together to help entrepreneurs and introduce new products to our customers.”

Two winning products will be selected by L&L’s owner, Stan Levandowski, brand manager Martha Levandowski and their team of specialty food professionals. The products will join hundreds of other Michigan-made products offered by the grocery chain, including Legends of the Lakes Great Lakes whitefish and Grand Traverse Pie Company baked goods.

Left to Right: Rick Zahm, L&L Food Centers general manager; Chris Peterson, director of the MSU Product Center; Stan Lewandowski, president of L&L Food Centers and Martha Lewandowski, brand manager of L&L Food Centers.

The MSU Product Center serves more than 600 clients through its statewide network of innovation counselors, and has helped launch 127 new Michigan business ventures in food, agriculture, natural resources and the bioeconomy.

Learn more about the MSU Product Center Making it in Michigan Conference.

Read more about the L&L Partnership.

Find a mid-Michigan L&L Food Center!

Michigan made products are commonly found at L&L Food Centers, but two Michigan entrepreneurs will have the chance to add theirs to the mix at the November 11 competition.

 

Demmer Center takes aim at novices as well as experienced shooters.

Demmer Center

The Oct. 5 opening of the John and Marnie Demmer Shooting Sports Education and Training Center on the MSU campus has been much anticipated in local sports shooting circles since ground was broken July 18, 2008. Excitement was obvious at the open house for the new center on Oct. 2.

That, I had anticipated – what’s not to love for archery and ballistic enthusiasts?  The $3.5 million, 24,000-square-foot facility is one of the largest indoor shooting facilities in the Midwest, offering two indoor ranges and three outdoor archery ranges. The two indoor ranges accommodate small bore (.22 cal. rifle and pistol), air rifle and archery. The outdoor Becky and Bob Humphries Community Archery Park include beginner, field and competitive ranges. And, archery, .22 firearm and air rifle equipment rental is available.

Shooting instruction

What I didn’t expect was my own (non-shooter) excitement. This place is clean, inviting, safe, non-intimidating and family friendly.  I can easily envision coming here with coworkers or even bringing my kids to learn archery or to shoot air rifles.  The staff is friendly, knowledgeable and patient.  And, from the tour I received, I know that safety is their #1 priority, followed quickly by a desire to introduce more people to the joy of their favorite sport.

Outdoor 3-D Archery Range

The Demmer Center is located at 3365 E. Jolly Road at the south end of the MSU campus, midway between College and Hagadorn roads. Public shooting hours are:

• Mon., Wed. and Fri., 11:30 a.m. – 8 p.m.
• Sat., 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
• Sun., noon – 5 p.m. on Sunday.

(Tuesdays and Thursdays are reserved for classes and organized activities.)

Visit the Demmer Center website at www.demmercenter.msu.edu for range fees and other information.

Some targets provide extra incentive

The center is named in honor of MSU alumnus John Demmer, founder and chairman of the Lansing-based Demmer Corp., and his late wife, Marnie, also a graduate of MSU.  The Demmer family provided principal support for the building.

 

Dean Armstrong Welcomes Students Back to Campus

As the new academic year begins, CANR Dean Jeffrey Armstrong welcomes students to the MSU campus.