Energy and Environment from the Americas

November 03, 2013

Interesting new fast food packaging design

One frosty night last February, designer Seul Bi Kim was walking home from McDonald’s with one hand frozen from holding her oversized soda and the and the other clutching a burger and fries that were getting soggier by the second.

October 30, 2013

In central Minnesota, potatoes are pushing out forest land

Agriculture is eating into central Minnesota’s forests so aggressively that state regulators and a prominent legislator are sounding the alarm about threats to wildlife habitat and a large, sensitive aquifer that stretches below parts of four counties.

October 30, 2013

Jackson's Honest Potato Chips become semi-finalist in Intuit's Small Business Big Game Competition

Jackson's Honest Chips, a family-owned business making gluten-free potato chips with organic potatoes, organic coconut oil and sea salt has been named one of 20 semi-finalists in the Intuit Small Business Big Game competition.

October 28, 2013

Heat recovery is a fuel-saving winner for Wyandot.

With four tortilla chip ovens operating for three shifts, five days a week, Wyandot, Inc. saw an opportunity to utilize a vast supply of energy that had been going out the exhaust stacks.

September 19, 2013

Conozca cómo el cambio climático afecta los cultivos de papa en los Andes Bolivianos

Video con la presentación y el audio de la charla de Bruno Condori (Centro Internacional de la Papa, CIP) en el webinar realizado recientemente sobre vulnerabilidad de las ciudades andinas al cambio climático.

August 25, 2013

National Potato Commission hosts Oregon farm tour for US EPA regulators

During the week of Aug. 23, the National Potato Council (NPC) led a delegation of five U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) employees in a crop tour of the Columbia Basin growing area in Oregon.

August 07, 2013

Survey Shows Canadians' Support for Their Local Farmers

BMO released the results of a survey which found that supporting regional economies, farmers and jobs, along with fresh food and taste, all trump the cost of food for people choosing to buy local.

August 02, 2013

Tom's of Maine Experimenting with Potato Starch based Packaging

Tom’s of Maine, a leading natural products company focused on oral and personal care, is looking to reduce end-of-life waste from its products even more by experimenting with biodegradable packaging made from potato starch.

July 24, 2013

The hard question: Pesticides or GMO's

De Jong, a potato breeder and geneticist at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, hopes that at least one of the plants will yield a best seller, but it’s far more likely that they’ll amount to compost.

Con desechos de la papa desarrollarán envases biodegradables para la industria avícola

July 04, 2013

Con desechos de la papa desarrollarán en Chile envases biodegradables para la industria avícola

Innovador proyecto, cofinanciado por la Fundación para la Innovación Agraria (FIA), beneficiará directamente a los productores en términos de costos, logística e imagen, al emplear un sistema más sustentable ambientalmente.

May 21, 2013

Simplot hopes to avoid Monsanto's mistakes with biotech potato

A dozen years after a customer revolt forced Monsanto to ditch its genetically engineered potato, an Idaho company aims to resurrect high-tech spuds.

May 21, 2013

Simplot's Moses Lake potato processing plant received Environmental Excellence award

Several green initiatives in place at J.R. Simplot's Moses Lake facility were highlighted during a recent Association of Washington Business meeting.

April 24, 2013

US area facing drought falls below 50 percent for first time in 10 months

Earlier in April, the area in the United States in moderate drought or worse fell below 50 percent for the first time since June 19, 2012, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor.

March 26, 2013

Spring Conditions on the Northern Plains in Sharp Contrast to One Year Ago

Colder than average temperatures and decent snowfall totals during March have producers in the eastern part of North Dakota concerned with the potential of spring flooding, according to the USDA, National Agricultural Statistics Service, North Dakota F...

March 25, 2013

Conagra Foods sustainability projects save 22 million.

ConAgra Foods Lamb Weston Agricultural Services team in Kennewick, WA was among the teams awarded last week when ConAgra Foods, Inc., announced the winners of its 2013 Sustainable Development Awards

Irving Energy's General Manager Darren Gillis stands before compressed natural gas truck. Irving Oil announced today that it has signed an agreement with McCain Foods

March 09, 2013

McCain Foods switches to truck delivered natural gas in New Brunswick and Maine

Irving Oil announced last week that it has signed an agreement with McCain Foods, making it Irving Oil’s newest natural gas industrial customer, and the first in New Brunswick to receive compressed natural gas (CNG) delivered by trucks.

February 20, 2013

GMO Labeling Bill Introduced in US Congress

Today Colorado’s Jared Polis will announce, outside a reborn organic retail store in Boulder, that he is introducing a federal bill in Congress to mandate the labeling of food containing genetically modified organisms in all 50 states.

February 11, 2013

EPA Registration for SmartBlock® Sprout inhibitor of American Vanguard

American Vanguard Corporation (NYSE:AVD) announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, AMVAC Chemical Corporation (AMVAC), has received registration from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for SmartBlock®, a novel potato sprout inhibitor.