SEATTLE – Destructive fruit flies were detected for the first time in eastern Washington. The Asian red-eyed fruit flies were spotted in five major fruit production regions. They damage ripening soft fruit by laying eggs in it.
According to a researcher at Washington State University, some peach growers in Oregon reported losing 50% of their...
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Tags: agriculture, garden pests, Oregon, pest, Washington
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This weekend, around 30,000 people are expected to descend on Sequim, Washington for that small town’s 14th annual lavender festival. Organizers boast it is North America’s biggest celebration of the purple herb. Lavender festivals are blossoming all over the Northwest. There’s another one in Twin Falls, Idaho this Saturday and on San Juan Island,...
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Tags: agriculture, food, Idaho, lavender, Oregon, Washington
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JORDAN VALLEY, Ore. – The term “cattle rustling” might conjure scenes from an old spaghetti western. But in the vast desert range of Oregon, Idaho and Nevada, cattle rustling is a modern-day problem. In the past three years nearly 27-hundred cattle have gone missing in Oregon. Wanted posters are being tacked up in small-town...
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Tags: agriculture, Cattle rustling, food, food history, Idaho, Oregon
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You’ve likely heard of heirloom tomatoes, but have you heard about heirloom birds? It’s a similar concept – older and often less commercially popular breeds that are vanishing because they’ve been largely left behind by industrial agriculture.
KLCC reporter Jes Burns went to Creswell, Oregon and met a pair of young farmers who are making...
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Tags: agriculture, food, foodways, heritage breeds, heritage ducks, Oregon, rare ducks
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The gulf oil spill has shut down the oldest oyster shucking operation in the country. You might think that would translate into more business for Northwest oyster growers. But it’s not that simple. Correspondent Austin Jenkins explains.
The P&J Oyster Company has been in operation in New Orleans for 134 years. Not any longer. The...
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Tags: aquaculture, environmental pollution, food, Gulf Oil Spill, Oregon, oysters, Washington
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EUGENE, OR – For children from low income homes, school lunch can be the only consistent source of nourishment in their lives. The Federal Nutrition Guidelines for the school lunch program is up for renewal in Congress this year. Correspondent Rachael McDonald takes a look at school lunch, its nutrition, its value and its...
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Tags: food, Oregon, school lunch, school lunch program
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RICHLAND, WA – In Washington and parts of Oregon heavy rains are making a soggy mess of valuable hay fields. And some farmers in Idaho say their crop is a month behind schedule because of the cool weather. Each rain costs farmers thousands of dollars. Correspondent Anna King reports.
Much of the Northwest’s first alfalfa...
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Tags: agriculture, hay, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, wheat
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(GH: Chris Lehman of The Northwest News Network reports on yerba mate on Northwest Public Radio.)
BEND, OR – It’s not quite tea. And it’s definitely not coffee. The traditional South American beverage called yerba mate is still relatively unknown in the U-S. But it’s catching on with some natural food stores and cafes in the...
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Tags: food, foodways, Oregon, yerba mate
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Bluefin tuna is the poster-fish for declining fisheries worldwide. The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas reports that bluefin stocks hover at 15% of their historic levels. Many organizations have called for a ban on bluefin tuna.
And that has sushi restaurants scrambling to find alternatives to a fish that is often the...
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Tags: aquaculture, bluefin, food, Idaho, Oregon, sushi, sustainable seafood, Washington
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Now here’s one you won’t read every day: This week Bob Moore, owner of the internationally known Bob’s Red Mill Natural Food store based in Milwaukie, Oregon gave the whole business to his 209 employees at his 81st birthday party.
Red Mill produces and sells more than 400 whole-grain flours, cereals and bread mixes. The...
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Tags: agriculture, food, Oregon
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