Kansas Farmers Union & Kansas Wesleyan University’s Community Resilience Hub invite the public to join us for the Central Kansas Local Food Safety & Security Farm Tour on Monday, June 24 from 9 AM – 4 PM.

Featured farms include Vail Family Farm, a cut flower farm that offers flower subscriptions, direct sales at the Salina Farm and Art Market, plus on-farm and online classes; Farmer Direct Foods, a New Cambria, KS mill that focuses on whole grains and regenerative farming techniques that are sustainable, eco-friendly, and help reverse climate change; and Salt and Light Homestead, which sells produce from their farm as it is seasonally available. While there, attendees will see their gardens, pastured chicken set-up, Highland cows, and friendly milk goat herd.

Lunch will be at The Farm & The Oddfellows in Minneapolis, KS where we’ll learn more about their focus on local food and brews, plus hear the latest from K-State food safety specialists.

This tour is sponsored by National Farmers Union’s Local Food Safety Collaborative a collaboration between National Farmers Union Foundation and the Food and Drug Administration to provide training, education, and outreach to local producers and processors to enhance the fundamental knowledge of food safety, and help these local producers and processors comply with applicable Food Safety Modernization Act regulations.

The tour and lunch are free to attendees, but registration is required at https://www.kansasfarmersunion.org/event-details-registration/central-kansas-local-food-safety-security-farm-tour

For more information or questions, please contact Nick Levendofsky, KFU Executive Director, at [email protected]

What if I told you there was a magical food that would give you the power to walk by an open box of donuts – or a bag of chips, or a bowl of candy – without batting an eye?

Okay. It might not be that magical. But it’s pretty close.

A solid body of research has shown that eating more protein at breakfast can significantly change how we experience hunger throughout the day.

As a nutrition counselor, I can definitely vouch for this effect. When a client comes in saying they’re hungry all the time, craving sweets and relying heavily on snacks to get through the day, the first thing I look at is their protein intake at breakfast.

Americans generally eat more than the recommended amount of daily protein (although we lean a little too heavily on high fat meats and dairy). But what we don’t do is spread our protein intake out throughout the day. We typically eat most of our protein during dinner.

However, studies have shown that if we eat a high-protein breakfast we can improve our sense of fullness and satiety, which can last through the afternoon.

In turn, this contributes to us making healthier choices all day – like forgoing mindless snacking and being less tempted by unhealthy foods when we feel our stomachs grumbling.

How to eat a high-protein breakfast

The research suggests that eating about 30 grams of protein for breakfast can lead to these benefits.

However, I don’t recommend spending too much time trying to crunch the numbers.

Instead, just give some new foods a shot! Try introducing more protein to your breakfast – and even lunch – and see how it affects the way you feel and your appetite throughout the day.

What other benefits come with a high-protein diet?

A high-protein diet means that your daily protein intake is greater than the minimum recommendation of 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight – or about 56 grams for an adult weighing 150 lbs.

One of the most common reasons people turn to high-protein diets is for weight loss. And the research does show some promise. Protein also takes more energy to digest than carbs or fat, which can give your metabolism a boost.

After the age of 40, adults can lose 4-6 lbs. of muscle every 10 years. High-protein diets have been shown to help prevent muscle loss, especially when paired with exercise.

That said, most Americans are already consuming a high-protein diet, averaging closer to 1.2-1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily – or about 90 grams per day.

Considerations when increasing your protein intake

It’s important to choose your protein sources wisely. Focus on lean meats, fish, beans, lentils, and low-fat dairy products. Avoid processed meats and excessive amounts of red meat.

Also, avoid focusing too narrowly on protein because that can lead to unbalanced dietary patterns. You can’t ignore vegetables, fruits and starches, which provide vitally important vitamins, minerals and fiber.

If you have kidney disease or are at risk of kidney disease (such as having high blood pressure or diabetes), it’s important to talk to your doctor before making a diet change, as increased protein intake can strain the kidneys in certain stages of kidney disease.

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) and the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks (KDWP) have issued a public health advisory due to blue-green algae.

A harmful algal bloom (HAB) may look like foam, scum or paint floating on the water and be colored blue, bright green, brown or red. Blooms can develop rapidly; if the water appears suspicious or there is decaying algae on the shore, avoid contact and keep pets away. These toxins can be absorbed by ingestion, inhalation of aerosols and even skin contact. Symptoms vary depending upon the type of exposure (e.g. direct contact, ingestion, inhalation) but can include rash, vomiting, diarrhea, fever, sore throat, and headache. If you, or your pets, come into contact with algae rinse the area with clean, fresh water. Suspected HAB-related health incidents, whether human or animal, regardless of season, should be reported at kdhe.ks.gov/1163.

Active Advisories

Warning

• Harvey County East Lake, Harvey County
• Marion Lake (Reservoir), Marion County
• Overbrook City Lake, Osage County (Added June 7)

Watch

• Lake Shawnee, Shawnee County
• Lovewell Lake, Jewell County
• Woodland Park Pond (Mount Hope), Sedgwick County (Added June 7)

Lifted

• Atchison State Fishing Lake, Atchison County
• Webster Lake, Rooks County

A Hazard status indicates that a harmful algal bloom is present, and extreme conditions exist.

When a hazard is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:

• Signage should be posted at all public access locations.
• It is recommended that either a portion of the lake or the entire lake or zone, be closed to the public.
• In some cases, the adjacent land should be closed as well. Actual setback distances will be determined on a site-specific basis, if necessary.
• When partial closures (i.e., beach or cove) are issued, the remaining lake or zone area will carry a warning status.

A Warning status indicates that conditions are unsafe for human and pet exposure.  Contact with the waterbody should be avoided.

When a warning is issued, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:

• Signage should be posted at all public access locations.
• Inhalation of spray or aerosols may be harmful.
• Lake water is not safe to drink for pets or livestock.
• Lake water, regardless of blue-green algae status, should never be consumed by humans.
• Water contact should be avoided.
• Fish may be eaten if they are rinsed with clean water and only the fillet portion is consumed, while all other parts are discarded.
• Do not allow pets to eat dried algae.
• If lake water contacts skin, wash with clean water as soon as possible.
• Avoid areas of visible algae accumulation.

A Watch status means that blue-green algae have been detected and a harmful algal bloom is present or likely to develop. People are encouraged to avoid areas of algae accumulation and keep pets and livestock away from the water.

During the watch status, KDHE recommends the following precautions be taken:

• Signage should be posted at all public access locations.
• Water may be unsafe for humans/animals.
• Avoid areas of algae accumulation and do not let people/pets eat dried algae or drink contaminated water.
• Swimming, wading, skiing and jet skiing are discouraged near visible blooms.
• Boating and fishing are safe. However, inhalation of the spray may affect some individuals. Avoid direct contact with water, and wash with clean water after any contact.
• Clean fish thoroughly with potable water and eat fillet portion only.

Advisories are Lifted when cell densities and toxin concentrations dissipate to levels below the Watch thresholds.

KDHE investigates publicly accessible bodies of water for blue-green algae when the agency receives reports of potential algae blooms in Kansas lakes. Based on credible field observation and sampling results, KDHE reports on potentially harmful conditions.

If you observe a scum or paint-like surface on the water, small floating blue-green clumps or filaments in the water, or if the water is an opaque green, avoid contact and keep pets away. These are indications that a harmful bloom may be present. Pet owners should be aware that animals that swim in or drink water affected by a harmful algal bloom or eat dried algae along the shore may become seriously ill or die.

For information on blue-green algae and reporting potential harmful algal blooms, please visit kdhe.ks.gov/HAB and check out our interactive story and informative video.

Bird feeders are a great way to enjoy nature without leaving your front porch, and many homeowners understand the joys of seeing multiple bird species frequent the feeders.

But Kansas State University wildlife specialist Drew Ricketts said bird feeders also can attract predators and other wildlife into your yard.

For example, racoons are seven times more likely to enter the yard and deer are two times more likely if you have a bird feeder.

“Carnivores, such as coyotes and red foxes and those sorts of critters, are at least one and a half times more likely to be in yards with bird feeders,” Ricketts said.

“Folks often times are inadvertently attracting critters to the yard, and that can cause problems that don’t have anything to do with the bird feeder. One of the things that I would suggest to those folks is to think about how they might be contributing to that situation by having food available in the yard.” Ricketts said.

At least once a year, Ricketts said he gets a call from people who are wanting to know how to get rid of a hawk that is hanging around their yard, preying on birds. He said there is nothing you can do because an increase in a prey species often leads to an increase in a predator species.

“Feeding birds is something people do for themselves and it might have unintended negative consequences.” Ricketts said.

According to Ricketts, bird feeders allow such predators as domesticated cats and hawks, to take advantage of the condensed hunting grounds around the feeder.

Even though we worry that birds are hungry during the winter, feeding birds may also have unintended consequences for the birds that are eating it.

According to Ricketts, birds don’t need to be fed in the winter. A study that looked at birds’ reproductive performance showed that birds being fed in the winter time hatched chicks that weighed less and had a lower survival rate than birds that did not have access to feeders.

Ricketts said concentrating birds in one area around a feeder can also be a hot spot for parasites and diseases. Two examples from scientific studies show an increase in diseases like avian pox and infections of lice and mites.

For those who want to keep birds coming around, Ricketts suggests washing bird feeders thoroughly every 24 hours with 10% bleach, and rinsing them well to remove the bleach odor.

More information on managing common wildlife animals in Kansas is available online from K-State Research and Extension.