Recent research suggests that wild bees can significantly improve the yield and quality of blueberries on farms. The study indicates that wild bees improve blueberry yields and the quality of the crop, including larger and more berries—and earlier harvests—by two and a half days, improving farm revenues. The study, conducted in nine berry farms across the state, highlights the importance of wild bees to global agriculture and the need to protect wild bee populations. Read more about the study here.
A recent study claims that Vermont’s education system isn’t as effective as previously thought. Claiming that there are biases in ranking reports by U.S. News and World Report and other organizations, the study looks at expenditure in relation to test scores and argues that New England rankings are actually declining compared with southern states. The authors also maintain that the rankings are skewed to favor regions with less diverse populations.
Rutland hospital earns an “A”
The Rutland Region Medical Center was one of 855 U.S. hospitals to receive an “A” grade from the Leapfrog Group’s Hospital Safety Grade.The report utilizes the standard letter grading system to evaluate hospitals across the country based on their ability to prevent medical errors, infections and other issues among patients. Vermont ranked 40th in terms of hospital performance, with just 16.67 percent of the state’s hospital earning an “A.”
Ragweed allergies on the rise
Allergic reactions from ragweed may increase due to a warming climate.A recent study from the Universities of Washington and Massachusetts has found that ragweed, a common plant, is shifting its habitat northward to Vermont as the climate warms. Ragweed produces copious amounts of pollen, causing runny noses, itchy eyes, itchy throats and even headaches for people with hay fever.
Childhood trauma treatment
Should childhood trauma be treated as a public health crisis with the same actions taken as serious health outbreaks such as AIDS or Hepatitis A? Researchers from UVM worked with a team of international health scientists in a recent study finding that the effects of childhood trauma are closely correlated to mental illness and addiction in adulthood.
New Books
The so-called “Back-to-the-Landers”—those droves of people who moved to Vermont in the ‘60’s and ‘70s to pursue an agrarian, self-sufficient lifestyle—are the predecessors of today’s foodies, says author Jonathan Kauffman. In Hippie Food: How Back-to-the-Landers, Longhairs, and Revolutionaries Changed the Way We Eat, Kauffman journeys back in time to chronicle how that era’s Vermont farm collectives, California vegetarian restaurants, midwestern organic food store owners and counterculture farmers changed how we eat today. Hippie Food was recently named one of the New York Times Book Review’s 10 Best Books of 2018; read a review here.
David Vermette examines the role of a million French-Canadians who migrated to the northeastern U.S. for textile jobs between 1840 and 1930 in his new book,A Distinct Alien Race: The Untold Story of Franco-Americans, Industrialization, Immigration, Religious Strife. By recounting the stories of individuals and families, Vermette draws parallels to contemporary issues like nativism and the fall of manufacturing—and offers compelling details about the eugenics movement that occurred near UVM in the start of the 20th century.
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