Carolyn Beans

Lancaster

Freelance Science Journalist at Freelance

Biologist turned science journalist covering #food #agriculture #health| Bylines @FERNnews @PNASNews @ScienceNews @newscientist @NPR @Slate & others | She/Her

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Articles

Can Pennsylvania Dairies Profit From Carbon Markets?

1 week ago | lancasterfarming.com | Carolyn Beans

At Ar-Joy Farms in Cochranville, Pennsylvania, Duane Hershey’s manure management plan generates many clear cost savings for his dairy. Manure solids — extracted with a solid-liquid separator — provide bedding for his 900-plus cows. Manure liquids feed into an anaerobic digester, along with food waste that retailers pay the dairy to accept.
Could Measuring Greenhouse Gases Increase Returns on Pennsylvania Dairies?

2 weeks ago | lancasterfarming.com | Carolyn Beans

Paul Mason of Mason’s Chrome View dairy in Nottingham, Pennsylvania, has high hopes for his new manure spreading tool. At over 16 feet tall, the 360 Rain can maneuver through rows of corn, depositing liquid manure along the way. kAmkDA2?m|2D@? H2D :?:E:2==J 5C2H? E@ E96 56G:46 2D 2 H2J E@ 56=:G6C ?FEC:6?ED E@ 9:D 7665 4C@AD H9:=6 2=D@ >2?28:?8 9:D >2?FC6 DFAA=J]k^DA2?mk^AmkAmkDA2?m“(92E 5@ J@F 5@ H:E9 >2?FC6n” |2D@? D2JD] “(96?
Waste not

1 month ago | on.rotary.org | Carolyn Beans

It happens every year. Apple cider appears at the grocery store and I immediately start planning. My family will carve pumpkins and host outdoor movie nights and sit by firepits. For all these activities, we’ll need warm apple cider, and lots of it. I buy a gallon. On my next trip, I buy another. I can’t be caught short during cider season. But inevitably, we tire of apple cider, and the remainder turns vinegary in the back of the refrigerator before I pour it down the drain.
Waste not

2 months ago | rotary.org | Carolyn Beans

It happens every year. Apple cider appears at the grocery store and I immediately start planning. My family will carve pumpkins and host outdoor movie nights and sit by firepits. For all these activities, we’ll need warm apple cider, and lots of it. I buy a gallon. On my next trip, I buy another. I can’t be caught short during cider season. But inevitably, we tire of apple cider, and the remainder turns vinegary in the back of the refrigerator before I pour it down the drain.
Wisconsin researchers use microbes to transform wastewater

Feb 3, 2025 | wxpr.org | Carolyn Beans

By Carolyn Beans for the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.Broadcast version by Judith Ruiz-Branch for Wisconsin News Connection reporting for the Pulitzer Center-Public News Service Collaboration. Every year, US dairy producers churn out billions of pounds of cheese—over 14 billion in 2023 alone.
How do heat waves affect your body?

Oct 29, 2024 | ted.com | Carolyn Beans

By Carolyn Beans Get a daily email featuring the latest talk, plus a quick mix of trending content. By subscribing, you understand and agree that we will store, process and manage your personal information according to our Privacy Policy
Americans With Food Allergies Are Getting a Bad Deal

Jun 19, 2024 | newsbreak.com | Carolyn Beans

When Ina Chung, a Colorado mother, first fed packaged foods to her infant, she was careful to read the labels. Her daughter was allergic to peanuts, dairy, and eggs, so products containing those ingredients were out. So were foods with labels that said they “may contain” the allergens. Chung felt like this last category suggested a clear risk that wasn’t worth taking. “I had heard that the ingredient labels were regulated. And so I thought that that included those statements,” Chung says.
Americans With Food Allergies Are Getting a Bad Deal

Jun 19, 2024 | theatlantic.com | Carolyn Beans

Ingredient labels are often vague, misleading, or just plain wrong. It doesn’t have to be this way. This article was originally published by Undark Magazine. When Ina Chung, a Colorado mother, first fed packaged foods to her infant, she was careful to read the labels. Her daughter was allergic to peanuts, dairy, and eggs, so products containing those ingredients were out. So were foods with labels that said they “may contain” the allergens.
May contain nuts: Precautionary allergen labels lead to consumer confusion

Jun 12, 2024 | arstechnica.com | Carolyn Beans

When Ina Chung, a Colorado mother, first fed packaged foods to her infant, she was careful to read the labels. Her daughter was allergic to peanuts, dairy, and eggs, so products containing those ingredients were out. So were foods with labels that said they may contain the allergens. Chung felt like this last category suggested a clear risk that wasn’t worth taking. “I had heard that the ingredient labels were regulated. And so I thought that that included those statements,” said Chung.
Pennsylvania dairies put the notion of climate-smart milk to the test

Mar 25, 2024 | thefern.org | Carolyn Beans

The U.S. dairy industry is aiming to go greenhouse gas neutral by 2050. Researchers have many ideas to help get them there — from feed additives that minimize methane-filled cow burps to new timing for fertilizer applications. But there’s little data on how well many of these strategies work on actual dairies with varying environmental conditions. Now, at a select group of Pennsylvania dairies, farmers are about to find out just how much methane, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide they’re producing.