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The Borlaug Blog

Youth Voices: Worms should be friends, not food.

 
By Lily Hestjean
2024 Borlaug-Ruan International Intern

Did you know - when using a dough press to make empanadas, you need to separate the dough from the press with a plastic covering, or else it will PERMANENTLY stick? 

Oops. 

My friends invited me to make empanadas (secretly, using borrowed pans) in the dorms, and fully aware of my inability to cook, I sped over to help “cook” (eat) the savory, post-dinner treat. I had no trouble stirring the chili dip in the pan and kneading the dough for the shell. But I was a bit overconfident when I went over to the press. I asked my friend to record a video for my mom and effortlessly pushed the lever to flatten the dough (masa), but I knew I messed up as soon as I tried to open the press and it felt oddly glued shut. I peeled off the batter and re-clumped it into a zombie empanada. 

Believe it or not, my patchwork empanada is one of the more normal meals I’ve had recently. The entomology class went to the TicoFruit food processing facilities to learn about their use of biocontrols to fight citrus greening in the oranges they process. They raise parasitic wasps (Tamaraxia radiata) to infest the body of the disease-carrying vector Asain citrus psyllids instead of spraying toxic, ineffective insecticides...[CONTINUE READING]

08/05/2024 10:01 AM
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