Ug99, a virulent fungal disease, could create a major food security crisis by attacking the world's second largest crop, wheat. After the disease was discovered in Uganda in 1999, its spores took to the wind, hit fields in Kenya and Ethiopia, jumped the Red Sea to Yemen and turned up this year in Iran.
The Cost of Healthy Food
Published August 11, 2010
This film was created by Chicago Public School students with Free Spirit Media, in partnership with the Pulitzer Center. This documentary explores healthy vs. unhealthy food choices, and why unhealthy food costs you more in the long run. People often spend a fortune on unhealthy foods that will feed the family for a limited time. We explore people's opinions on food, barriers to getting healthy food, and other options for buying locally grown produce.
Project
As scientists make progress against Ug99, a fungus that threatens wheat crops worldwide, new methods to produce and distribute disease-resistant seeds must also be developed.
Ug99, a fungal disease known as wheat rust, could destroy 80 percent of all known wheat varieties. Scientists in Kenya's Rift Valley are joining a global fight against it.
Gateways
