(Radio Iowa) — An Iowa State University professor of Food Sciences says you should be looking at the food ingredient labels on the food you eat and not just accept what the front of the package says. Ruth Litchfield says there are often a lot of words on the front of the package designed to catch your attention. “Whether they put front and center that it’s a non-G-M-O project certified food item. Or it says it antibiotics free. Or you’ve got that organic symbol on there. A lot of consumers perceive that labeling that those are products that are going to be healthier — and that may or may not be the case,” Litchfield says.

She says you should look for other information on the product. “What you really want to do is turn the product to the side where you have nutrition facts. And if you’re making your choices of what you are purchasing at the grocery store based on health — you want to look at the nutrition facts side. Also looking at the list of ingredients,” Litchfield says. Litchfield says some labeling words carry more weight than they should. “There’s kind of a halo effect when you put organic, or you put non-G-M-O project, or you use the term natural. There’s kind of this halo that this is a healthier food item. And that is not always the case,” according to Litchfield. “You need to be logical and look at those nutrition facts and look at that list of ingredients.”

She points to poultry products as an example when companies say their poultry contains no antibiotics — when in fact no poultry products contain antibiotics because it is against the law to do so. There has been talk of adding country of original labeling to all foods. Litchfield says that could make it more difficult for consumers to sort through. “There’s a lot of information there already that’s a challenge for a lot of consumers,” Litchfield says. “So, we want to keep it simple, but we need to keep it truthful so that they can make the best decision for them.”

Litchfield also works for the I-S-U Extension Office and says they are trying to educate people more on where food comes from. She says the only thing many people know about food is they get it at the grocery store.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — On a sunny Tuesday as the fall semester was beginning on Iowa State University’s campus, volunteers for three presidential candidates set up tables, calling out to harried students as they made their way to the school’s massive library. Ryan Ford, a senior who’s serving as one of Sen. Kamala Harris’ campus leaders, was up at 7:30 that morning just to be ready. “I will wake up as early as it takes if it means getting rid of Donald Trump,” he said.

Ford had ample company. Student volunteers for Harris, Bernie Sanders and former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke were there already making the hard sell — sometimes with candy as an enticement — to a constituency that could be key to success in a crowded caucus field: college students. With so many Democratic candidates competing, and a fragmented vote a distinct possibility, many of the 2020 hopefuls are hoping to turn dissatisfaction with Trump on Iowa’s campuses into votes on caucus night when small margins might mean the difference between going on to New Hampshire or getting out of the race.

Most of the history of young voters suggests it’s a flawed strategy — 18- to 29-year-olds have far lower turnout rates than their older counterparts. But there is one powerful exception: In 2008, Barack Obama’s successful courting of college students helped propel him to an upset caucus victory, and ultimately, the White House.
In this cycle, candidates think they have another edge: animosity toward Trump on issues like guns and climate change. In 2018, about 38% of registered Iowans between the ages of 18 and 24 voted in the midterm election — the highest turnout among that age group in any midterm election since 1990, according to the Iowa secretary of state.
The burst of organizing activity on campuses shows that Democrats believe that energy can be tapped again.

“It’s a fractured primary field and locking up a key constituency or two might be enough to win the caucuses or place higher than pundits might’ve expected,” said Ben LaBolt, a campaign spokesman for Obama in 2008 and 2012. “The path to victory for Obama in ’08 was reliant on changing the caucus electorate — to reach younger voters and nontraditional voters.”
It is not easy, particularly because caucus voters often have to trudge to their precincts on a cold winter night and stay for an extended period to understand the complicated rules and vote.
That’s where students like Ford come in — he said he plans to spend “a couple dozen” hours a week organizing for the campaign on ISU’s campus, and even more time when it gets closer to caucus night.

He’s one of a student organizing corps spread out across a dozen campuses in Iowa for Harris. She also has paid organizers working on each campus, and launched over the summer “Camp Kamala,” an in-person training program focused on getting students and young Iowans to caucus. But Harris faces fierce competition for the youth vote, with every top-tier campaign in Iowa organizing heavily on campuses and making a pitch directly to young voters. In addition to Harris’ organization, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren has had organizers on 18 different campuses around the state; South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s team is organizing on a dozen campuses across Iowa; and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ staff says he has students who have trained to volunteer for the campaign at nearly every campus in Iowa.

Sanders’ success in attracting young voters in 2016 was part of what helped catapult him to a near-tie with Hillary Clinton in Iowa, and helped drive his unexpectedly strong candidacy. This cycle, his campaign just completed its own youth voter training camp, with 1,600 students going through six webinars to effectively learn how to be independent, volunteer organizers. Sanders himself just completed a two-day swing through the state’s three public universities, which are located in three of its bluest counties, where he emphasized the power young voters could wield — if they get out and vote.

Both Sanders’ and Harris’ campaigns have started efforts focused specifically on high-school students as well, who are able to participate in the February caucuses if they turn 18 by the November general election. Buttigieg, as the youngest candidate in the field, has made the case for generational change central to his pitch to voters, and his campaign has deployed organizers to a dozen campuses. He’s also running digital radio ads on Spotify and Pandora aimed at young people in Iowa. New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker has hired three organizers from NextGen Iowa, the youth voter turnout group, and his campaign said they registered more than 400 students across 15 campuses during the first week of school. O’Rourke held campus organizing events across Iowa as well.

But the biggest challenge may simply be getting students to show up for a caucus, a process where voters display and defend their votes publicly and one that can seem complicated and opaque to first-time voters. Somerle Rhiner, an Iowa State University freshman, said she’s interested in the presidential election but “really hesitant” about caucusing.
“I don’t know anybody that’s ever caucused before. It’s the pressure of not knowing what to expect,” she said.

Here is the latest Iowa news from The Associated Press at 3:45 a.m. CDT

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Many 2020 Democratic presidential candidates want to turn dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump on Iowa’s campuses into votes on caucus night. Small margins of college students and other young voters might mean the difference between going on to New Hampshire or getting out of the race. The burst of organizing activity on Iowa campuses shows that Democrats believe the energy that gave Barack Obama a surprise victory in 2008 can be tapped again.

PINEVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Authorities say dental records and a tattoo support an earlier tentative identification of a body found on a hillside in southwest Missouri. McDonald County Sheriff Michael Hall said Monday the new evidence suggests the body found July 29 near Noel is that of 25-year-old Jessica McCormack, of Noel. Investigators believe she was stuffed into a suitcase that rolled down a hill after being thrown from a moving vehicle.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) — An assault by an inmate at a prison in Fort Dodge has left an officer with minor injuries. The Iowa Department of Corrections says that on Sunday afternoon, an inmate at the Fort Dodge Correctional Facility attacked a correctional officer. Officials say the attack happened when the inmate pushed the officer backward and then attempted to hit the officer. The officer responded with pepper spray and other officers quickly tried to subdue the inmate. Both were taken to a hospital and then released.

MASON CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Minnesota company plans to break ground Wednesday on a northern Iowa facility for growing tomatoes. The North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corporation says the $35 million Bushel Boy Farms facility in Mason City will bring about 50 jobs to northern Iowa. The first harvest from the 50-acre operation is expected in December 2020. Bushel Boy is based on Owatonna, Minnesota.

(Radio Iowa) — A Michigan man faces a drug-related charge after a traffic stop in northeast Iowa that authorities say uncovered a quarter of a million dollars worth of marijuana. Shortly after 10:30 Sunday night, a Dubuque County deputy pulled 36-year-old Graham Musial over on Highway 61, near the small community of Key West, for a traffic violation.

The deputy called for back-up and a trained police dog sniffed out drugs in the vehicle. Deputies searched the inside and found more than 146 pounds of marijuana and products containing T-H-C.