ILENA PENG

🌾 Agriculture

Florida’s Battered Orange Growers Are Cashing In on a Housing Boom

Florida’s orange farmers have spent years facing plagues, freezes & storms, all of which have taken a toll on fruit production—and profits. As the state’s population booms, some are selling their land for housing development
Bloomberg News, 2023

America Is Down to Its Last 100 Cotton Mills

After a brief pandemic-era reprieve, many of the US’s remaining textile factories that turn cotton fibers into yarn and fabric are shutting down for good
Bloomberg News, 2024

Farmers Are Breeding Hybrid Dairy Cattle to Sell for Meat

Beef-on-dairy cattle are an additional income stream for US dairy producers, who've had a tough couple of years selling milk
Bloomberg News, 2024

Insects Were the Future of Food. They’ve Ended Up in the Pet Aisle

Demand for insect protein is expected to explode by the end of the decade as pet owners and farmers embrace bug-based feeds for animals
Bloomberg News, 2024

💡 Energy & Climate

New York’s Once-booming Oil Industry and the Risky Wells it Left Behind

Western New York towns were built around oil production. Now, they’re grappling with the remnants of a declining industry
City and State NY, 2022

Solar Panels Spread Across America's Heartland as Farmers Chase Stable Returns

US farmers are turning to solar power as a buffer against volatile crop prices, and Biden's clean-energy tax incentives are set to boost the trend
Bloomberg News, 2024

US Oil Refineries Find Paying Fines Can Be Cheaper Than Cleaning Up

Many facilities dodge expensive upgrades and emit outsize quantities of greenhouse gases
Bloomberg News, 2022

Northern California's Disappearing Kelp Forests

Warming oceans have shrunk kelp forests, which support marine ecosystems, by over 99% near Sonoma and Mendocino counties
Columbia Journalism School, 2021

🩺 Health

Fewer Parents Are Vaccinating Their Kids. Here's Why They Might Not Have To.

Ever since Covid, more parents are opting out of vaccinating their kids. And with school mandates under fire across the country, soon that could be even easier to do
Bloomberg News, 2023

Insulin Price Cuts Could End Up Making Money for US Drugmakers

Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk could avoid paying hundreds of millions in rebates
Bloomberg News, 2023

Opioid Crisis Spurred by Animal Sedative’s Stealth Emergence

Officials are trying to clamp down on the illicit supply of xylazine, a veterinary drug sold online
Bloomberg News, 2023

Eating disorder treatment may stay online even after the pandemic

In the wake of Covid-19, many eating disorder treatment centers and therapy practices are staying remote
Teen Vogue, 2021

✨ Other

Small Multifamily Homes Were Disappearing. Now States Are Scrambling to Revive Them

Small multifamily homes like duplexes are key to easing the housing crisis, but they are an ever-shrinking share of new construction. Now, states are trying to reverse their decline
Bloomberg News, 2023

When Amazon Puts a Warehouse Next Door: ‘We Can’t Escape It’

Amazon's expansion of last-mile delivery stations have crept closer to residential neighborhoods, including in towns like Milford, Massachusetts
Bloomberg News, 2022

Few Black, Latinx Students Are Editors Of Top College Newspapers

Less than 6% of editors-in-chiefs at award-winning college newsrooms were Black, and approximately 10% were Latinx — significantly less than their share of the college population
Asian American Journalists Association/Nieman Lab, 2021