ILENA PENG

👋 Currently: Agriculture reporter at Bloomberg News, covering soft commodities

✨ Highlights

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

Brazil Became the World’s Top Corn and Soy Exporter. Cotton Is Next.

Brazil is close to unseating the US to become the world’s biggest cotton exporter as Texas, America’s top producing region, buckles under searing heat and drought– Bloomberg News, 2023

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

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

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

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

📊 Data Reporting

US Oil Refineries Find Paying Fines Can Be Cheaper Than Cleaning Up – Bloomberg News, 2022

Northern California's kelp forests have disappeared since 2008 – Columbia Journalism School, 2022

Few Black, Latinx students are editors of top college newspapers – Asian American Journalists Association, 2021

Asian population declines in Manhattan’s Chinatown – AsAm News, 2021

🌊 Enterprise & Features

Insulin Price Cuts Could End Up Making Money for US Drugmakers – Bloomberg News, 2023

Opioid Crisis Spurred by Animal Sedative’s Stealth Emergence – Bloomberg News, 2023

Eating disorder treatment may stay online even after the pandemic – Teen Vogue, 2021

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