New year, New Format, Same Us

January 19, 2018

News from the Currituck County Center

From the Director

The new year has made quite an entrance with record-breaking temperatures, frozen waterways, and unusual snowfall in our area. Perhaps it has been the stark shift in the weather and forced change of pace that has prompted your Currituck County Extension staff to stop, reflect, and prepare to serve you better in 2018. We hope (and believe) that over the years you have come to view Currituck County Extension as a trusted source of unbiased and reliable information; as a workgroup that can be depended upon to be responsive and deliver results; as employees that utilize our resources responsibly; and as individuals who deeply care for and want the absolute best for our community. Enjoy the educational information below, produced just for you.

Genetic Engineering and Genetically Modified Organisms, most commonly known as GMOs, are controversial topics among their critics and supporters, but what are they really? Well, as the name indicates, it is the “act of engineering the genetic material of something to reach a desirable outcome”. ( USDA Glossary ) Broad definition? Yes. So in relative terms everything is genetically engineered, because genes naturally change with their environment. But what most people are concerned about is if manipulating genes in the lab is creating something different altogether. In reality, what is being changed is the expression of something minuscule such as a protein or an enzyme. So why is it necessary to engineer the genetic material of an organism?

4-H

Today’s youth have a tremendous array of activities to choose from to fill their free time. Options such as sports, community recreation activities, dance, theater, and music lessons are just a few of the available choices. For many youth, these extracurricular activities will provide the foundation for the development of their personalities and life skills. So the importance of their free time choices cannot be understated. North Carolina 4-H’s mission has always been to help youth develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that enable them to become competent, caring, and contributing citizens in their community and beyond.

FCS

Do you dread making a resolution every year? Do you hate to seeing your friends and family’s lofty goals for the new year on social media? Don’t feel too pressured by the posts that will begin to pop up on these sites. Thirty-five percent of those who make New Year’s resolutions break them by the end of January. And only 23 percent will see their resolutions through to the end. Even worse 77 percent find they break resolutions before they even get started. This year give your friends and family something to talk about by crushing these statistics with a few simple rules about making setting and keeping your new year’s goals.