Is it safe to reuse thawed meat? Could fire have benefits? Can plants communicate with us?  

Myths and misconceptions about agricultural practices have become one of the industry’s greatest challenges as it works to shape public opinion and policy decisions. However, experts at Texas Tech University’s Davis College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources are debunking these myths through research and outreach in hopes of fostering informed conversations with the public.    

Myth #1:  Frozen Meat 

For the average consumer, taste and safety are key concerns in meat preparation. What if there was a proven way to keep meat products edible for an extended shelf life?   

Jerrad Legako, Ph.D., associate professor of meat science in the Department of Animal and Food Sciences, said freezing meat is the best way to extend its shelf life and retain its taste and nutritional value.   

Legako maintains several food safety licenses and certifications, as well as a research background in the factors which impact meat quality.   

“Generally, people are consumers of meat,” Legako said. “There are, in the grand scheme of things, small populations in the world that are vegan or vegetarian, but the overwhelming predominant number of people do consume meat. And there have been a number of challenges for meat.”  

When the COVID-19 pandemic came along, Legako said a redirection of fresh meat to the freezer for retailers and restaurants became common.   

Freezing meat is a common preservation method that prevents bacterial growth and increases shelf-life.   

Legako has collaborated with industry partners, including the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, and Davis College students on his research that focuses on freezing beef.   

He said when frozen and thawed properly, frozen meat is safe, healthy and delicious to consume.  

“There is really enough evidence to say you can freeze meat and thaw meat properly and not detect a big difference in the way it eats,” Legako said.  

Legako’s studies also found that freezing meat did not have any impact on palatability, taste, tenderness or flavor. However, there was a slight difference in the overall juiciness of the meat after thawing and cooking these products.   

“The main thing that you might see with freezing is some loss of water, and that is going to do essentially nothing to nutrition because you are going to lose a lot more moisture through the cooking process,” Legako said.   

Legako’s research implies there is a stabilization of meat products through freezing. Therefore, no nutrition or flavor is lost when freezing meat.  

He said correct packaging is important to avoid freezer burn on the meat and to make sure the meat quality is sustained.  

“One thing that freezing can affect is color,” Legako said. “We have to use vacuum packaging and removing oxygen shifts the color to a darker red or a purple color.”  

This causes no harm, and vacuum packaging is proven to be more biodegradable compared to standard foam food trays, Legako said.   

By using vacuum packaging or freezer bags, you can minimize waste and store frozen meat for up to a few months, he said.  

Legako recommends consumers use a microwave or water combined with a meat thermometer for safely thawing and cooking frozen meat at home.   

 “You can get a little browning [on the meat] with the microwave, but if you don’t have the time to put it in water and wait a few hours or put it in your refrigerator and wait a day, then that is the way to go,” Legako said.  

His main concern is to ensure meat is cooked correctly.  

 “Appearance is deceptive,” Legako said. “It’s not accurate. Using a meat thermometer would greatly reduce foodborne illness associated with ground meats in particular.”  

Legako said the key to this myth is to safely freeze, thaw and cook the meat well to minimize the risk for bacterial growth.    

“Being able to properly freeze meat is important for the public to know how to do,” Legako said.   

“People need a better connection with nature in general.”

Myth #2: Prescribed fire 

The recent wildfires in the Texas Panhandle have brought devastation to many communities. However, amidst the destruction, stories of resilience emerge.   

While controlled burns have demonstrated their benefits in ecosystem management, the negative connotations associated with wildfires are affecting the perception of prescribed burns. Embracing them could potentially save lives, highlighting the importance of dedicating resources to facilitate these preventive measures.  

Nathan Gill, Ph.D., assistant professor of natural resources management, has a background in geology and fire ecology and is an expert on reducing fire hazards.  

“Prescribed fire is about figuring out exactly the conditions we want so fire will do the things we want it to safely do,” Gill said. “One of those objectives is often to burn away a lot of fuel that would be dangerous if there is a wildfire.”  

Gill said both wild and controlled fires are a natural part of most ecosystems. They are necessary for maintaining land through seed germination, nutrient cycling, and habitat growth. 

“Prescribed fires, 99.5% of the time, are done according to plan and don’t have any of those negative effects,” Gill said. “In fact, prescribed fire is a really important part of limiting the negative effects of wildfire that can happen.”  

Some of his current research involves observing the potential control of fire intensity in Colorado. Gill said he is also working to help a community near Ruidoso, New Mexico, with prescribed burns to decrease the fuel loads on the ground for wild fires. 

There are many opportunities for students to participate in research with Gill and his team of graduate students.   

“We are doing a NASA development internship program at Texas Tech this summer,” Gill said. “It’s a remote sensing project using satellite images. We’re going to be studying fire hazard, and students are going to come here from all across the country.”  

Satellites are used to compare images of greenery before and after wildfires, he said. While applications for this year’s program are closed, Gill said there are more avenues for student engagement.  

“I do have other ways students can get involved for sure,” Gill said. “I’ve got several grad students doing projects all over and we’re often looking for volunteers.”  

In addition, Gill teaches a class on fire ecology, which is available to all Davis College students. They plan, design and execute controlled burns in West Texas. They work with the Student Association for Fire Ecology to carry out some of their burn proposals.  

SAFE is a student organization in the Davis College. They host events and attend conferences to educate themselves and the public about the value of fire when integrated into human life.   

Badri Ghimire, graduate student in wildlife, aquatic and wildlands science management, serves as the SAFE president. Ghimire is a former firefighter from the Himalayas in Nepal. 

“I grew up with fire and playing with fire and generating fire for different ceremonies,” Ghimire said. “The land where I grew up was pretty much managed by fire.”  

According to his research on different North American ecosystems, fire plays an important role in maintaining land by promoting native species and plants. Every region, such as West Texas, has a different fire return interval, depending on the native species, Ghimire said.  

“We need to put fire on the ground,” Ghimire said. “If we don’t accept a natural fire from a thunderstorm, we need to manage our land by putting fire on the ground in between three to five years.”  

Where wildfires pollute the air, prescribed fires contribute positively to atmospheric air over time.  

“Fire helps effective carbon sequestration,” Ghimire said.   

The higher the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere after a fire, the more it can be sequestered back in current and newly generated plants, he said.   

“Imported fire is important for plant germination,” Ghimire said. “There are lots of native plants in North America, and they require fire.”  

By selectively targeting certain vegetation in an area, a controlled burn can help naturally maintain and manage plant communities. The myth about controlled burn practices and a “fire is bad” mentality has led to fire suppression policies among lawmakers, he said.   

Fire management organizations, like SAFE, look to scientific research and monitoring to promote and implement their fire programs and ensure they are conducted safely and effectively, Ghimire said.   

“We organize training for wildland firefighters,” Ghimire said. “Our events are open to public so they can visit us if they are interested, and we share what we are doing. We invite people with different backgrounds including elementary school kids, middle school, high school kids, college level undergrad/grad students and other public. We participate in Fire Congress. We build up a network for effective communication to public.”  

“Regardless of forest fire or fire in agricultural practices, if you use fire in a proper way, the nutrients will be recycled, can be put back in the soil and they can be realized by crops or plants in the forest, et cetera,” Ghimire said. “That’s why fire is very important.”  

The tragic wildfires in the Texas Panhandle have emphasized both the havoc they can wreak and the resilience they can instill Ghimire said. West Texas embodies a community coming together to support one another in the face of adversity.  

These events shed light on the myth surrounding prescribed fires, which, when properly understood and utilized, can potentially minimize future disasters and save lives.   

“Instead of trying to live without fire, we need to think of smart ways to live with fire,” Gill said.   

Myth #3: Plant Communication 

From the earliest hunter-gatherer societies to modern urban environments, plants have played a fundamental role in shaping human existence. In agriculture, plants are certainly at the forefront of an industry focused on feeding the planet.  

But, are plants trying to tell us  
something?   

Plants have long been perceived as silent parts of our environment, lacking the ability to communicate with us, said Vikram Baliga, Ph.D., an assistant professor of practice in plant and soil science. 

However, recent research has shown us the world of plant communication, challenging this myth of their silent existence.   

Baliga said through various ways, plants interact with each other, animals, and even humans.  

“Plants are sort of the basis for everything we do,” Baliga said. “They produce our oxygen, and they cycle carbon dioxide and nutrients through the system.”  

There is also a new research concept called “plant blindness.”    

“People can identify usually by sight, something like 150 species of animals when you show them pictures of animals,” Baliga said. “But when you start showing them pictures of plants, it’s like 10 or 12.”  

Baliga, who uses social media to dispel plant myths, said this drives a disconnect between people and plants.   

“If I’m looking at some of our plants in the greenhouse, if the leaves are pale yellow, they probably need more nitrogen fertilizer,” he said. “They can tell us when there’s a disease because you’ll see spots on the leaves or different signs, or sometimes they smell different based on what’s going on.”  

He said plants are constantly communicating with the world around them, but humans are just not as good as other creatures when it comes to understanding what they are telling us.   

Baliga said a tomato plant is a good example, because it contains a distinct smell.  

“When you brush the leaves, they have these little pears on them that break off with a very distinct smell,” Baliga said. “When a caterpillar starts feeding on a tomato, they release more of these, what we call volatile organic compounds scents into the air.”  

As soon as the other silent bystanders, or tomato plants around this one detect those compounds, they will start to produce more defense chemicals, Baliga said.   

“Down the line in the community of plants, they’re talking to each other,” Baliga said. “Turns out that insects like wasps and ladybugs, and animals like birds and some rodents, can also smell these. When the tomato plants start releasing these scent hormones into the air, they’re calling in reinforcements. Birds will know, ‘Oh, there are caterpillars there.’ And they’ll come and eat them. Wasps will see, ‘Oh, there are insects feeding. There’s prey here.’”  

There is a sophisticated, complex communication going on around us that we are completely unaware of, he said.  

Baliga said if we understand these types of things, then we can know when plants are trying to say they are being chewed on.  

“There’s some data out there that when a plant leaf is being chewed on, gases escaping from the cut tissue make an ultrasonic sound that different animals can hear,” Baliga said. “I’m not going to say they’re screaming, but I’m not going to say they’re not.”  

Visually, humans can identify a lot of cool things in how we can hear plants and help them, he said.   

Baliga said if plants are wilting, turning brown, or have something on their leaves, they’re trying to tell us what they need, whether it be water or fertilizer. However, he said there is still a lot to learn.  

“I think the more we learn and the more we study, the more we find out, the better we’re going to be at taking that feedback and figuring out how to be better in the environment, how to better protect our crops, and all of those things,” Baliga said.  

From chemical signaling, symbiotic relationships, and human-plant interaction, Baliga said plants actively engage in communication in their surroundings in fascinating ways.   

“People need a better connection with nature, in general, whether that is understanding the trees in a park or in a forest or whether that’s the tomatoes and apples we buy from the store,” Baliga said.   

For anyone interested in what is growing around Texas Tech, Baliga said the Department of Plant and Soil Science has an online plant database with maps of plants on campus.   

The Texas Tech University Horticulture Gardens and Greenhouse Complex are both open to the public during select hours. There are plenty of ways to get involved, he said.  

“It all comes back to the fact that I think we’re largely stewards of the systems that we work in and having a better understanding of how those systems work lets us be better at that job,” Baliga said. 

Advancing Agricultural Innovation 

Through rigorous research and expert analysis, Davis College faculty are working to end enduring misconceptions in agriculture and natural resources. By challenging conventional wisdom and fostering a deeper understanding of agricultural practices, the college is working to pave the way for innovative solutions in the agricultural industry. 

Sienna Rollin, Lead Writer; Erin Digicamo, Photo Director; Brooke Beyers, Design Coordinator; Julia Cox, Digital and Advertising Manager

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