Food Studies News
Falk College Instructor’s Award-Winning Craft Distillery Joins Fight Against COVID-19
A Syracuse Story by Brandon Dyer originally published on April 8, 2020.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), alcohol-based hand sanitizers are effective against a broad spectrum of microbials and are the best option in places where hand washing and sinks aren’t readily accessible. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in the U.S., hand sanitizers are nearly impossible to find in stores.
The scarcity of hand sanitizer was a concern for culinary specialist Chris Uyehara, so he investigated the problem to find out how he could help. In addition to teaching professional baking, fine pastry and introductory culinary classes at the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics, Uyehara is also owner of the award-winning Last Shot Distillery in Skaneateles, New York. After investigating the logistics and a hand sanitizer recipe posted by the WHO, Uyehara reached a crossroads. “I had some product started. In fact, I had some ready to go, but I said, ‘You know what? I’m going to distill that to make hand sanitizer.’”
Last Shot Distillery has won several gold medals for American whiskey and lightening whiskey, but owner Chris Uyehara’s newest creation is not for consumption.
Uyehara soon reached out to some fellow distillers, and together they switched processes from whiskey production to sanitizers. Uyehara is doing all this while still conducting five distance learning classes, often grading papers late at night and into the morning. “It’s challenging, but there’s a need for the sanitizers right now,” he says. “We’re not even touching a small portion of what the needs are.”
“My target was to bring sanitizers to independent senior living facilities,” says Uyehara. Hand sanitizers are essentially ethanol with added glycerin or glycerol and hydrogen peroxide. Using a variation of his vodka recipe, Uyehara cooks corn sourced from Cayuga and Onondaga counties and triggers a fermenting process. “You take the alcohol out of that fermentation and distill it,” he says. The WHO recommends a minimum of 160 proof for sanitizers, which translates to 80% alcohol by volume. Last Shot Distillery—always an overachiever, with gold medals for American whiskey, corn whiskey moonshine and lightening whiskey—distills its hand sanitizer to 170 proof.
Last Shot Distillery charges WHO’s suggested wholesale amount for the bottles being sold. While this is enough to cover expenses, the company isn’t turning a profit on the new venture. That’s fine with Uyehara. “There’s a need. People are scared. They want sanitizers,” he says. Last week, he sold 500 bottles in two days. Since then, many local businesses have expressed interest. Last Shot has switched gears and is offering half-gallon containers to meet that demand.
With large and small businesses across the country switching gears to manufacture medical equipment, Uyehara is happy Last Shot can pitch in to help. “We may not be big like the big boys, but at least we can assist in our own community and do something good.”
Coronavirus pandemic shows the importance of our food system
The faculty of the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies recently submitted a commentary to The Post Stanard showing how the COVID-19 pandemic lays bare important contradictions within the modern food system. Faculty expounded how critical the food system is, with its workers, managers, business owners, and firms. However, the inequalities in the system have become apparent during this crisis: Workers in the food system are precarious, lack adequate pay and health benefits, and yet are asked to take risks to ensure food is available so we all can eat.
Professor Mary Kiernan asked her students in a sustainable food business course: “How do you think the COVID-19 pandemic will change the supply chain in food and foodservice purchasing in the future?” To answer this question her students needed to examine the entire food system including, agricultural production, cross-border food networks, labor relations and rights, immigration policies, food manufacturing and distribution, and nutrition science and education. We take the food system for granted as we shop, prepare our meals or purchase our food. This might change after the pandemic eases.
Understanding how the crisis affects the food system begins by looking into the vast U.S. farm system, from industrial-scale farms to many small- and medium-sized family farms. These farms rely on workers from other countries, largely from Mexico and Central America. These workers, as well as those who prepare our food and stock the shelves, drive and load and unload the trucks etc., are continuing to work and put themselves, and family members, at-risk.
The Department of Nutrition and Food Studies has always appreciated the important role of the food system and all who make it function so well; and, they hope that the current emergency situation will highlight how important this system is to our elected officials, policy-makers and to the public in general.
Read the full article at Syracuse.com
Food Studies major named 2020 Mount Vernon Leadership Fellow
Phoebe Ambrose, a sophomore majoring in food studies in the Falk College and citizenship and civic engagement in the Maxwell School, has been named a 2020 Mount Vernon Leadership Fellow.
Ambrose was one of 14 fellows selected from among more than 900 applicants and is Syracuse University’s first Mount Vernon Fellow. The award provides Ambrose with the opportunity to participate in a six-week, fully funded institute at both George Washington’s Mount Vernon estate and in Old Town Alexandria, both in Virginia. In addition to costs associated with institute tuition, travel, room, and board, Ambrose will receive a $3,000 stipend as part of the fellowship.
Owing to coronavirus mitigation efforts, the summer 2020 edition of the Mount Vernon institute has been deferred until further notice. When it is held, Ambrose will have the chance to enhance her leadership skills both in the classroom and through interactions with senior leaders in government, corporate and nonprofit positions. Additionally, the fellowship provides Ambrose with an opportunity to connect with other young leaders from across the United States in order to build a network devoted to changing the world. At the conclusion of the program, Ambrose will have the chance to design, implement and present results from a capstone project meant to benefit local communities.
Much of Ambrose’s undergraduate work has focused on community gardening. She has invested time as a volunteer at Brady Farm, a Syracuse community garden that provides organically grown food to local communities and runs urban ecology workshops. This past summer, Syracuse University began its own community garden, Pete’s Giving Garden, and Ambrose’s capstone project as a Mount Vernon Fellow will focus on increasing local community engagement with the garden.
Ambrose grew up on a farm and attended Manlius Pebble Hill School in nearby DeWitt. She plans to pursue a master’s degree before moving into the nonprofit sector, and hopes to found and run an organization focused on implementing community gardens in schools. Ambrose sees farming as an important way people can learn resilience, adaptability and self-sufficiency. A member of Alpha Gamma Delta, she is also an Invest in Syracuse Scholar and a member of the Renée Crown University Honors Program. Ambrose worked with the University’s Center for Fellowship and Scholarship Advising (CFSA) on her application for the fellowship.
The Mount Vernon Leadership Fellowship, in its sixth year, has built a reputation for identifying and attracting top talent. Previous recipients have gone on to win additional prestigious awards, including Fulbright, Schwarzman, Rangel and Trump Fellowships. You can read more about the fellowship at the Mount Vernon website. For more information about this and other scholarship and fellowship opportunities available, please contact the CFSA at cfsa@syr.edu.
This story was originally written by Dominic Wilkens, a Ph.D. candidate in geography in the Maxwell School and published at news.syr.edu
Supporting students with intellectual and developmental disabilities through InclusiveU
Through InclusiveU, students with intellectual and developmental disabilities can be part of a strong community, taking advantage of opportunities across campus while learning to be independent.
As one of 20 model programs in the United States for transition and postsecondary programs for students with intellectual disabilities, Syracuse University’s InclusiveU sets an example other programs want to follow. Through InclusiveU, an initiative of the Lawrence B. Taishoff Center for Inclusive Higher Education, students with intellectual and developmental disabilities are part of a strong community where they are fully included with their peers.
InclusiveU students take a reduced course load of two to three classes per semester, working toward a certificate in their area of study. In their senior year, they complete two full-time, 15-week internships in a variety of departments on campus and with local employers. InclusiveU boasts a 100 percent employment rate for graduates, compared to the national average of approximately 17 percent for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Evan Weissman, associate professor of food studies in Falk College, has taught InclusiveU students for the past several years. He sees firsthand how the power of the program extends to the campus community. “Other students are able to think about the diversity of our student body and see the opportunities for people at our University who have different life experiences,” he says.
Weissman says he appreciates the opportunity to be part of the effort to create a more inclusive learning space and campus. “As an instructor, diversity forces me to constantly reevaluate my teaching methods and ensure that I am delivering class content in ways that reach a wide variety of students,” he says.
Read more about the InclusiveU experience.
Fifth Annual Ann Selkowitz Litt Distinguished Speaker Series features Rob Skinner
Falk College is pleased to welcome Rob Skinner, MS, RD, CSSD, CSCS as the featured speaker of the Fifth Annual Ann Selkowitz Litt Distinguished Speaker Series. We invite you to join us Tuesday, February 25, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. in Grant Auditorium, Falk Complex for his lecture, “From the Military to the Olympics: Nutrition for Sport Performance Enhancement.” The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served prior to the lecture at 5:30 p.m.
Skinner is the Senior Sports Dietitian at the United State Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He brings 22 years of experience working as a dietitian and exercise physiologist with athletes at all levels, including positions with the Washington Redskins as a Sports Dietitian/Nutritionist, the U.S. Navy SEALs as a Performance Dietitian, the University of Virginia as Director of Sports Nutrition, and several positions with Georgia Tech.
In his lecture, Skinner will share about his role preparing athletes to compete at the highest level with the United States Olympic Team in the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, as well as insights from his career experiences preparing professional and collegiate athletes for competition and military forces for combat.
“Rob’s extensive experience in nutrition and sports intersects numerous disciplines and interests. He has worked with many different populations, particularly with the military and with professional and collegiate athletes,” says Kay Stearns Bruening, PhD, RDN, FAND, Falk College associate professor in the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies. “We are thrilled he will share his insights with us for this year’s Litt Lecture.”
Skinner holds a master’s degree in exercise science from Georgia State University, as well as bachelor’s degrees in education and nutrition from the University of Georgia and Georgia State University, respectively. He is a registered dietitian with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (AND) and holds certifications with AND, the National Strength and Conditioning Association, and the American College of Sports Medicine. Skinner is author and co-author of several publications, including chapters in AND publications, Sports Nutrition: A Guide for the Professional Working with Active People and Working with the Collegiate Athlete and Weight and Body-Focused Sports.
Now in its fifth year, the Ann Selkowitz Litt Distinguished Speaker Series is named after Falk College nutrition alumna Ann Selkowitz Litt ’75, a nationally known nutritionist who helped children and adolescents with eating disorders and assisted developing athletes in reaching their full potential. The nutrition consultant to CosmoGirl magazine, Litt was the author of “The College Students’ Guide to Eating Well on Campus,” “Fuel for Young Athletes” and “The ADA Guide to Private Practice.” She was the nutritionist for the NFL’s Washington Redskins and served as spokesperson for several media campaigns during her career, including the “Got Milk” campaign. After her death, the Ann S. Litt Foundation, Inc., was created to support nutrition education.
For information about the Ann Litt Lecture and for accommodations requests, please contact Annette Hodgens at ahodgens@syr.edu or 315.443.9816.
Dean Murphy welcomes Falk students to campus
Wednesday, January 15, 2020
Dear Falk College Students,
Welcome back to campus, returning Falk students. And welcome to new and transfer students joining us this spring. We are so glad to have you join our Falk family. I hope that your winter break was filled with family, friends, and loved ones, and plenty of time for both restful and exciting activities.
As the Spring 2020 semester begins, I would like to offer you a few reminders and updates:
Falk faculty, staff, and I as your Dean, are here to support each of you on your journey here as students, as people, and as citizens. Our doors are always open to you.
In addition, you were invited to an open house with me and Falk College faculty and staff on January 14. It was great to see many of you there for the first in a series of regularly scheduled events that we will continue this semester and into future semesters. I welcome your feedback for future College activities.
As we face challenges on our campus, and as our students advocate for a better Syracuse University, you have my assurance as Dean that Falk College is fully committed to playing a critical role in these efforts, doing what we can to strengthen and build the campus community we know we can be.
Some of you are actively involved in the Falk College Dean’s Committee on Diversity and Inclusion, established in 2018. We are so grateful for the action and positive change resulting from the efforts of our members, which include faculty, staff, graduate students and undergraduate students from all academic programs in Falk College. There is much work yet to do, and we strongly encourage you to be part of it. Committee meetings are held monthly throughout the academic year. Students interested in being involved in the Committee should contact Professor Chandice Haste-Jackson at cmhaste@syr.edu or the Falk College Dean’s Office at tbattist@syr.edu.
I’d like to remind all students that Falk College Student Services is your dedicated support system. Student Services counselors are here to provide you with private academic advising and help you meet your requirements and goals. In addition, they are your resource for private consultation related to student social and emotional concerns. If you have any concerns throughout your academic career, please contact Student Services or visit 330 Barclay Hall in the Falk Complex.
Particularly for new students, I encourage you review my Fall 2019 welcome message, which contains helpful information about other important resources like Falk Career Services, the Falk Student Lounge, Falk Café, and our computer labs. You’ll also find information about campus resources, such as health and counseling services in the Barnes Center at the Arch, spiritual life through Hendricks Chapel.
To those of you who will be graduating in May, I give you a special word of encouragement to make the most of this semester to maximize your academic and personal growth, and of course, enjoy it! To all our students in Falk College, I wish each of you an excellent Spring 2020 semester.
Go Orange!
Diane Lyden Murphy, M.A., M.S.W., Ph.D.
Dean
Falk College
Falk College offers graduate program scholarships for 2020
Alumni admitted to one of Falk College eligible master’s program for 2020: All Syracuse University alumni can apply for a scholarship equivalent to 25% of tuition for one of Falk College’s eligible residential master’s degree (listed below). In addition, GRE tests and application fees waived.
Scholarship is for residential programs, only.
All students who are full or part-time Syracuse University alumni and do not qualify for the 50% Forever Orange discount are eligible for this scholarship; this includes students already admitted to a Falk master’s program for 2021.
Falk graduate programs include:
- Exercise Science M.S.
- Food Studies M.S.
- Food Studies C.A.S.
- Applied Human Development & Family Science M.A.
- Human Development & Family Science M.S.
- Marriage and Family Therapy M.A.
- Child Therapy C.A.S.
- Trauma Informed Practice C.A.S.
- Nutrition Science M.A., M.S.
- Dietetic Internship C.A.S.
- Integrative and Functional Nutrition C.A.S.
- Public Health MPH
- Addiction Studies C.A.S.
- Global Health C.A.S.
- Sport Venue & Event Management M.S.
Interested students should contact Falk Admissions, submit their application, and must formally matriculate. For more information, please contact the Falk College Office of Admissions at 315.443.5555 or email falk@syr.edu. Award is subject to change.
Joan Christy Lecture Series Presents Culinary Demonstration with the Iroquois White Corn Project
Falk College and its Department of Nutrition and Food Studies hosted the Iroquois White Corn Project for a culinary demonstration and tasting on Thursday, November 14 in Falk (MacNaughton Hall) 104.
The Iroquois White Corn Project aims to bring Iroquois White Corn back as a staple of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) diet through the production of hand grown, picked, and processed products from heirloom seeds dating back at least 1,400 years in Haudenosaunee communities. Iroquois White Corn products are nutritious, non-GMO, gluten-free, and have a low glycemic index.
Lauren Jimerson, Seneca, Heron clan, resides with her son Angel Jimerson in ancestral Seneca territory near Victor, NY. With her passion for cooking and nutrition, Lauren developed several plant-based recipes during her time as the Interim Project Manager for the Iroquois White Corn Project. Lauren currently provides outreach and Angel works as the Iroquois White Corn Project Coordinator.
The Joan Christy lecture series is made possible by The Christy Food and Culture Fund, established in 2005 through the generosity of Syracuse University nutrition alumna Joan Christy ’78, G’81 to provide support for a lecture series in the nutrition program at the University.
Falk student research explores right to food violations for transgender youth
“I am passionate about exploring the lived experiences of queer people of color, and especially the complicity of larger institutions and governments in the marginalization of these groups,” they say.
Fry is conducting a research project titled “Body Politics,” which explores human rights violations, and right to food violations in particular, for transgender youth of color in Syracuse, New York. “I am partnering with the Q Center of Central New York to directly engage with these transgender populations in Syracuse,” Fry says.
The food studies program at Syracuse University’s Falk College focuses on issues surrounding food justice, urban food systems, international trade, labor in the food systems, human rights, science, technology, culinary expertise and food enterprise management.
Fry is working with professor Anni Bellows. Under her mentorship, Fry contributed to a joint submission to the May 2020 United Nations Universal Periodic Review of the United States of America, titled “The Human Right to Food in the Context of Political Participation, Equality and Nondiscrimination.” In addition to the Falk College food studies program, other joint contributors on the submission included WhyHunger, FIAN International, the Human Rights Clinic at the University of Miami School of Law, among others.
As a Syracuse Office of Undergraduate Research and Creative Engagement (SOURCE) grant recipient, Fry presented their work at the Music and Message program in Hendricks Chapel on October 2. The SOURCE provides expanded funding opportunities and support for diverse undergraduate engagement in faculty-guided scholarly research and creative inquiry across all disciplines and programs at Syracuse University. SOURCE grant recipients will present at the SOURCE Orange Talks and Poster Session on November 15 in Bird Library.
“When I’m not pouring over my research materials, you can find me knitting in the LBGT Resource Center, practicing my yoga inversions, or eating free food around campus!” Fry will study abroad in Chile this spring.
Exploring the role of labor, migration in the food system
Students studying food systems in Falk College’s Department of Nutrition and Food Studies learn about ecological sustainability and social justice as faculty members such as Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern highlight practices like agroecology and food-related social movements. Interactive class discussions shed important light on the role of labor and migration in the food system, exploring interactions between food and racial justice to create a more sustainable, equitable, and inclusive place for immigrant farmers.
In her course FST 310: Labor Across the Food System this fall, students are partnering with the Restaurant Opportunities Center (ROC United) to conduct surveys with restaurant workers to better understand wage-related issues in the workplace. In FST 303: Food Movements, students each choose a food-related social movement to conduct their own semester-long study of it. She has also worked with undergraduate and graduate students on her own research, analyzing census data, co-authoring research papers, and transcribing and coding interviews.
Minkoff-Zern, an assistant professor of food studies, authored the new book, The New American Farmer: Immigration, Race, and the Struggle for Sustainability (MIT Press). The book looks at the opportunities and challenges for Latino/a immigrant farmers transitioning from farmworkers to farm owners, offering new perspective on racial inequity and sustainable farming. It also makes an intervention on discussions of agricultural sustainability.
She interviewed more than 100 participants including farmers and people who work with them, such as U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) staff, farmers market managers, nonprofit and extension workers, among others. Her observations and interviews of farmers at markets and their farms, and attendance at relevant conferences aimed at outreach to immigrant and other farmers of color, took place over six years and five states, including California, Minnesota, New York, Washington, and Virginia.
“In my research I found that immigrant farmers were largely using what could be described as alternative or sustainable farming practices, yet are not being recognized for their contribution to sustainable food systems, as they are typically not as well networked or savvy at marketing as U.S.-born farmers.”
Minkoff-Zern teaches the course Labor Across the Food System where students learn about labor conditions for farm laborers and those working in food processing, service, and retail, and how that relates to a vision for a more just and ecologically sustainable food system.
Her interviews with farm workers who succeeded in starting their own farms, against the odds, unveiled what barriers they faced due to their specific ethnic and racial identities as immigrants of color.
“When we look at agriculture today, immigrants are not just workers, but they’re people who have a lot of knowledge in agriculture, are very skilled in agriculture, and they have more barriers to owning land and starting a business.” With the release of her book, her research continues, which includes outreach to organizations that are helping immigrant farmworkers transition to owning their farms. Funders for her research include the Association of American Geographers (AAG), the Goucher College Dept of Environmental Studies, and at Syracuse University, Falk College Seed Grant and the Labor Studies Working Group .
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