Food Studies News
Falk College Community Meet-and-Greet with Dean Murphy
Dear Falk Undergraduate and Grad. Students,
Please join Falk College Dean, Diane Lyden Murphy, and your classmates for a Falk Student Community Meet-and-Greet. A date will be scheduled after Spring Break. Dean Murphy is interested in hearing your ideas about student needs in our new building. What would you like to see in the student lounge? What makes your study space ideal? Hear about renovations in-the-works, including space for student services, food services, and collaborative learning.
Pizza, salad and soda will be served!
Share your suggestions via email.
SUSN Class of 1964 Celebrates 50 Years
Syracuse University School of Nursing Class of ‘64 gathered in Seneca Falls to celebrate its 50th reunion in May, 2014. From the Carolinas, Florida, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Oregon, California, Texas and West Virginia, 17 members of the class of 24 gathered to reminisce, catch up on news, view pictures and memorabilia and just enjoy one another.
This class of only 24 have earned 3 PhDs, more than 10 master’s degrees, and 1 nurse practitioner. We have been directors of nursing in health care agencies, taught nursing, worked as clinical nurse specialists in numerous fields, and served in the military, working in almost every aspect of nursing.
Since graduation, only one of the class is deceased, three could not be located and several were unable to attend. One of the highlights of the event was having dinner with our physician instructor for obstetrics and gynecology, Phillip L. Ferro, MD, who is still practicing and teaching at SUNY Upstate in Syracuse. He traveled to Seneca Falls to surprise the group (only the reunion chairs knew he was coming.)
Since no SU reunion would be complete without Marshall Street memories, menus were obtained from the Varsity and Cosmo’s. Manny’s contributed some mugs and t shirts. Syracuse University and Falk College also contributed items to remind the ladies of their days at SU.
Endless memories were recalled such as females curfews, no slacks on campus, no alcohol on campus, freshman beanies, the Goon Squad, the strict rules and regulations of the Nursing School, snacking on M Street, going to The Orange with a date, and placard cheering in Archbold.
Many of our class lived in cottages that have long ago been demolished to make room for new buildings and parking lots. Our school was located at 107 Waverly Ave. in a metal Quonset hut. We had codes…dress codes, behavior codes and an honor code, all which were strictly enforced. While many of these things seemed a bit harsh at the time, each of the class agreed that our school equipped us well to be the caring professional women we became. It made us good citizens, volunteers, family members and most of all, friends.
Each of us remembered where we were and what we were doing the day President Kennedy was assassinated. Each of us remembered having to graduate in Manley Field House due to inclement weather. Each of us remembered our years at SU and all of the years that have passed at SU, our school, and one another… with a smile!
Prepared by Joan Martin Way, RN, MSN
Food studies, nutrition faculty, students participated in NYC James Beard Empire Feast
Falk College food studies chef instructor, Mary Kiernan, cooked for and participated in the James Beard Empire State Feast Event on Feb. 27 at the James Beard House in NYC. Assisting her and the other team chefs are Falk nutrition students, Rachel Johnson and Kaylah Wicks. The Beard Foundation offers events to educate, inspire, entertain, and foster an appreciation of American cuisine. Preparation for the event included recent test run-throughs at Syracuse University’s Falk College teaching kitchens.
WCNY-TV explores community gardens in Syracuse with food studies professor Evan Weissman
In December, WCNY-TV’s “Cycle of Health” show featured assistant professor of food studies, Evan Weissman, an exploration of the history and growth of community gardens in Syracuse, as well as across New York State. A growing interest in where food comes from and how to cook it, along with many other factors, has spurred urban garden movements locally. Some local community gardens date back 20 years, and many new ones are sprouting up today. Watch the segment entitled, ‘Urban Roots’ with Professor Weissman
New York Times food columnist offers advice to Falk students on food production, consumption and activism
A standing-room-only audience of students, faculty and staff had the chance to hear the insights of Mark Bittman, one of the country’s best-known, most widely respected food writers. Bittman, who was in Syracuse as the featured speaker at the Rosamond Gifford Lecture on November 5, made a special trip to campus to meet with students in Falk College’s food studies and nutrition programs.
The question-and-answer format led by Bittman explored many topics, including how students can work with their faculty to help expand the percentage of locally produced food served on campus, why people who are ‘foodies’ are becoming increasingly active in the labor movement, and the need for reduced marketing of soda, sugary cereals and junk food to children. In discussing the merits of urban agriculture and school gardens, Bittman noted “it is significant to show kids food comes from the ground.”
Bittman told the audience that while people don’t cook as much as they used to, “interest in food and cooking is making a recovery.” His newest book, How to Cook Everything Fast, tackles one of the greatest barriers to cooking—time. He explained to students that even if they aren’t able to cook as much as they’d like, they still need to eat healthy foods that interest them. “It isn’t critical for everyone to cook. But everyone absolutely needs to eat good food,” he added.
Bittman writes for the Opinion section of the New York Times on food policy and cooking, and is a columnist for the New York Times Magazine. A regularly featured guest on the Today Show, he wrote “The Minimalist” column for 13 years, and now a “Minimalist” cooking show is featured on the Cooking Channel. The How to Cook Everything series is highly respected: the first edition of the flagship book How to Cook Everything won both the IACP and James Beard Awards, and How to Cook Everything Vegetarian won the 2008 IACP award. He is also the author of Food Matters, Food Matters Cookbook, Fish, and Leafy Greens.
Syracuse University’s Falk College Highlights Graduate Studies During November 15 Information Session
Faculty, staff, students available to talk about programs, coursework, student life
Syracuse University faculty, staff and current students will welcome potential graduate students interested in the Falk College’s graduate programs in child and family studies, public health, marriage and family therapy, nutrition science, social work andsport management during a special Fall Information Session for graduate studies on Saturday, November 15. The presentation begins at 10:00 a.m. in the Shaffer Art Building, Shemin Auditorium.
Detailed information will be provided on graduate programs in child and family studies (MA, MS, Ph.D.), child and family health (MS), marriage and family therapy (MA), social work (MSW) as well as the dual degree program (MA/MSW) in marriage and family therapy and social work, nutrition science, and sport venue and event management (MS). Details on our newCertificate of Advanced Study (CAS) programs in trauma-informed practice and intercollegiate athletic advising and supportwill be available along with information on other Falk College CAS programs in addiction studies, dietetic internship, and global health.
Admissions staff will be available at the information session to meet with students and provide information on academic programs, scholarships and housing.
Food studies professor Evan Weissman cultivates food justice
Syracuse Grows recently celebrated another successful growing season and hosted its first-ever Farm-to-Table Benefit dinner. Funds raised at the event will support the Syracuse Grows network of community gardens and farms and also contribute to its annual resource drive in the spring. Syracuse Grows is a grassroots coalition of individuals, gardens, and community collaborators working to cultivate a just foodscape in the city of Syracuse. The group provides advocacy, programming, education, and resources to support food justice and community development through community gardening and urban agriculture.
Syracuse University students were involved in the event, including three students in assistant professor of food studies Evan Weissman’s FST 304: Farm to Fork course who volunteered by helping chefs prepare the meal and worked at the event itself. Weissman, is a founding member of Syracuse Grows and member of its advisory board. Falk College began offering a bachelor of science degree in food studies in August 2014. As part of this major, Weissman teaches Contemporary Food Issues and Farm to Fork, a popular course with students that provides a first-hand exploration of alternative food systems. His areas of expertise include alternative food networks, urban agriculture, the political economy of agro-food and urban political ecology.
Weissman will be delivering the keynote address for the World on Your Plate conference on food and sustainable living in Buffalo, New York in October. His address is titled, “Building a Movement: Grounded Reflections on Emerging Food Justice Initiatives.”
Falk College Welcomes New Faculty
As we begin the Fall 2014 semester, Syracuse University’s Falk College is pleased to announce the appointment of five new outstanding faculty members: Beth Dixon, Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, Margaret Voss, Patrick Walsh, and Jennifer Wilkins. We also welcome Mine Göl-Güven as visiting assistant professor of child and family studies. Their exceptional wealth of academic and practical experience in their respective fields is complemented by their passion for teaching, research, scholarship and service. Each of them will offer students tremendous opportunities for learning inside and outside of the classroom. We invite you to read more about their accomplishments, and areas for potential collaboration
Falk College Seed Grants awarded for 2014-15
Each year, the David B. Falk College Research Center, in collaboration with the Dean’s Office, awards seed grants on a competitive basis to assist faculty with completing preparatory work for research projects that have a high likelihood to compete for external funding. The 2014-15 seed grant recipients include:
Development and evaluation of a mind-body awareness intervention to enhance self-regulation as a mechanism to promote healthy weight among young children.
Dessa Bergen-Cico, assistant professor, Public Health
Rachel Razza, assistant professor, Child and Family Studies
Cultivating food justice: using photovoice to document the outcomes of a pilot food system intervention program for youth
Evan Weissman, assistant professor, Food Studies
Housing and LGBTQ youth
Maria Brown, professor of practice, School of Social Work and Aging Studies Institute
Deborah Coolhart, assistant professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
How do Iraqi refugees experience and make sense of family relationships as they resettle in a host country?
Rashmi Gangamma, assistant professor, Marriage and Family Therapy
Falk Professor to Study Anaerobic Digesters for Small-scale Dairy Farms
Falk College professor of Food Studies, Rick Welsh, and Stefan Grimberg and Shane Rogers, two environmental engineers from Clarkson University, have received a competitive grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute for Food and Agriculture to develop educational and outreach materials related to smaller-scale anaerobic digesters.
In the U.S., anaerobic digesters have been seen as larger farm technologies since the more manure produced on a farm, the greater the amount of biogas produced too. This biogas is captured and burned to produce heat that can be used to keep parlors warm or to produce steam to turn a turbine and produce electricity. Excess electricity can be sold.
Earlier research by Welsh and colleagues found widespread interest among smaller-scale dairy farmers in New York State for digester technology. And digesters are smaller-farm technologies in many nations around the world including Asia and Central America. The Clarkson engineers found that adding biomass from sources such as spoiled silage or hay and even kitchen waste through a leachate system in conjunction with a smaller and cheaper design, made smaller-scale digesters economically viable for smaller dairy farms (fewer than 200 milking cows).
The team will use the current grant funds to establish an educational and extension site at the Cornell Cooperative Extension Learning Farm in St. Lawrence County, New York. Welsh will conduct focus group and individual interviews with farmers viewing the pilot digester and attending informational sessions. The purpose is to measure the effects on knowledge about digesters as well as generate interest in this form of alternative distributed energy.
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