- Author: Eve Hightower
On an unusually cool July morning at the UC Davis Student Farm, students are harvesting tomatoes and other produce for the farm’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) membership program. The CSA baskets are pre-sold to members of the campus community and are among the ways students participate in the campus food system.
“It’s more than a way to sell food. It builds community, and that’s a powerful thing for students to learn,” said Raoul Adamchak, who coordinates the CSA and the Market Garden where the produce is grown.
Over the years, those involved in UC campuses’ food systems have garnered powerful lessons from...
- Author: Ann Brody Guy
Soy is now everywhere in the American diet. Tofu has become a more mainstream ingredient, soy milk crowds dairy cases, and soy fillers and additives can be found in processed foods from soups to meat and vegi-burgers to flavorings like cheese powders. The ubiquitous bean’s high levels of estrogen-mimicking compounds, called phytoestrogens, have long been a topic of scientific study and the nation’s ongoing conversation about nutrition and health. Does eating soy impact our sexual development? Harm women’s reproductive health? Minimize the symptoms of menopause? In a confusing matrix of news reports over the past decade, it’s been reported to both encourage some cancers and protect against others.
A
- Author: Iqbal Pittalwala
Possibly, people could be divided into the following two groups: those who knowingly eat insects, and those who think they have never eaten them. Since I am still assailed by the odd nightmare in which I am bringing to my lips a well-cooked bug that suddenly springs to life, I decided to tackle my bug-food phobia by visiting entomologist Douglas Yanega of UC Riverside last week.
Yanega has eaten insects, even relished them. With no difficulty whatsoever he has ingested honey bees, termites, mealworms, crickets, grasshoppers, ants, June beetles, silkworms and even scorpions.
“These admittedly were not very tasty,” said Yanega, who is the senior museum scientist in...
- Author: Brenda Roche Wolford
One year ago in June, the USDA unveiled the new food icon, MyPlate. Based on the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, MyPlate was created to remind us to make healthy choices at mealtime and to visit the website to get more information. This new, improved and simplified version of MyPyramid was an exciting development for dietitians like myself. No longer would we have to explain to the public what those abstract yet colorful bands represented on MyPyramid. The plate is simple and and gets right to the point, and is a great teaching tool in my opinion.
The beauty of MyPlate is that the...
- Author: Shelby MacNab
- Author: Brittanny Zweigle
- Contributor: Angelita Zaragoza
- Contributor: Elizabeth Villalobos
Have you ever seen young students explore an artichoke for the first time? Their faces look puzzled as they wonder if this green spiny thing they hold before them is even edible. What about a kiwi? Eyebrows furrow in bewilderment when kids encounter this fuzzy fruit for the first time. Our favorite kiwi quote from a fifth-grade student: “This smells like dirt.”
All jokes aside, in Fresno County, nutrition education is becoming a priority for teachers. The UC CalFresh Nutrition Education Program has worked with over 950 teachers at over 80...