- Author: Brenda Dawson
These days you can barely pick up a magazine, turn on the TV, or click open Facebook without being told how to eat, what to eat or what not to eat.
But the truth is, dietary advice is nothing new. Some of our rules for eating date back to ancient times as part of religious teachings, and food traditions are central to our understanding of culture. What is new over the last century or so is the application of science to our diets, so that we can know more exactly what nutrition science tells us is best when it comes to filling our plates.
A new book by a UC Davis researcher argues that modern dietary advice is not merely scientific, but also continues to have cultural, ethical and moral messages attached to...
- Author: Julie Cates
This is the tale of tasty apple travels. Pictured here are students enjoying apples as part of UC Cooperative Extension adventures at Roosevelt and Lincoln Elementary Schools in Tulare, Calif. The nutritious apples have traveled many trails in this adventure. The apple trails include passing through three states, two corporations, many trucks, and the work of invaluable people.
This particular journey started in the state of Washington, but let us begin our unique travel tale in the middle! FoodLink Tulare County is an organization that collects and distributes food to those in need. FoodLink has developed many partnerships, including one with a company called “Happy...
- Author: Diane Nelson
Is there such thing as a nutritionally perfect food? Is there something a human can consume that provides everything a body needs to stay healthy?
Yes, scientists say. Breast milk.
“Mother’s milk is the Rosetta stone for all food,” said Bruce German, professor in the Department of Food Science and Technology at UC Davis and director of the UC Davis Foods for Health Institute. “It’s a complete food, a complete diet, shaped over 200 million years of evolution to keep healthy babies healthy.”
- Author: Ann King Filmer
When you think casually of “food,” you may think of your next meal or your favorite food. “World food” may broaden your thinking to include international cuisines, global hunger, or a growing population. But the academic fields related to food are numerous. Food is one of life’s basic necessities, and along with its associated issues it is essential to the health and well-being of everyone, whatever their locale, education, or income level.
The new World Food Center at UC Davis will take on a broad purview related to food, including sustainable agricultural and environmental practices, food security and safety, hunger, poverty reduction through...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Once a month, the local food bank in Tulare County delivers fresh fruits and vegetables to low-income communities. Teaching people how to incorporate the food into their diets is the role of UC Cooperative Extension’s nutrition education program.
The FoodLink program, called “Nutrition on the Go,” has delivered farm-fresh produce to families for 11 years. Nutrition on the Go made a stop in the community of Farmersville, with a population of about 10,000 and median household income of $31,611, at the end of August. Large commercial bins of apples, yellow plums, pasilla chilies, red onions and tomatoes were placed under sunshades in the community center parking lot. The food was donated by local packing houses,...