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Teaching Kitchen course helps improve college students’ food security
Cooperative Extension researcher: Nutrition course a boon for UC Berkeley students
College students across the nation are struggling to meet their basic food needs. Within the University of California system of 280,000 students, 38% of undergraduate students and 20% of graduate students report food insecurity.
As part of the UC Global Food Initiative, in 2015 the Nutrition Policy Institute (a UC Agriculture and Natural Resources statewide research center) identified student food insecurity as a UC systemwide problem, prompting the UC Regents and campuses to collectively address the issue.
All 10 UC campuses now have on-site basic needs centers, providing food, emergency housing and support services. The UC system and campus working groups recognize that meeting basic needs, such as food, is a multidimensional challenge.
In response to the 2022 White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, which called for national efforts to reduce diet-related disease and food insecurity, UC renewed their commitment to cut the proportion of students facing food insecurity in half by 2030. Campuses will partner with local counties to maximize enrollment in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (also known as CalFresh in California), provide food for students who do not qualify for CalFresh, and allocate campus food resources to historically underserved student populations.
NPI's collaborative researchers continue to monitor the impact of these efforts, in addition to other interventions, such as supporting students in building basic culinary skills, to improve food security. One multipronged approach to address food insecurity at UC Berkeley is a 14-week course on Personal Food Security and Wellness with a Teaching Kitchen laboratory component.
Sarah Minkow, who teaches the Personal Food Security and Wellness course at UC Berkeley, shared that students learn about nutrition and gain culinary skills through the Cal Teaching Kitchen.
The curriculum is designed with consideration for the time, cost and convenience of healthy eating. Discussions include food safety, calculating nutrient needs, mindful eating and reading nutrition labels. The Teaching Kitchen laboratory brings the lessons to life through knife skills, “no-cook” cooking, microwave cooking and sheet pan meals.
Minkow enthusiastically highlighted her students' “overwhelmingly positive [response to the] lecture and lab,” suggesting the benefits of an interactive learning environment to garner student engagement.
“Students often give feedback that they wish this was a required course for all UC Berkeley students,” said Minkow. She noted one barrier to reaching more students: capacity of the Teaching Kitchen space.
Susana Matias, a Cooperative Extension specialist at the UC Berkeley Department of Nutritional Sciences and Toxicology and collaborative researcher with the NPI, evaluated the impact of the Personal Food Security and Wellness course at UC Berkeley.
Matias reported that increasing food literacy and culinary skills among students has shown to increase intake of fruits and vegetables, and frequency of cooking, and reduce the number of skipped meals. Her study on the impact of the 14-week nutrition course also found a significant decrease in student food insecurity.
Across the UC System, students are benefiting from their campus Teaching Kitchens, including UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UCLA and UC Riverside. Other campuses such as UC San Diego, UC San Francisco, UC Santa Cruz and UC Santa Barbara offer basic student cooking classes as well.
Katherine Lanca, UC Global Food Initiative fellow working with NPI, attended the 2022 Teaching Kitchen Research Conference as part of her fellowship to learn about the latest research on teaching kitchens supporting equitable health outcomes.
The conference was hosted at UCLA by Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Department of Nutrition in association with the Teaching Kitchen Collaborative. Teaching kitchens are a promising approach to supporting food security and cultivating lifelong habits, especially among a college student population.
UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery's Online Plant Sales Scheduled
If you've been thinking about bees, butterflies and other pollinators--and wondering when the next UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery online plant sales will take place--mark your calendar. Members-Only Online Plant Sales with Curbside Pick-Up. You shop at the online plant...
A Western tiger swallowtail, Papilio rutulus, nectaring on a butterfly bush, Buddleia davidii. Many nectar plants will be available at the UC Davis Arboretum Nursery online plant sales. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A yellow-faced bumble bee, Bombus vosnesenskii, nectaring on a purple salvia, Salvia farinacea. Salvias are popular in pollinator gardens.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A black-faced bumble bee, Bombus californicus, foraging on purple ginny salvia. Salvias are popular at the UC Davis Arboretum nursery plant sales. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A Gulf Fritillary, Agraulis vanillae, on purple lantana. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery manager Taylor Lewis caring for the plants. Plant sales this year are online sales with curbside pickup. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
COVID-10 pandemic precautions have changed the in-person plant sales to online plant sales at the UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
This is a scene from the pre-COVID-19 UC Davis Arboretum Teaching Nursery plant sales. The sales are now online, with curbside pickup. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
UC Davis Plant Sale May 20-24: Just Add Pollinators
If you want to draw pollinators to your yard, think of the plants for sale at the teaching nursery maintained by the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. A public clearance sale will take place Thursday, May 20 through Monday, May 24, with members saving 30 percent and the public, 20...
A honey bee foraging on Salvia "Hot Lips." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
A honey bee, proboscis (tongue) extended, takes a liking to the Salvia "Hot Lips." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
The honey bee checks out the photographer. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Flight time! The honey bee prepares to leave Salvia "Hot Lips." (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Nursery manager Taylor Lewis of the Arboretum Teaching Nursery, UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, tends to plants in the nursery. An online public sale is set May 20-24. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
These carts will be in use with the UC Davis Arboretum's online plant sales take place May 20-24. Delivery is curbside.(Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Food for Thought: And Now It's Time for Action! Teachers...Join In!
An excellent idea. Food ought to be incorporated as an integral part of our school curricula, says UC Davis agricultural entomologist Christian Nansen, an associate professor in the Department of Entomology and Nematology. Yes! And he welcomes teachers' involvement in this...
Food ought to be incorporated in every school curriculum, says Christian Nansen. Here his former students at the University of Western Australia, Preth, learn about designing and installing a garden. (Photo by Christian Nansen)
As part of a parental assignment, 11-year-old Molly Nansen of Davis calculated "How much cabbage would be needed to meet the Vitamin K requirements for her entire class for a whole year?" (Photo by Christian Nansen)
Molly Nansen with the muffin recipe she created, using cabbage. (Photo by Christian Nansen)
Congrats to Lynn and Bob Kimsey and Walter Leal
Congratulations to the three UC Davis faculty members who will receive prestigious awards next week from the Pacific Branch, Entomological Society of America (PBESA). They are: Lynn Kimsey, director of the Bohart Museum of Entomology and professor of entomology, UC Davis...
Lynn Kimsey directs the Bohart Museum of Entomology at UC Davis. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Forensic entomologist Robert Kimsey in his habitat, his office at Briggs Hall. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
Chemical ecologist Walter Leal, UC Davis distinguished professor, studies insect chemical communication. (Photo by Kathy Keatley Garvey)
