Recipes for Growing Food Literacy
The Food Ed Hub at the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education and Policy proudly reflects on the enriching and transformative experiences shared during the Food Ed Conference & Awards. This event underscored our commitment to fostering food literacy through diverse and engaging workshops. Participants explored a wide range of topics, from cultural humility in food studies and food justice advocacy to innovative approaches in school food programs and community gardening. Each session provided valuable insights and practical tools for educators, students, and community leaders to deepen their understanding of food systems and promote healthy, equitable eating habits. Through these collaborative efforts, we continue to champion the integration of comprehensive food education into schools and communities, aiming to build a future where everyone has the knowledge and access to make nutritious food choices. To stay up to date on Tisch Food Center events, visit our Events page!
Below, please find some excerpts from volunteers and workshop presenters on their experience!
Edible History Exchange - Transforming Social & Learning Spaces Through Food Studies
Written by Valerie Muse
During the afternoon workshops, I was with Brianna Nurse from EH Exchange. I had an amazing experience assisting Brianna and participating in the workshop with everyone! Brianna emphasizes the importance of cultural humility when learning new cultures through food. She used the Global Leadership Continuum, which included personalizing, distancing, pursuing, identifying, and liberating, to describe the stages we go through when experiencing new foods. At the beginning of the session, Brianna quickly connected with the group. We introduced ourselves, shared our favorite foods, and reflected on our relationships with them.
After learning about the Global Leadership Continuum, we did three stations. In the first station (distancing), we chose one country to list foods about. This is where social and learning spaces are transformed because we all realize that our food choices are limited by our cultural norms. To expand our palates, we need to connect with different cultures in different ways by challenging ourselves. These ways may include eating at restaurants, connecting with the community, or traveling to the cultural area of interest. I chose India, and I was saddened to say I did not know many foods from there except Butter Chicken and Tikka Masala. But, this experience prompted me to consider learning more about Indian foods and think about food studies from a different perspective. In the second station (pursuing), we tried foods from different countries at the Tasting Bar. The foods were mango chutney from India, Yuzu from Japan, guava chips from Venezuela, olive oil from Italy, and Irish sea moss from Jamaica. Everything was delicious! The words "yum" and "mmm, this is good" were shared all throughout the station. It was nice seeing us all connect through different foods, especially trying them our first time. We allowed our taste buds to be open and curious to try new cultures through foods. In the third station (identifying), we reflected on our thoughts, actions, and conversations. It's important to reflect because it allows you to be intentional with the next steps when learning new cultures. I learned that if I wanted to make an impact in food and nutrition, I had to take some time to learn about the many cultures embedded in NYC. You can learn much and teach others as you expand your palate. So, we need our palates to be as diverse as NYC! My first step in identifying an action to take is a food tour, which would lead me to "liberating,” which is within the Global Citizenship Continuum. Learning about new cultures through experiencing different foods takes willingness and patience, but once you're committed, it's amazing how it enlightens your taste buds and teaches you. Overall, I've learned that exposure and experience are key to cultural competence, sensitivity, and humility in food and nutrition.
East NY Farms - Food Justice & Community Gardens in ENY
Written by Chelsea Dyapa
The East NY Farms presentation was led by staffer Sarah Bacio and several dedicated youth interns from around New York (Bradley Thomas, Aderinsola Babawale, and Stephanie Marino) who laid out a general understanding of terms and issues in food justice work. For example, they taught us emerging terms in the field such as “food swamps” and “food apartheid,” and showed us statistics highlighting the differential access to healthy foods across New York neighborhoods. We saw that less affluent neighborhoods like East New York were often labeled as “food swamps,” places that have plenty of access to food that is not beneficial to physical health and little access to healthful foods. Conversely, many affluent neighborhoods have high access to grocery stores with fresh, cheap produce and are less saturated with fast food restaurants.
East New York Farm then showed us the work that they do at their community garden such as providing fresh, affordable produce to their neighbors and teaching youth and other community members about healthy eating and urban gardening to help fight “food apartheid”-- the unequal access to affordable healthy foods based on income, location, race, and other marginalized aspects of one’s identity. They then ended with a fun trivia review of their extremely informative and energetic presentation!
Youth Food Advocates - The YFA Menu Survey: Student-led Research Project
Written by Sarde Gumalo
The Youth Food Advocates workshop was presented by two high school interns who discussed their research project that involved surveying middle and high school students for their perceptions and feedback regarding school lunch. Youth Food Advocates is a branch of Community Food Advocates that takes on high school students as interns and teaches them about food justice, nutrition, and advocacy. The results of the surveys revealed several points of improvement for school lunches. Some main topics included better food preparation, improved food quality, and increased diversity in food options. One of my takeaways was that food preparation can greatly hinder students from eating whole foods. One example that several teachers and students in the room complained about was the difficulty of peeling the oranges provided during school lunch. Even adults found it nearly impossible to peel the oranges without the use of a sharp knife. One teacher responded that their school had a similar experience and started serving the oranges with a small nick at the top to make it easier to peel. This small change greatly increased student consumption overall. It’s often assumed that students don’t want to eat fruits or vegetables but sometimes poor food quality and preparation are the actual barriers preventing students from eating healthily. It was inspiring to hear from the high school interns and their level of knowledge regarding food justice and advocacy was incredible. Many teachers in the room looked to them to answer their questions and tap into their expertise. Witnessing their passion and dedication gave me hope for the future of food in our country.
Edible Schoolyard - No Garden, No Kitchen, No Problem.
Written by Allison Jaye Marino
Edible Schoolyard NYC had a great time bringing our "No Garden, No Kitchen, No Problem" workshop to the Tisch Food Ed Hub Conference! In our workshop, we showcased activities and lessons for schools with limited access to formal growing and cooking spaces. We shared simple recipes and indoor growing activities that can be used to introduce students to seed-to-table learning in any classroom. The participants were enthusiastic and offered their own excellent ideas and perspectives. They made their own herbal tea bags, planted pea shoots, and dissected lima beans. We really enjoyed talking with this group of amazing educators and food activists about the possibilities for simple seed-to-table activities in their own educational settings.
Family Cook Productions - What Drives Youth to be Adventurous Eaters? Best Practices in Achieving Behavior Change
Written by Shirley Song
During the Family Cook Productions workshop, they showed seasonal vegetables and prepared yogurt with rhubarb and a ramp salad to demonstrate what can be created in their classes. Their aim was to illustrate how they integrate cooking into the learning process of fostering adventurous eating habits from early childhood to adolescence. They utilize ten key experiential drivers of behavior change to promote sustainable healthy lifestyle choices. These include challenge, celebration, success, peer support, collaboration, skills building, skill reinforcement, palate development, recipe concept, and home environment. One notable element was the use of a puppet named Willow to engage children, encouraging them to be brave in trying new foods. For teenagers, they utilized teamwork to encourage experimentation with new foods. This social aspect of eating was emphasized as crucial to this behavioral change. The workshop attendees were inspired by the organization’s approach, and personally, I was deeply inspired by how their strategies felt attainable by the end.
Seeds in the Middle - Hip2B Healthy Fundraising and Community Speaks to Obstacles to Eating Fresh in Low-income Neighborhoods
Written by Catalina Duque Jaramillo
Nancie Katz, Executive Director of Seeds in the Middle, started by giving an overview of the organization's vision and introducing each panelist. These panelists were representatives of low-income, food-insecure neighborhoods of color who shared their extensive experience working with schools, the DOE, and personal situations that have made them part of this empowering mission for schools and students to create healthier places to live and learn.
A few challenges nonprofits face in the context of healthy food access have been to make themselves recognized and increase participation. They also need to find payment methods that benefit both the agency and individual recipient while following the DOE rules. Nonprofits often struggle to get enough professional staff and ample support from the school principal. Lastly, and very significantly, many organizations have to confront numerous obstacles related to systemic issues in order to deliver the help and actions needed to assist and empower low-income, food-insecure neighborhoods of color. These challenges are often more pronounced in low-income communities compared to more wealthy neighborhoods, which seem less constrained to implement and execute projects and ideas.
Indeed, it was a back-and-forth of questions and answers depending on the participants' present organizational circumstances. Possible strategies and solutions to overcome these barriers using “Hip2B Healthy” examples were discussed, and public organizations were motivated to keep up the hard work in favor of their community's health towards nutritious food access.
During the workshop, there was a strong sense of unity and collaboration. Participants from diverse backgrounds and experiences came together to overcome their shared and unique difficulties, and the space allowed for networking at the end.
Teens For Food Justice - Cross-Curricular Humanities Collaborations in On-Campus Hydroponic Farming
Written by Tyra Vanriel and Alejandro Espinoza
Teens for Food Justice cooked a recipe using kale from their hydroponics lab with cannellini beans, garlic, onion, tomatoes, red pepper flakes, and oregano. This dish was served with white rice and gremolata (fresh herb oil) which was made with parsley, basil, garlic, lemon juice, and olive oil. They usually cook this meal with their students to showcase how delicious and easy it is to prepare a dish using the vegetables and herbs that they helped to grow. Erica Yonks led the cooking demonstration and it was amazing to see that while she is a high school art teacher, she has a love for food and educating her students to eat healthier. I was also inspired by Christine Fryer, who is a high school law teacher who teaches her students about food injustice and how slavery impacts our current food system. I wish I had a devoted teacher like this in my history class during high school!
The cooking demonstration was the highlight of the TFFJ presentation. Together, TFFJ presenters and audience members cooked a meal. Preparing the white bean skillet recipe with fresh herb oil was a sensational experience. The meal serves 4 people and is a healthy and nutritious recipe prepared in under 20 minutes! Another noteworthy aspect of TFFJ's presentation was seeing the urban farms TFFJ implements within the premises of New York City public schools. Specifically, the large-scale hydroponic farm at the Martin Luther King Education Campus in Manhattan grows up to 10,000 pounds of nutritious produce annually. Most of the produce grown are foliage plants like Swiss chard, kale, and collard greens, offering a diverse range of nutrients like folate, fiber, and calcium. Across each borough, these nutritious greens grown within NYC schools are served in school cafeterias, local food pantries, and student-run markets, increasing access to fresh and healthy food for low-income communities.
Pilot Light & FRESHFARM FoodPrints - Food and Nutrition Education Embedded into the School Day: Two Success Stories
By Natalie Greaves-Peters
Dr. Pam Koch led a lively discussion at the workshop with Dr. Alexandra DeSorbo-Quinn, Executive Director of Pilot Light, and Jenn Mampara, Director of Education at FRESHFARM FoodPrints. They explored the unique ways their organizations are bringing food and nutrition education to schools.
Pilot Light focuses on teacher fellowships, giving educators the training they need to integrate food education into their classrooms. On the other hand, FoodPrints takes a different approach by being actively present in schools, running their programs directly with students.
We also heard some impressive success stories. FoodPrints has grown from working with just 200 students at one school to reaching over 5,700 students in 15 DC public schools. Pilot Light has expanded its reach from a single school to 79, impacting more than 20,000 students nationwide. The audience walked away with a deep appreciation for how both models make a big difference in students' lives.