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HEALTHY FOODS,HEALTHY LIVES InstituteBI-ANNUAL REPORT 2013–2014Continuing the Journey: Towards solutions to complex food and health problems

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2 Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute Bi-Annual Report 2013-2014

FROm THE DIREcTOR

GREETINGS FROM THE DIRECTORLetter from Director

The Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives (HFHL) Institute is one of the most promising and exciting places in the U of M landscape of new ideas and education. It brings together University and community experts of the highest level to make sustainable impact in the interdisciplinary arena of food, agriculture and health. To our knowledge, no University in the nation is doing what the HFHL Institute is doing. The significance of the HFHL Institute is in how it capitalizes on the unique presence at the University of Minnesota of Colleges of Agriculture, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Public Health, Extension and Public Policy. Only a handful of institutions have these units on one campus, giving us a unique oppor-tunity to promote collaboration among the units, focusing on food and health. Our activities have focused mainly on Minnesota, although we have brought in a number of international speakers for our annual symposia.

The impact of the Institute’s activities can be judged by the number of people that we reach through our events, the success of the researchers that we fund, the great involvement of undergraduate and graduate students, our central role in acquiring external funding, the successful building of Uni-versity-community partnerships, and the degree to which we have become networked within the Minnesota food and health community. We believe that we are seen within the University and outside as the place to go to find out what is happening related to food and health at the University.

This report covers two fiscal years and represents a sampling of the work the Institute has led, participated in and supported from the Spring of 2013 through Fall 2014. During this time, the Institute placed an increased focus on our educational programming as well as our major objective to facilitate the exchange of knowledge among students, community, faculty, and researchers. In the Fall of 2013, we co-hosted our 5th Annual Symposium themed, Food and the Environment: Healthy Planet, Healthy People which highlighted the impact of climate and environmental changes on food production and conversely, the impact of food production on the environment.

Also in 2013 and continuing in 2014, after several years of relationship building and conversations between Associate Director Kris Igo and staff of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS), the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, United Way and U of M Extension, HFHL was asked by MDH to lead a steering committee to oversee the development of the Minnesota Food Charter. From 2013-2015, this group oversaw the broad-based public process, collecting information from over 2500 Minnesotans to create a shared roadmap for how all Minnesotans can have access to healthy, affordable, safe food. The doc-ument describes 99 proven farm-to-table policy and systems changes that will accomplish this, offering actionable ways to reduce diet-related diseases and increase the prosperity of all Minnesota communities. These strategies can be implemented at all scales - from a single organization to a community, region, or state, and are designed to create healthier food environments, healthy food skills, and a healthy food infrastructure. The Food Charter was launched by Department of Health Commissioner Ed Ehlinger at the Food Access Summit held in Duluth in October 2014. Moving forward beyond the launch of the Food Charter, key partners (HFHL, MN Depts of Health, Agriculture, and Human Services, the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota and Extension) will work to create a MN Food Charter Network, which will oversee the implementation of the MN Food Charter’s recommendations and will identify measurable change indicators of healthy food accessibility at a state level. HFHL was asked to be the host organization for this network, and to accomplish this will receive about $270,000/yr from participating partners.

Aside from our academic multi-disciplinary, experiential cooking courses, “FScN 2001: Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives: A Food System Approach to Cooking” and “FScN 2002: Cooking on a Student’s Budget,” in 2014 HFHL began offering a cooking course provided through the UMN

Mindy S. Kurzer, PhD, Director

LETTER FROm THE DIREcTOR

BI-ANNUAL REPORT 2013–2014 3

FROm THE DIREcTOR

Human Resources Employee Wellness Program. Staff and faculty register for the course and pay a reasonable fee out of pocket to enroll in a 4-week session which consists of four hands-on labs with chef instruction, supplemented by three at-home cooking challenges that students blog about on the Cooking for Wellness blog site. Upon successful completion of the class, HR reimburses staff and faculty for the cost of the course and records 50 wellness points that count towards total wellness points (reducing cost of health insurance for the next year). The class is led by culinary instructors and designed to help staff and faculty at the University develop healthy cooking and eating strategies through hands-on food preparation and discussion topics related to healthy cooking.

Our grant programs continue to be a cornerstone of the Institute. The University Faculty Research Grants fund interdisciplinary research in three priority areas: food safety, food policy, and prevention of obesity and chronic disease. Our Community-University Partnership Grants fund community-university co-led projects focused on food, agriculture and community health. Between 2013 - 2014, 25 research-related grants to-taling more than $750,000 were awarded to University faculty, graduate and professional students and community-academic teams. During this period, 40 University departments, 34 University colleges and 22 community partners were supported by our grant programming. A key metric of our scientific and educational impact is peer-reviewed publication and in 2013-2014, over 19 publications have resulted from HFHL-funded grants. We invite you to peruse the projects that we funded between Spring 2013 and Fall 2014, some of which have been highlighted in this report. For more details about all of the projects we’ve supported, please visit our website at www.hfhl.umn.edu.

We hope you appreciate our third biannual report. Its title, Continuing the Journey: Towards solutions to complex food and health problems, reflects the exciting opportunities and accomplishments that marked 2013 - 2014 at HFHL. Realizing the ultimate long term goal of the Institute, which is to improve human health, will require our continued focus on leveraging the University of Minnesota’s knowledge, ability to educate, expertise in creating new interdisciplinary scholarship and ability to engage with the public in the areas of food and health. I extend a very special thank you to the Institute’s Advisory Board members, partners, students, grantees, administrators and not least of all, the staff for their hard work and support!

Mindy KurzerDirector, Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute

Kristine Igo, Associate Director, MPP

Jenny Breen, MPH Rachel Weidt B.S.William Lendway, M.S., R.D., C.C.C.

Robin Schow, MPH Erin Wintervold, B.S. Holly Reiland B.S.

Jawad M. Towns, Program Coordinator

MPH candidate

A very special thank you to the following individuals for their

invaluable contributions to HFHL programming

and activities over the past few years:


mIssION & OBjEcTIvEs

HFHL INsTITUTE mIssION AND LONG TERm OBjEcTIvEsMISSION STATEMENTThe mission of the University of Minnesota Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives (HFHL) Institute is to increase and sustain the University’s impact in the interdisciplinary arena of food, agriculture and health by building the University’s capacity in research, learning and community engagement. The priority areas for focus are food safety, prevention of obesity and chronic disease, and food policy. Within these priority areas, of special importance is the integration of agriculture and medicine.

CURRENT AND LONG TERM OBJECTIVESThe major goal of the HFHL Institute is to utilize and help build the strengths of the University of Minnesota in the area of food and health to advance scientific and public knowledge and influence public policy. This will be done by:

> Funding interdisciplinary research teams whose goal is the development and implementation of cutting edge extramurally funded research and training programs;

> Increasing connections and communication among researchers within the University;

> Developing cross-college programs to expand and coordinate teaching in these areas and to provide innovative training and men-toring opportunities for junior faculty, graduate and professional students and high-performing undergraduate students;

> Encouraging transdisciplinary learning, discussion, and problem solving;

> Promoting community/University partnerships to enhance community-based research and to translate University research for the benefit of Minnesota communities and to share knowledge for collaborative problem-solving; and

> Communicating University findings and their impact to the public, lawmakers and members of the agricultural, food industry and health sectors.


ADvIsORy BOARD

cHRIsA ARcAN, PHD, mHs Research Associate, Family Medicine & Community Health (medical school)

DANIEL D. GALLAHER, PHDProfessor of Nutrition, FScN (cFANs)

sARA AXTELL, PHDCommunity-Campus Health Outreach Liaison, Family Social Science (AHc, Extension)

GARy G. GARDNER, PHDProfessor, Horticultural Science (cFANs)

TIm BEATTy, PHDAssociate Professor, Applied Economics (cFANs)

sARAH GOLLUsT, PHDAssistant Professor, Health Policy & Management (sPH)

jERIcA BERGE, PHDAssociate Professor, Family Medicine & Community Health (medical school)

LINDA HALcÒN, PHDAssociate Professor, Nursing (school of Nursing)

vALENTINE cADIEUX, PHDResearch Associate, Department of Geography (college of Liberal Arts)

cRAIG HEDBERG, PHDAssociate Professor, Environmental Health Sciences (sPH)

vINcE FRITZ, PHDProfessor, Horticultural Science, Southern Research and Outreach Center, Waseca, MN (cFANs)

sHAUN KENNEDyAssistant Professor of Veterinary Population Medicine, Director of the National Center for Food Protection and Defense, and Director of Partnerships and External Relations, College of Veterinary Medicine (cvm)

HEALTHy FOODs, HEALTHy LIvEs INTERNAL ADvIsORy BOARD

BmBB = Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics; FscN = Food Science and Nutrition; cBs = College of Biological Sciences; sPH = School of Public Health;

cFANs = College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences; cvm = College of Veterinary Medicine

JANUARY 2013 – DECEMBER 2014


ADvIsORy BOARD

RIcK KINGsTON, PHDClinical Professor, Toxicology (school of Pharmacy)

cARL j. ROsEN, PHDProfessor, Soil, Water and Climate/Horticultural Sci (Extension/cFANs)

THEODORE P. LABUZA, PH.DMorse Alumni Distinguished Teaching Professor of Food Science and Engineering, Food Science and Nutrition (cFANs)

sHALAmAR sIBLEy, mDAssociate Professor, Department of Medicine, Endocrinology & Diabetes (medical school)

ALEX j. LANGE, PHDAssociate Professor of Medicine and BMBB (medicine and cBs)

vIRAjITA sINGH, m.ARcHResearch Fellow, School of Architecture, (college of Design)

jENNIFER LINDE, PHDAssociate Professor, Epidemiology & Community Health (sPH)

HOUA vUE-HER, PHDHealth & Nutrition Program Director, Health & Nutrition (Extension)

mIcHAEL OAKEs, PHDAssociate Professor, Social Epidemiology (sPH)

KATHERINE WATERs, PHDProgram Leader — Food Systems (Extension) and Director of the Executive Program in Public Health Practice (sPH)

KATEy PELIcAN, PHDAssistant Professor, Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, (cvm)

scOTT WELLs, PHDProfessor, Veterinary Public Health (cvm)

PAUL PORTER, PHDProfessor, Agronomy & Plant Genetics (cFANs)

HEALTHy FOODs, HEALTHy LIvEs INTERNAL ADvIsORy BOARD (continued)

BmBB = Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics; FscN = Food Science and Nutrition;

cBs = College of Biological Sciences; sPH = School of Public Health;

cFANs = College of Food, Agricultural, and Natural Resource Sciences; cvm = College of Veterinary Medicine

JANUARY 2013 – DECEMBER 2014


FUNDING cROss-DIscIPLINE, cROss-sEcTOR REsEARcH TEAms

HEALTHy FOODs, HEALTHy LIvEs GRANT PROGRAmsSpring 2013 Planning Grants The HFHL Institute administers five grant programs. Two rounds of Re-

quests for Proposals (spring and fall) and proposal reviews are conduct-

ed each year.

> The University Research Grant Program (spring) focuses on bringing together new interdisciplinary teams to perform research using cut-ting-edge approaches on important food and health issues.

> The Graduate and Professional student Grant Program supports student research or other activities related to expanding interdisci-plinary learning and engagement in the areas of food, agriculture, and human health.

> The Planning Grant Program for community-University Partnerships supports the development of new and budding community-academic partnerships related to food, nutrition and health.

> The community-University Partnerships Research Grant Program (fall) focuses on building partnerships between University and com-munity researchers.

> The Planning Grant Program for Faculty Research provides seed funding to support the development of interdisciplinary and cross-disciplinary research teams related to food health and nutrition.

The following are 25 innovative projects, awarded in the spring of 2013

through the fall of 2014 by all of our grant programs, that represent the

diversity and intellectual capacity on campus and in the community. For

the purpose of this report, we have highlighted a select few but you are

invited to visit www.hfhl.umn.edu to learn more about all of the grants

that we’ve funded.

DEvELOPmENT OF A cOmmUNITy-UNIvERsITy PARTNERsHIP TO ADDREss scHOOL-BAsED NUTRITION PROGRAmsTeresa Ambroz (Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation), Laura Perdue (Minneapolis Heart Institute Foundation), Pamela mink (Allina Health)

jamie stang (Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, School of Public Health)

Amount Awarded: $9,000

Timeframe: july 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013

DEvELOPmENT OF A cOmmUNITy-UNIvERsITy PARTNERsHIP TO PROvIDE LOcALLy sOURcED FOODs FROm HmONG ImmIGRANT FARmERs As HEALTHIER mENU OPTIONs FOR PATIENTs IN THE UNIvERsITy OF mINNEsOTA’s FAIRvIEW mEDIcAL cENTERPakou Hang (Hmong American Farmers Association), mee ching (Hmong American Farm-ers Association and University of MN School of Public Health, graduate student)

michele schermann (Department of Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering, CFANS)



AcHIEvING HEALTHy AND AFFORDABLE FOOD AccEss IN THE ERA OF cLImATE cHANGEshalini Gupta (Center for Earth, Energy and Democracy), Deborah Ramos (Zenteotl Project)

Neeraj mehta (U of M Center for Urban and Regional Affairs)


Timeframe: july, 1, 2013 – December 31, 2013



EXPLORING PLAyFUL, cREATIvE DEsIGN As A mEANs OF INcREAsING cHILDREN’s vEGETABLE cONsUmPTIONZata Vickers (Department of Food Science and Nutrition) and Barry Kudrowitz, (Department of Design, Housing and Apparel, College of Design)

Co-Investigator: Marla Reicks (Department of Food Science and Nutrition)


Timeframe: July, 1, 2013 – July 2, 2014

Spring 2013 University Research Grants

mEAsURING NUTRITION QUALITy IN THE EmERGENcy FOOD sysTEmmarilyn s. Nanney (Department of Family Medicine and Community Health, Medical School and U of M Program in Health Disparities Research), Robert P. King (Department of Applied Economics, CFANS)

co-Investigators: susan Basil King (Twin Cities Hunger Initiative), Lori Kratchmer (Emergency Foodshelf Network), Amy maheswaran Lopez (Greater Twin Cities United Way), cathy maes (Intercongregation Communities Association), Rob Zeaske (Second Harvest Heartland)


Timeframe: july, 1, 2013 – july 2, 2014

Ensuring that healthy foods are available in the food shelf segment of the emer-gency food system is an important part of increasing access to healthy foods for low-income populations. The goals of this study were to 1) apply the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), a measure of alignment with the Dietary Guidelines of Americans, to a set of food shelves’ invoices from food banks and 2) test whether the provision of a tailored feedback report on their HEI score results in im-provement on the healthfulness of foods purchased from food banks. The HEI was successfully applied to the food shelf invoices of food shelves that ordered from Second Harvest Heartland and The Food Group. A tailored professional feedback report was developed and distributed to all intervention food shelves. The feedback report presented the total and component HEI scores of each food shelf, along with reports on pounds ordered for that month. Individualized tips were given on the feedback report based on component scores needing the most improvement. Comparative scores to other food shelves for that month and the food shelves’ own score for the year prior were also presented. Overall the tailored feedback report was successful. Food shelves that received the report improved their HEI score more than control food shelves by 4.4%. The treat-ment group improved more than the control group on several component scores. Additionally, 44% of intervention food shelves stated that they made changes to their ordering in response to the feedback report. Future research will aim to develop a sorting method so that miscellaneous and other food sources (other than food banks) can be included in the measure.

“This project brought to light the need for a systematic and standardized measurement tool for the hunger relief sector. It also affirmed the willingness of partners to consider new practices that would support efforts moving towards a systematic standardized measurement tool. Ad-ditionally this work and the data col-lected through this work, allowed for the development of a new promising proxy of the Healthy Eating Index.”

— Katherine Young, MPH RD, Healthy F.O.O.D. Project Coordinator

Carrot terrine created by Chef Woodman of Heidi’s

Carrot ribbons created by Chef Erick Harcey of Victory 44 in Minneapolis



FAmILIAL cONsEQUENcEs OF AN INTERvENTION TO INcREAsE vEGETABLE INTAKE AmONG yOUNG cHILDRENTashara marie Leak (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, CFANS)

Faculty Advisor: marla Reicks (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, CFANS)


Timeframe: : july, 1, 2013 – july 2, 2014

cONsIDERING HEALTH AND NUTRITION IN AGRIcULTURAL PRODUcTION DEcIsIONs: EvIDENcE FROm TANZANIAHelen Markelova (Department of Applied Econom-ics, CFANS), Martha Rogers (Department of Applied Economics, CFANS)

Faculty Advisor: Marc Bellemare (Department of Applied Economics, CFANS)


Timeframe: July 1, 2013 – July 2, 2014

INDUcING POsITIvE EmOTIONAL AssOcIATIONs WITH NOvEL FOODs: mAKING ‘cOmFORT FOODs’ OUT OF HEALTHy FOODsKatie E. Osdoba (Department of Food Science and Nutrition)

Faculty Advisor: Zata Vickers (Department of Food Science and Nutrition)


Timeframe: July 1, 2013 – July 2, 2014

Spring 2013 Graduate and Professional Student Grants

EFFEcT OF AccULTURATION ON HEALTH: A cAsE sTUDy OF INTERNATIONAL sTUDENTsBhagyashree Katare (Department of Applied Economics, CFANS)

Faculty Advisor: Timothy Beatty (Department of Applied Economics, CFANS)


Timeframe: july, 1, 2013 – july 2, 2014

This project sought to understand the effect of environment on obesity by studying the effect of acculturation on the health of a for-eign population – who experience a relatively low prevalence of obesity – after they have been introduced to different environments, some characterized by relatively low prevalence and others characterized by relatively high rates of obesity. Primary data was collected from international graduate students studying at public universities across the United States. Results showed that the amount of weight gained by international students is positively related to the local obesity rate of students’ respective universities or counties. Results also showed that international students who increased their consumption of meat, sweets, fast food, soda and energy drinks subsequent to their arrival at a United States university displayed a positive weight gain trajectory. Similarly, students who increased their levels of physical activity or exercise and who increased their levels of consumption of green vegetables displayed a non-increas-ing weight gain trajectory after coming to the United States.

“This project has been pivotal in development of my doctoral dissertation. The grant was very helpful in collecting primary data from the students. The major part of this project is a part of my job market paper, which will be important when I will be evaluated as a potential for junior faculty positions at other universities.”

— Bhagyasharee Katare

“This project contributed significantly to my professional development as I plan to continue to conduct research on child adultification and dietary patterns that transcend into adulthood. The HFHL grant allowed me to conduct forma-tive work on this topic that has greatly shaped my 5-year research agenda.”

— Tashara Leak

Where is 2013 HFHL student grantee, Bhagyashree Katare now?After receiving a HFHL Graduate and Professional

Student Grant in the spring of 2013, Dr. Bhagyashree

Katare has presented her research findings at various

conferences and is in the process of publishing her

research in peer-reviewed journals. Currently, Bhag-

yashree is an Assistant Professor in the Department of

Agricultural Economics at Purdue University. Her current

research centers on the effect of environmental factors

and peer-influence on the health choices and decisions of individuals. She is

open for collaboration in the fields of food, nutrition and health.

Where is 2013 HFHL student grantee, Tashara Leak now?

Dr. Tashara Leak is a postdoctoral scholar in

the School of Public Health at the University of

California-Berkeley under the advisement of Dr.

Barbara Laraia. Her research at Berkeley will be an

extension of her HFHL-funded child adultification

project. She will explore the relationship between

stress, adultification, and obesity using a sample

of 2,300 10-year old girls from the National Insti-

tutes of Health funded National Growth and Health Study.

Bhagyashree Katare Tashara Leak



EvALUATING FOOD sAFETy AND HEALTH ImPAcTs OF AN ALTERNATIvE POULTRy PRODUcTION mODELReginaldo Haslett-Marroquin (Main Street Project)

Greg Schweser (U of M Regional Sustainable Development Partnerships)


Timeframe: January 8, 2014 – January 1, 2015

A UNIvERsITy-cOmmUNITy PARTNERsHIP TO sUsTAINABLy ImPROvE FOOD sAFETy AND sEcURITy IN UGANDAAndrew Tamale (Makerere University, Uganda), Samuel Majalija (Makerere Uni-versity, Uganda), Francis Ejobi (Makerere University, Uganda), Lawrence Mugisha (Conservation & Ecosystem Health Alli-ance, Hoima District, Uganda)

Katey Pelican (Veterinary Preventative Medicine, CVM), Cheryl Robertson (School of Nursing), Fred Rose (Veterinary Preven-tative Medicine, CVM), Innocent Rwego (Veterinary Preventative Medicine, CVM), Shaun Kennedy (Veterinary Preventative Medicine, CVM)


Timeframe: March 3, 2014 – March 2, 2015

Fall 2013 Community-University Grants

“BUILDING cAPAcITy FOR smALL, ImmIGRANT AND mINORITy FARmERs TO PARTIcIPATE IN INsTITUTIONAL AND WHOLEsALE PRODUcE mARKETs IN mINNEsOTA”Andrea Northup (Minneapolis Public Schools — Culinary & Nutrition Services Department)

Annalisa Hultberg (Bioproducts & Biosystems Engineering Department, CFANS)


Timeframe: February 1, 2014 – January 31, 2015

This project was a partnership between Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Culinary & Nutrition Services and the U of M’s On-Farm Food Safety program and the aim was to expand the procurement of fresh produce from small, beginning, immigrant and/or minority farmers in the region for Minneapolis students in school meals. This project provided the needed technical assistance to farmers selling produce to MPS. As a result of this project, farmers who otherwise may have been shut out of the institutional marketplace due to lack of food safety expertise, awareness of institutional customer service norms, or knowledge of wholesale packing standards sold to MPS and the total amount of local food purchases increased from 2013.

Freedom Ranger Chickens; Credit: Alonso Nichols

Arthur Arinda with his prototype childhood nutritional supplement: Chilgrow

Project partners meet with farmers

Students at Jefferson Elementary School are excited about their new salad bar! Salad bars are one of the many ways Minneapolis Public Schools features fresh, locally-grown produce, made possible in part by their HFHL grant-funded partnership with the UMN On-Farm GAPs Education team.

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“I really appreciated the training, including GAPs. It was also good to meet with MPS and to know why I had to do things a certain way. Publicity was great too - working with MPS brings up other opportunities. People like to associate with people who are keeping kids healthy.”

— Farmer trainee



“INTEGRATED FIsH, PLANT AND ALGAL PRODUcTION sysTEm: GROWING vERTIcAL”Lana Fralich (City of Silver Bay, MN)

Michael T. Mageau (U of M Center for Sustainable Community Development)


Timeframe: February 1, 2014 – January 31, 2015

The overall project is aimed at improving the economic viability and environmental sustainability of hydroponic/aquaponic food production, and serving as a model for others to follow. Project partners successfully developed and installed two vertical rack designs that could consistently grow lettuce to harvest over an eight-week period, and compared the growth rates with lettuce grown on other conventional floating rafts. Researchers found that the floating rafts consistently produced larger lettuce heads than the two vertical rack designs but the total biomass pro-duced, hence economic revenues, per square foot of floor space was higher in both vertical rack designs.

ImPAcT OF LOcAL AND ORGANIc FOODs ON FOOD sAFETy: AssEssmENT OF sUPPLy cHAIN cONTROLs AND vALUE OUTcOmE FOR QUANTITATIvE-BAsED FOOD POLIcIEsmatteo convertino (Division of Environmental Health Sciences, SPH), marc F. Bellemare (Depart-ment of Applied Economics, CFANS), Robert P. King (Department of Applied Economics, CFANS), Francisco Diez-Gonzalez (Department of Food Sci-ence and Nutrition, CFANS), Fernando sanpedro (Veterinary Population Medicine and Center for Animal Health and Food Safety, CVM)


Timeframe: january 1, 2014 – july 31, 2014

EXPLORING THE ImPAcT OF sUGAR-sWEETENED BEvERAGE POLIcy ON INDIvIDUALs AND POPULATIONssarah Gollust (Health Policy and Management, SPH), Alexander Rothman (Department of Psychol-ogy, College of Liberal Arts), simone French (Divi-sion of Epidemiology and Community Health, SPH and Obesity Prevention Center), c. Ford Runge (Department of Applied Economics, CFANS)



Fall 2013 Faculty Planning Grants

Hanging Vertical Column Design

Mike Mageau (far left), director of Victus Farm, explains how water at the facility is continually recycled, while Lake County Commissioner Rich Sve (left), Silver Bay Mayor Joanne Johnson (center) and Sen. Amy Klobuchar look on. Credit: Kyle Farris

“This research has dramatically increased the sustainability and economic viability of controlled environmental agriculture (CEA) by developing effective methods for vertical plant growth in a greenhouse production system. It has already begun to create new business opportunities in our region aimed at strengthening local food systems by producing healthy, local, organic produce year round.”

— Michael T. Mageau



A cHEmIcAL APPROAcH TO THE DETEcTION OF BAcTERIAL FOOD PATHOGENsvalerie c. Pierre (Department of Chemistry, College of Science and Engineering)

co-Investigators: srinand sreevatsan (Department of Veterinary Population Medicine, CVM), Francisco Diez‐Gonzalez (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, CFANS)


Timeframe: june 1, 2014 – may 31, 2015

Spring 2014 University Research Grants

REDUcING sUGAR-sWEETENED BEvERAGE PORTION sIZE THROUGH A PRIcING INTERvENTIONsarah E. Gollust (Division of Health Policy and Management, SPH)

co-Investigators: simone French (Division of Epidemiology and Community Health, SPH), Alexander Rothman (Department of Psy-chology, College of Liberal Arts), c. Ford Runge (Department of Applied Economics, CFANS)


Timeframe: August 1, 2014 – july 31, 2015

Reducing young adults’ consumption of sugar-sweetened bev-erages (SSBs) is an important public health priority, yet find-ing an effective and politically acceptable policy intervention has proven challenging. One possible avenue for intervention is changing the pricing structure of fountain-style beverages (a primary source of SSBs). This study offered an innovative way to study a new pricing structure for fountain beverag-es: pricing the drinks at a set price per ounce, rather than providing a better value for large drinks. Public health experts caution against the consumption of high volumes of sugary drinks, so finding new ways to reduce public consumption is a priority for the field. Due to a number of potential reasons, this study did not generate sufficient evidence to suggest that students at an on-campus cinema respond to pricing incen-tives at the current magnitude and visibility. However, future research is needed to understand whether there are contexts and settings in which this type of pricing change may shift consumer behavior. Proportional pricing, when combined with labels that notify consumers of the deviation from the expected value-pricing structure, may hold promise in other contexts and settings to shift consumers away from consum-ing sugary drinks.

E. coli petri dish; Credit: AFP/Getty Images “It is our hope that the results from this study will stimulate more attention in both health policy and research evaluation to proportional pricing as a strategy to reduce consumption of sugary drinks. We also hope that these findings will contribute to new ideas for organizational healthy beverage policies. Data from this study can inform efforts to implement pricing structures that promote healthier beverage choices at the U of M as well as other organizations.”

— Sarah Gollust



HEART DIsEAsE AND DIABETEs AmONG NATIvE AmERIcAN cOmmUNITIEs IN THE GREAT LAKEs REGIONKristine Rhodes (American Indian Cancer Foundation)

Karen Brown (Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change (ICGC), U of M Global Programs and Strategy (GPS) Alliance), David Wilsey (U of M Master of De-velopment Practice (MDP) Program, Global Policy, Humphrey School of Public Affairs)

Amount Awarded: $9,836.00

Timeframe: june 1, 2014 – December 1, 2014

Spring 2014 Community- University Planning Grants

THE mIDWAy NEsTKate mudge (Hamline-Midway resident and member of Midway Local Foods Group), Kim K. mcKeage (Hamline School of Busi-ness, Hamline University)

courtney Tchida (Minnesota Institute for Sustainable Agriculture (MISA), CFANS), valentine cadieux (Departments of Sociology and Geography, Environment and Society, College of Liberal Arts)


Timeframe: june 1, 2014 – December 1, 2014

The goal of this study was to explore the vision of local residents of creating a community-cen-tered space, located in the Hamline-Mid-way neighborhood of St. Paul, where the intersection of healthy foods and sustainable enterprise meet. The “Midway Nest” is a local foods business where residents may gather to enjoy a meal at the storefront bakery/café, to collect and distribute local CSA produce, and afford start-up food entrepreneurs an area in which to craft and market their ideas. Project partners also envisioned a community meal center, which unites residents regardless of their income, race, or age to share and explore the neighborhood’s foodways. In order to make this vision a reality, project partners worked together to identify their community’s needs, research a location, and create a business plan for the future.

American Indian Cancer Foundation (AICF)

Spring 2014 Graduate and Professional Student Grants

cAN AN UNDERUTILIZED “mIRAcLE” TREE ImPROvE THE IRON sTATUs OF UGANDAN cHILDRENKristina Demuth (Public Health Nutrition, School of Public Health)

Advisor: sarah cusick (Department of Pediatrics, Medical School)


Timeframe: june 1, 2014 – may 31, 2015

Iron deficiency is the most common nutritional deficiency worldwide, affecting nearly 2 billion people. In Uganda alone it is estimated that 50% of children under 5 years old are iron-deficient. Since iron is critical for brain growth and development, iron deficiency in early childhood can result in lifelong consequences. A tree grown worldwide called the Mor-inga tree holds vast potential for being a vital, life saving resource for chil-dren in Uganda and around the world. It is a fast growing, drought-resis-tant tree that bares edible, iron-rich leaves. Although the nutritional and medicinal properties of Moringa are widely recognized, its use, partic-ularly among children, has not been studied systematically. Qualitative research with parents and caregivers in Uganda is a necessary first step to understand how the leaves are currently being used for children.

Leaves from a Ugandan Moringa Tree; Credit: Fairventures Worldwide

BRAIN ImmUNE cELL REsPONsE TO DIETARy sATURATED FATTy AcIDcayla Duffy (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, CFANS)

Advisor: Tammy Butterick (Department of Food Science and Nutrition, CFANS)


Timeframe: july, 1, 2014 – june 30, 2015

“This opportunity has been pivotal to achieving my research goals and interests in therapeutic targets for obesity treatment.” — Cayla Duffy

“With the funds from HFHL, I was able to travel to Uganda to conduct qualitative research with caretakers of children and explore ways in which we can enhance children’s nutrition in Uganda. I am incredibly grateful for having the opportunity to conduct this research, as it has enhanced my skills as a researcher and has helped me to grow in my personal life. On September 2, 2015 I defended my master’s thesis and am working towards publishing the study later in the fall.”

— Kristina DeMuth

How did HFHL funding support the work of spring 2014 Graduate student grantee, cayla Duffy?

Cayla’s research focused on the role of brain immune cell (microglia)

response to saturated fatty acids and the onset of obesity. Results

from the project have led to a first author publication, sparked a new

collaboration with Dr. David Bernlohr’s laboratory group (Department of

Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Biophysics), and are being used for

a training grant application. Major findings from these studies showed

the saturated fatty acid, palmitic acid causes microglia to release

pro-inflammatory signals. When cells were treated with the hypothalamic peptide orexin A,

inflammation was reversed.



Fall 2014 Community-University Partnership Grants

“EXPANDING AND sHARING A PROGRAm TO READy smALL, DIvERsE AND ImmIGRANT FRUIT AND vEGETABLE FARmERs FOR sALEs TO mINNEAPOLIs PUBLIc scHOOLs AND OTHER INsTITUTIONAL mARKETs”Amount Awarded: $47,784.00

Timeframe: january 1, 2015 – December 31, 2015

community Partner: Andrea Northup, Farm to school coordinator, minneapolis Public schools, culinary & Nutrition services Department

University Partner: Annalisa Hultberg (ms), Research Fellow, Bioproducts & Bio-systems Engineering Department

Focus of the Project:This community-university collaboration will expand and share the innovative Minneapolis Public School (MPS) Farm to School procurement and education program. Year 1 of this project made it possible for MPS to purchase over 29,000 pounds of produce from local sustainable farmers in the fall of 2014, an increase of over 40% from the fall of 2013. With the support of HFHL, in the fall 2015, MPS will support even more farmers – buying approximately 45,000 lbs. of local produce from small, local farmers, increasing the amount of sustainably-grown, fresh, local produce that 24,000 Minneapolis school children eat each day in their school meals on the salad bars, in entrees, and in side dishes. The next phase of the project will build on the model created in Year 1 to provide important and needed continuing food safety education with a focus on immigrant farmers and farmer cooperatives, buy additional produce quantities/varieties, and create a Toolkit to share the lessons-learned so that other school districts and institutions can imple-ment a similar program of farmer education, increasing the supply of fresh, local, safe produce and improving the health of consumers across the region.

DEvELOPING A BIcULTURAL AND BILINGUAL BEEKEEPING TRAINING cURRIcULUm FOR HmONG mIXED FRUITs AND vEGETABLEs GROWERsPakou Hang (Hmong American Farmers Association)

marla spivak (U of M Bee Lab)


Timeframe: February 23, 2015 – February 22, 2016

This project seeks to unite the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA), a membership and community-based, social justice nonprofit, and the renowned Bee Lab at the University of Minnesota in an innovative research project that will develop a bicultural and bilingual beekeeping training curriculum for Hmong vegetable and fruit growers; train a new cohort of young, bi-lingual Hmong trainers in beekeeping; and teach beekeeping to and pilot the start of at least 10 hives for a cohort of Hmong full-time farmers, many of whom are older and immigrants. This project will be beneficial to both the academic and the Hmong farming communities because it will create a first-of-its-kind curriculum intended for non-English speaking farmers; it will develop a first-of-its kind cohort of young, bright, bi-lingual and bi-cultural trainers well versed in beekeeping who can teach English speaking learners as well as Hmong speaking learners in Minnesota or across the country; and lastly, it will teach bee-keeping to at least 10 full-time Hmong farmers who can use the knowledge to grow more produce, add bee related value added products to their operations, and support a healthier ecosystem on their farms.

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Fall 2014 Community-University Partnership Grants

ABOLIsHING FOOD DEsERTs FOR PEOPLE AND POLLINATORsmark-Peter Lundquist (Urban ventures)

Rebecca masterman (U of m Bee Lab - Bee squad)


Timeframe: February 23, 2015 – February 22, 2016

Pollinators and the Phillips neighborhood in South Minneapolis share a single, solvable problem: insufficient access to nutritious food. For people, this means hunger, obesity, and diabetes, among other health problems. For pollinators, this means weaker immune systems, and a lower threshold for pathogens and diseases. We are proposing a system whereby these two communities--people and pollinators—help each other to abolish “food deserts.”

Urban Ventures, already a leader in promoting food justice in South Minneapolis communities, and the UMN Bee Lab, an international leader in native and honey bee research, will come together with one main goal: to create a thriving and mutually beneficial green space for people and pollinators. This partnership, called the The Community Apiary Project, will train new leaders in the fields of sustainable urban food production and beekeeping, and continue research in and outreach for pollinator health through collaborative, citizen-science projects and public events.

There is currently no beekeeping training program in the Twin Cities accessible to low-income people. Drawing on Urban Ventures’ successful initiatives for fighting hunger and malnutrition in South Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota’s expertise in beekeeping and pest management, we will build an accessible beekeeping and greenhouse-management training program. By setting up a long-term apiary and equipment for honey extraction, and by increasing Urban Ventures’ capacity for food production, we will give Phillips neighborhood community members the tools they need to obtain and sustain jobs in honey and food production, so that they can create positive changes in the health of their families and communities. This project is designed with a comprehensive public/ community component for people of all ages to learn how pollinators affect food. Programming will include talks, classes, bee safaris, seed planting and honey extracting events.

Fall 2014 Faculty Planning Grants

“AIR POLLUTION EXPOsURE–INDUcED NEUROINFLAmmATION AND OBEsITy”Amount Awarded: $10,000.00

Timeframe: january 29, 2015 – july 31, 2015

University Faculty:

Tammy A. Butterick, PhD Research service, vA Health care system; Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of Food science and Nutrition

Tiffany Beckman, PhD, Assistant Professor of medicine, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and metabolism Department of medicine, medical school

charles Billington (mD), Professor of medicine, medical school, Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and metabolism; co-Director, minnesota Obesity center

joshua Nixon, PhD Adjunct Assistant Professor Department of Food science and Nutrition, cFANs

William Northrop, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of mechanical Engineering, college of science and Engineering (csE)

jacob swanson, PhD, Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of mechanical Engineering, college of science and Engineering (csE)

Focus of the Project:

The underlying health problem addressed in this study is the link between air pollution and obesity. Healthy lives and weights derive from effective management of response to the modern rich food environment. The brain is responsible for integrating and controlling response to these cues, but there are many environmental challenges to that brain management. Environmental air pollution such as that generated by diesel exhaust (DE) is a continuing concern worldwide. The particulate matter (PM) component of DE, more specifically metal nanoparticles (NP) contained within the PM, can cause deleterious immune responses in neural tissue (neuroinflammation). The size range (1-20 nm diameter) of NP allow these compounds to cross the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and cause neuroinflammation, a condition associated with obesity. This study will employ a series of experiments to test whether NP exposure and subsequent neuroinflammation contribute to obesity.

U of M researchers study the link between air pollution and obesity.

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cO-sPONsORED HFHL EvENTs AND AcTIvITIEs

Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) Commissioner Dr. Edward Ehlinger at the 2014 Food Access Summit discusses the importance of the Minnesota Food Charter in moving towards more equitable health and wealth outcomes in the state. Credit: Lindsi Gish

2013Growing Youth Conference, College of Food Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences (CFANS), March 2013 – Planning Team Member

Food Policy Research Center, 2013 & 2014 – Executive and Steering Committee Members

U of M Extension Urban Ag Tour, September 2013 – Sponsor

Real Food Challenge National Conference, October 2013 – Sponsor

Campus-Community Coordinators Alliance, 2013 & 2014 – Executive Committee Mem-ber

Minnesota Food Funders Network, 2013 – Planning and Founding Member

2014Engaged Research Conference: “What Went Wrong?” - Reflecting and Learning from Com-munity-Engaged Research, Twin Cities, July 2014 – Event sponsor and attendee

MN Food Charter Steering and Drafting Com-mittees, 2014 - Member

Food Access Summit 2014: Organize for Equity, Duluth, MN, October 2014 – Event sponsor and Planning Committee Member (Kris Igo)

President Kaler’s U of M Grand Challenges Research Strategic Planning Committee, 2014 – Invited Member

Office for Public Engagement’s Food Issue Area Network, September 2014 - October 2015 — Co-chair (Kris Igo)


ENcOURAGING TRANsDIscIPLINARy LEARNING, DIscUssION, AND PROBLEm sOLvING

Good policy comes from an informed citizenry. Invested with a strong desire to make the world a healthier place for ourselves and future generations, HFHL looks to expand our knowledge and understanding of today’s critical issues that relate to our mission. The two-day 5th Annual Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Research Symposium and Food Summit, co-hosted by HFHL and the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum served as a public forum where University members, community leaders, policymakers, citizens, and other stakeholders had an opportunity to connect with one another as well as scholars, authors and experts from around the globe. The 2013 summit focused on food and the environment: the impact of climate and environmental changes on food production and con-versely, the impact of food production on the environment. Speakers for the symposium included:

> Cynthia E. Rosenzweig, American climatologist at NASA God-dard Institute for Space Studies, located at Columbia University

> Bruce E. Dale, professor of Chemical Engineering at Michigan State University and former Chair of the Department of Chemi-cal Engineering and Materials Science

> Craig Cox, Senior Vice President of the Environmental Working Group.

> Keith Wiebe, Deputy Director of the Food and Agriculture Or-ganization’s (FAO) Agriculture Development Economics Divi-sion

> Michelle Wander, Director of the Agroecology and Sustainable Agriculture Program and Associate Professor of Soil Fertility/Ecology at the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign.

> Cristina Tirado, Food Safety adviser for the Pan American Health Organization and adjunct professor at the School of Pub-lic Health of the University of California at Los Angeles

The day 1 program at the Commons Hotel in Minneapolis was partitioned into three sessions and gave attendees an opportunity to hear about the latest research on the worldwide impact of climate change on food production. The first session focused on the effect of climate change on agriculture and food production and the ways that we need to adapt our food production systems given the climate change scenario in which we find ourselves. Dr. Rosenzweig opened the symposium as the keynote speaker in which she presented on, “Climate Change and the Food System: Moving to Next-Generation Models and Tools.” Dr. Wander wrapped-up the first session with her presentation titled, “Can Ecological Intensification and Food Sover-eignty Feed the World?” The second session discussed two very im-portant policy issues: sustainable biofuels as well as the 2014 Farm Bill. Dr. Cox’s presentation was titled, “Toward an Environmentally Sound Farm Bill” and he discussed in his talk how the U.S. could have an environmentally and nutrition-friendly farm bill. Dr. Dale concluded session two with a presentation on food and sustainable biofuels. The final session focused on the public health and food security implications related to food and the changing environment. Dr. Weibe spoke about the challenges and choices in global change and food security and Dr. Tirado presented on the environment, food production, and public health.

The day 2 program located in the nature-rich setting of the Min-nesota Landscape Arboretum offered attendees a chance to hear from individuals and communities in Minnesota that are working to lower the human impact on the environment by modifying food system practices. Presenters included: Keya Chatterjee, World Wildlife Fund; Cecilia Martinez, Center for Earth Energy & De-mocracy; Brad Redlin, Minnesota Department of Agriculture; Judy Wu, University of Minnesota Bee Lab/Department of Entomology; Theater of Public Policy, Minneapolis; and Minnesota producers who are finding ways to reduce the impact of food production on the environment.

2013 HFHL symPOsIUm

2013 HFHL Symposium flier

Dr. Cynthia Rosenzweig, expert on climate impacts and agriculture, NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies

Dr. Rosenzweig discusses food and climate change in her presentation.

Dr. Bruce Dale, biofuels expert, Michigan State University

Dr. Keith Weibe, expert on agricultural development and food security, International Food Policy Research Institute



Aside from facilitating authentic place-based partnerships and research collaborations, HFHL actively strives to

promote University-community programming that seeks to increase awareness of food issues and improve health

outcomes for Minnesota residents, whether they are students, University of Minnesota faculty and staff, or external

community members. HFHL sees the University as an active member of the local community and looks for opportuni-

ties to involve University students and faculty in support of agricultural, food and health efforts. U of M Food Day is

one of those efforts.

HFHL is proud to continue to support the annual Food Day celebration at the University. Food Day is an event organized by U of M students with support from the Institute that draws over 1,000 students, faculty and community members toward the common goal of promoting healthy and sustainable food for all. For the third year in a row, Food Day at the U of M was held in the Great Hall of Coffman Memorial Union on October 24th. Various food and health-related student, university and community groups set-up booths in the exhibition hall where attendees had an opportunity to learn about the great work going on at the University and in the community around food. Event goers were able to learn about how they might get involved in food work or about new and emerging healthy food products created by local entrepreneurs. There were many other engaging activities including a cooking demonstration by HFHL’s Chef Instructor, Jenny Breen, a raffle for a bike from the

University’s ReUse Center, tasting sessions, a “foodie” photo com-petition, local co-op and farmers market displays and a university dining chef battle.

In addition to celebrating healthy and sustainable food, and pro-moting healthy diets, student organizers of the fourth annual Food Day event aimed to highlight the importance of a healthy and active lifestyle. Food Day 2014 (October 24) was held at the University’s newly renovated Recreation and Wellness Center. In addition to the food expo that’s featured every year, Food Day 2014 showcased some of the new health-promoting activities that the Rec Center has to offer. For the first time ever, free rock climbing and fitness classes were offered for Food Day attendees. The center’s new Fresh Seasons Cafe also got in on the celebration and offered healthy food items from their menu.

FOOD DAy 2013 AND 20142013

2014

Food Day attendees rock climb at the University’s Rec and Wellness Center.



HFHL was a proud sponsor of Food Access Summit 2014 held October 28-30 at the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center (DECC). This event brought together leaders from agriculture, community development, education, health, hunger relief, human services and philanthropy sectors to improve access to healthy food for Minnesotans with limited financial resources.

The theme of the 2014 Summit was “organize for equity.” Over 500 people from hunger, health, agriculture, education, government and community attended the conference. Associate Director, Kris Igo participated on the planning committee and HFHL-sponsored University students, staff, faculty and HFHL grantees to attend the Summit by covering registration fees and some travel expenses.

Featured speakers of the Summit included artist and community leader Seitu Jones, Deputy Commissioner of Education Steve Dibb, Deputy Director of PolicyLink Mary M. Lee, Commissioner of Health Dr. Edward Ehlinger, Commissioner of Agriculture Dave Frederickson, and fellow with the Movement Strategy Center, Navina Khanna.

Launched in the fall of 2014 at the Food Access Summit in Duluth, MN, the Minnesota Food Charter is a shared roadmap for how all Minnesotans can have reliable access to healthy, affordable, safe food in the places they work, learn, live, and play. The Food Charter is intended to guide planning, decision-making, and collaboration for agencies, organizations, policy-makers, and public and private entities across the state. Minnesota is following the lead of four other states in developing a Food Charter, including Iowa, Mich-igan, Oregon, and West Virginia. The Minnesota Food Charter is supported by the Statewide Health Improvement Program at the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. With leadership support from HFHL, the work of developing the Food Charter was the combined effort of hundreds of organizations throughout the state, including MDH and other state agencies, the U of M, Minnesota corporations and non-profits, and thousands of Minnesotans.

Beginning in the fall of 2013, HFHL was proud to convene the Minnesota Food Charter Steering Committee which was respon-sible for guiding the process and compiling and summarizing data from a statewide input process. Thousands of Minnesotans in

many communities and organizations provided their perspectives for the Food Charter. Experts were sought out and the most current research on effective strategies for overcoming Minnesota’s barriers to healthy food access was integrated into the final document. The Steering Committee, chaired by HFHL Director, Mindy Kurzer, was comprised of 27 representatives from a broad spectrum of the food sector, including state and county commissioners, hunger commu-nity leaders, University of Minnesota faculty and staff and members from the healthcare community. Nine of the steering committee members also participated on the Drafting Committee, including HFHL’s Associate Director, Kris Igo.

Going forward, HFHL will serve as the host of the new Minnesota Food Charter Network which will support the goals of the Food Charter. In late 2015, the Institute will receive two years of funding from U of M Extension, the Minnesota Department of Health, the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, the Minnesota Department of Human Services, and the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross Blue Shield. HFHL will be hiring a Food Charter Network Director and a Program Assistant.

The Minnesota Food Charter can be downloaded from www.mnfoodcharter.com.

FOOD AccEss sUmmIT 2014

mINNEsOTA FOOD cHARTER

“It’s about saving lives and dollars. It’s about ensuring our children and our children’s chil-dren have reliable access to healthy, safe and affordable food to improve their lives, while at the same time strengthening our food and farm economy to improve Minnesota’s bottom line. The fact is, there’s a real, substantial cost to society when healthy, safe food isn’t avail-able to everyone—and we owe it to future generations to start making changes now.”

— Mindy Kurzer, Minnesota Food Charter Steering Committee Chair

Minnesota Food Charter document cover



NEW IN sPRING OF 2014Cooking for Wellness is a four-week cooking class offered through the UMN Wellness Program. The class is led by culinary instruc-tors and designed to help staff & faculty at the U develop healthy cooking and eating strategies through hands-on demonstrations and discussion topics related to whole food cooking and personal health. Through hands-on food preparation in the lab and at home, participants are able to improve their culinary skills and develop techniques to adapt their cooking and eating patterns as a way to promote personal wellness.

Each week participants are introduced to a variety of topics that focus on ways to include whole foods in their daily meals, as well as the reasons behind why these foods provide optimal nourishment. They are introduced to kitchen basics (e.g., knife cutting techniques, mise en place, how to make a soup stock, stocking a healthful whole food pantry), and nutrition basics (e.g., differences between refined and whole grains, plant-based and animal-based proteins, healthy fats, benefits of eating seasonal produce).

The three homework assignments focus on integrating the classroom topics and techniques learned in the lab to reinforce the develop-ment of new skills and concepts at home. For example, participants

are asked to purchase a novel produce item in bulk and use it in multiple recipes during the week to encourage greater intake of fresh produce and to consider ways to minimize food waste. Another assignment has them prepare a large quantity of whole grains to be used in three meals during the week as a way to increase whole grain consumption and to demonstrate the ease of incorporating whole grains in a recipe when they are pre-cooked and ready for use. After participants complete each assignment, they are asked to write about their experience on the Cooking for Wellness blog site.

Successful completion of Cooking for Wellness earns UMN employ-ees 50 wellness points, and those who are UPLAN policyholders are eligible for a reimbursement of the $200 class fee.

Past participants have been overwhelmingly positive about Cooking for Wellness with the majority stating that they were very satisfied or satisfied with their overall experience with the lab (92%), homework (94%), recipes (96%), and instruction (96%).

Here are just a few of the comments we’ve received from past participants about the class:

“Enjoyed tasting new foods and how the blog posts really made you think about what you were learning.”

“It (the class) motivated me even more to cook at home.”

“I would like it to last longer than just four weeks - I found it very educational and very fun.”

“Fun, relaxed. Good mix of discussion and cooking. Eating was always the best part!”

HFHL cOOKING FOR WELLNEss cOURsE


cOmmUNIcATING UNIvERsITy FINDINGs

HFHL GRANTEE PUBLIcATIONs AND PREsENTATIONssharing findings from HFHL funded research is a critical component of the Institute’s work. Below is a select list of article, presentation, and publication contributions by HFHL researchers to the Institute’s goal of advancing scientific and public knowledge and informing public policy as it relates to food and health.

SELECT CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 2013 GRANTEES

Measuring Nutrition Quality in the Emergency Food System | Marilyn S. Nanney and Robert P. KingPoster Presentation: Assessing the Healthfulness of the Food Shelf Environment and Lessons Learned. 14th Annual Meeting of the Inter-national Society for Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity (ISB-NPA) in Edinburgh, Scotland, June 2015. ISBNPA is an organiza-tion that’s mission is to stimulate, promote and advocate innovative research and policy in the area of behavioral nutrition and physical activity toward the betterment of human health worldwide.

Inducing Positive Emotional Associations with Novel Foods | Katie E. Osdoba and Zata M. Vickers. Poster Presentation: Use of a conditioning procedure to induce positive emotional associations with novel foods. 6th European Confer-ence on Sensory and Consumer Research, Copenhagen, Denmark, September 2014.

Integrated Fish, Plant and Algal Production System — growing vertical | Michael T. Mageau and Lana FralichPresentation: Victus Farms: Summary of Lessons Learned and Fu-ture Research Aimed at Improving Operations. Minnesota State Leg-islature Hearings - Legislative-Citizen Commission on Minnesota Resources, Project Proposal Finalists. MN State Capitol Building,

April 2014.

Exploring playful, creative design as a means of increas-ing children’s vegetable consumption | Barry Kudrowitz, Zata Vickers, and Marla ReicksConference Paper: Kudrowitz, B., Alfalah, S., & Vickers, Z. (2015). Playful Design and Children’s (dis)Liking of Vegetables. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Food De-sign. New York, NY. (Presentation in November 2015)

●Considering Food Consumption in Agricultural Produc-tion Decisions: Evidence from Tanzania | Martha Rogers and Helen MarkelovaPoster Presentation: Considering Health and Nutrition in Agri-cultural Production Decisions: Evidence from Tanzania. Population Association of America Annual Meeting. Boston, MA, May 2014.

SELECT CONTRIBUTIONS FROM 2014 GRANTEESReducing Sugar-Sweetened Bever-age Portion Size Through a Pricing Intervention | Sarah Gollust, Simone French, Alexander Rothman, Ford RungeJournal Paper Submitted for Publication: Gollust SE, Tang X, White J, French S, Run-ge CF, Rothman A. Young Adults’ Responses to Alternative Framings of a Sugar-Sweetened Bev-erage Tax. (Under review at Public Health Nutrition.)

cOmmUNIcATING UNIvERsITy FINDINGs

During 2013 – 2014, the Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute was responsible for a number of publications and

presentations regarding food, agriculture, and health. The following is a select list of our work:

2013U of M Public Engagement Leaders Retreat, Minneapolis, MN (May 2013) Kris Igo (co-presenter) presentation titled, “Creat-ing Collective Impact: Community Grant-making at the U.”

4th Edition, Better Foods for Better Health Symposium, Annecy, France (September 2013) Mindy Kurzer presentation titled, “The need for transdisci-plinary systems thinking and capacity building to solve “wick-ed” problems in nutrition

2014Park Nicollet, Minneapolis, MN (February 2014) Kris Igo presentation titled, “The Importance of Food Systems Thinking.”

Greater Peoria Regional Food Summit, Seeds2Success: Planning for Community Sustainability, Peoria, IL (March 2014) Kris Igo presentation titled, “Sustainable & Equitable Food Systems: A Case Study in Minneapolis.”

Center for Science and Democracy at the Union of Concerned Scien-tists Forum: Science, Democracy and a Healthy Food Policy — How citizens, scientists, and public health advocates can partner to forge a better future, Minneapolis, MN (May 2014) Mindy Kurzer served as a conference advisor and panel participant

U of M Public Engagement Leaders Retreat, Minneapolis, MN (May 2014) Jawad Towns presentation titled, “Developing and Managing the Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives (HFHL) Institute Advisory Board: Lessons Learned on the Fly.”

Food Access Summit 2014: Organize for Equity, Duluth, MN (October 2014) Mindy Kurzer provided a keynote speech about the Minnesota Food Charter.

HFHL INsTITUTE PUBLIcATIONs AND PREsENTATIONs


Panelists (left to right) Paula Daniels, Yael Lehmann, HFHL’s Mindy Kurzer and former WCCO-TV news anchor Don Shelby (moderator) participate in panel dis-cussion about different approaches to local food policy; Credit: Tim Rummelhoff


FINANcIALs

HEALTHy FOODs, HEALTHy LIvEs…By the Numbers, 2013 - 2014

GRANT PROGRAMS, 2013 - 2014

$787,227 Total grant funds administered

$2,187,785.95 Total grant funds requested

46 Number of students funded and/or trained through HFHL grants

40 Number of University departments/units receiving grant funds

34 Number of University colleges receiving funds

22 Number of Community partners receiving grant funds

19 Number of grantee publications

54 Number of research presentations or talks given by grantees

RESEARCH SYMPOSIA, 2013 - 2014

$18,250 Total sponsorship funds raised

69 Number of academic, government, industry & community expert presenters

677 Number of attendees (2 events)

FOOD DAY, 2013 - 2014

$3,800 Total sponsorship funds raised

56 Number of organizations represented at the Expo

1500 Estimated number of event attendees

ACADEMIC & STAFF COOKING COURSES, 2013 - 2014

217 Number of enrolled students and staff

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Top: Food Day 2013 student volunteers.Bottom: Students preparing food in McNeal Hall Kitchen Lab (St. Paul Campus) as part of FScN 2002: Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives: Cooking on a Student’s Budget.

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