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CA&ES alumni magazine takes an upbeat look at food and beverage research
University of California, Davis
November 27, 2007
How UC Davis food and beverage research is moving Americans toward healthier eating is the theme of the fall 2007 issue of CA&ES Outlook, the alumni magazine for the College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences. The magazine can be viewed online here.
“We envision a future where health is determined not by intervention but by how and what we eat,” says CA&ES dean Neal Van Alfen. “Much of the groundwork for this evolution in our eating habits is taking place now in our college.”
The cover story introduces readers to newly created programs such as the Foods for Health Institute, which taps campuswide expertise to study how food is grown, produced, and processed and its impact on human health. The cover photo features graduate student Joy Rickman, who is working with scientists like UC Davis food chemist Alyson Mitchell and Diane Barrett, director of the new Center for Fruit and Vegetable Quality. The article also highlights experiments by sensory scientist Hildegarde Heymann that reveal the subjective nature of taste.
The story behind much of the positive press that chocolate is receiving now is also told in the magazine. The heart-healthy phytochemicals found in chocolate are also found in alcoholic beverages, and Department of Food Science and Technology chair Charlie Bamforth makes a good case for moderate consumption of beer.
Nutrition educators at UC Davis are working with local school garden programs throughout the state to enhance instruction and promote better eating habits. Curricula are reinforced with hands-on experiences in gardens and in “kitchen classrooms.”
Alumni profiles include a food scientist creating healthy new products at USDA and a sustainable agriculture pioneer heading up a new foundation to address fresh food needs in inner cities. On the philanthropic front, an annual celebration honoring the late Michael Bonaccorsi benefits students in the Department of Viticulture and Enology; Professor Emeritus Howard Schutz establishes a food science graduate student fellowship; and major CA&ES donors from fiscal year 2006-2007 are acknowledged.
Other highlights in the magazine include:
- A short feature on three of the most popular undergraduate courses at UC Davis
- How food science students cook up a recipe for fun
- Development of a new Center for Produce Safety
- A milestone is celebrated for the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science
To read these and other stories, log on to the CA&ES Outlook website at http://caes.ucdavis.edu/NewsEvents/News/Outlook or e-mail outlook@agdean.ucdavis.edu
for a printed copy.
Media contacts:
- Ann Filmer, Director of Communications, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Davis, (530) 754-6788, afilmer@ucdavis.edu.
- John Stumbos, Senior Writer, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of California, Davis, (530) 754-4979, jdstumbos@ucdavis.edu.
(Article by John Stumbos, senior writer and managing editor of CA&ES Outlook.)
