Food@IU Blog

Jen Watkins wants you to rethink the restaurant industry

In January, a New York Times article about the National Restaurant Association (also known as “the other NRA”) made waves in the food service world. Their investigation into the NRA revealed that the organization had been using funds from ServSafe food safety training classes to lobby against minimum wage increases. ServSafe, the most popular food... Read more »

Weighing the waste: A snapshot of student food waste in IU dining halls

Guest written by Kaeley Geschke. Providing access to food for a large community such as Indiana University is a sizable feat with a plethora of challenges. You must make sure that menus across campus are diverse enough to meet everyone’s dietary needs and preferences. You must ensure everyone has access to food no matter their... Read more »

Who cares about sustainable food? As it turns out, most Big10 schools do

In the United States today, 30-40% of the food supply is never eaten. The numbers are staggering; the USDA’s Economic Research Service estimates that in 2010, 31% of the food supply was lost, amounting to 133 billion pounds of food valued at an estimated $161.6 billion. In 2015, the USDA and the Environmental Protection Agency... Read more »

Geographical Indication (GI) labels and research

Italy…known for food, wine, olive oil and many other cultural treasures, it is the site where IU Food Institute and Geography researchers are working to better understand the Geographical Indication labels and how they may be applied in the US and Indiana. GI labels let consumers know that their parmesan cheese, for example, was raised... Read more »

IU Campus Kitchen fills us in on recent changes in leadership, activities from the year, and goals for next semester

Guest written by Campus Kitchen student leaders Campus Kitchen has seen a change of leadership in spring semester. We said goodbye to Cally Wilken, a founding member of the organization, and Celeste Coughlin, an exceptional grant-writer and organizer. Thomas Zeedyk, a Cox Scholar and a freshman, has assumed a leadership role as a Program Assistant,... Read more »

Interview with Ariana Gunderson, recent Ostrom Fellowship awardee and member of SFSS

Ariana Gunderson is a graduate student at the IU Food Institute and a first year PhD student in the Anthropology Program at IU. She was recently awarded an Ostrom Fellowship to support her dissertation research and is a member of the Sustainable Food Systems Science group (SFSS). Q: So, Ariana, what brought you to Indiana... Read more »

IU Partners with City of Indianapolis on Multi-Year Food Systems Study

Written by project co-lead, Shellye Suttles How did the Food Comida Rawl 317 (FCR317) project come about? In Indianapolis Mayor Hogsett’s 2019 State of the City address, he advocated for the creation of a collective vision, mission, and goals for Marion County’s food system to guide residents, community organizations, businesses, and policymakers in efforts to... Read more »

Jordan Blekking reflects on his research in Zambia and looks towards graduation

We’re here today with Jordan Blekking, a PhD candidate in the Department of Geography who will graduate this May. Jordan has been a member of the Sustainable Food Systems Science team, an affiliate of the IU Food Institute, since its formation in 2018. Q: Hi Jordan, thanks for sitting down with us today. Can you tell us... Read more »

Mecca Burris conducts research in Costa Rica

SFSS member and IUFI affiliate Mecca Burris plans to use innovative research method for dissertation research in Costa Rica this February Mecca Burris, a fourth year PhD student in the Anthropology Department and member of IU’s Sustainable Food Systems Science group, is traveling to Costa Rica this month to conduct her dissertation research on the... Read more »

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