Rutgers University - New Brunswick/Piscataway

New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES)

• Projects
• Sustaining Farming on the Urban Fringe Newsletter
• This statewide newsletter is targeted toward farmers, policy makers, and community members who live near urban areas. Included among newsletter topics are urban agriculture best practices, small and first-generation farmers, and farm sales and profits.  
• Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP)
• Administered through the NJAES Cooperative Extension, EFNEP utilizes paraprofessionals to provide nutrition education in adult and youth settings. Target audiences are low-income pregnant women and low-income women from families with children. Program goals include increasing nutritional knowledge and well-being, sharing best practices for food buying, preparation, storage, and safety. 
• State EFNEP Coordinator: Dr. Debra Palmer 
• Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education Program (SNAP-Ed)
• Following a similar model to that of EFNEP, SNAP-Ed also employs paraprofessionals to deliver nutrition education to low-income adult and youth populations. SNAP-Ed is unique because it specifically serves those who participate in a federal nutrition assistance program. Through the University, staff develop nutrition education curriculum, promote efforts via the NJ SNAP-Ed website, and provide resource support to paraprofessional educators. 
• Senior Project Administrator: Judy Klavens-Giunta 

Agriculture, Food, and Resource Economics, School of Environmental & Biological Sciences

• Courses
• Public Policy Toward the Food Industry
• Overview
• This undergraduate course considers  how economic theories and principles can be used to analyze policies shaping the food industry. Students research case studies to understand public policy's influence over food production, costs, safety, quality, and consumption. 
• Instructor
• Issac Vellangany, Assistant Instructor
• Economics of the Food Marketing System
• Overview
• With both a national and global scope, this undergraduate course examines the food marketring system from marketing and economics perspectives. Student complete a three-part term project, which includes an industry and market analysis, an agribusiness or bio-pharma company report, and a comparative performance analysis based on multiple companies. 
• Instructor     
• Dr. Sanjib Bhuyan, Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director 
• Food, Health and Safety Policy 
• Overview
• Consisting of three major parts, this course focuses on food consumption, trade, and safety. Part I of the course considers how food policy affects production and consumption. Economic theories and principles as they apply to food policy are discussed in Part II. To close the semester, Part III considers federal food aid and nutrition among other topics.
• Instructor
• Yanhong Jin, Assistant Professor 

Geography, School of Arts & Sciences

• Courses  
• Advanced Geographic Information Systems
• Overview
• Students work with community organizations to answer research questions about  a variety of topics. Hunger-related issues include emergency food distribution and SNAP outreach and participation. Using organization-provided data, GIS software, Census data, and information available from other relevant sources, students construct maps and models for specific geographies.
• Instructors
• Dr. Kevin St. Martin, Associate Professor
• Dr. Laura C. Schneider, Associate Professor 
• Projects 
• Research
• Production of Community Gardens
• Dissertation research, Luke Drake

Health Outreach, Promotion & Education

• Programs
• Nutrition Advocates
• This peer education program allows students to undergo training and deliver nutrition education in peer workshops.  Workshop goals include identifying healthy food choices and portion sizes, understanding the link between emotions and foods, and learning ways to incorporate physical activity into one's lifestyle.

Nursing, College of Nursing

• Faculty
• Dr. Mary Grace Amendola, Assistant Professor
• Dr. Amendola is involved in community-based participatory research around issues of poverty, especially among Latinos. She is engaged in work of a non-profit organization called FOCUS Hispanic Center for Community Development. 
• Dr. Teri G. Lindgren, Assistant Professor & Specialty Director, Community Health Program
• Among her other research interests, Dr. Lindgren focuses on community participation, cultural diversity, health disparities, and immigrant and refugee health.

Nutritional Sciences, School of Environmental & Biological Sciences

• Courses
• Life Span Community Nutrition
• Overview
• This undergraduate course provides an understanding of food security, community health promotion, and nutrition assistance programs. The scope of the course covers national and international issues while also considering nutrition over different points of the life cycle.
• Instructors
• Barbara L. Tangel, M.S., R.D., Instructor and Director, Didactic Program in Dietetics
• Dr. John Worobey, Professor   
• Nutrition Communication
• Overview
• While this undergraduate covers a variety of topics, part of the focus lies in how nutrition professionals can communicate with limited resource populations. Guest lecturers involved in SNAP-Ed and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Programs (EFNEP) present on this topic.
• Instructors 
• Peggy Policastro, M.S., R.D., Instructor and Director, Healthy Dining Team 

Philosophy, School of Arts & Sciences

• Courses
• Eating Right: The Ethics of Food Choices and Food Policy
• Overview
• This course delves into moral implications of everyday food choices and eating habits. Also, the course considers how policy shapes the food system and how it is experienced on both individual and societal levels. Students are expected to use philosophical theories to evaluate moral reasoning and arguments.
• Projects
• Research poster
• On an aspect of food production
• Argumentative paper  
• Follow-up to research poster, looking at moral consequences
• Instructor
• Dr. Andy Egan, Associate Professor
• More Information
•  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FxocjIy340 

Psychology, School of Arts & Sciences

• Faculty
• Dr. A. Janet Tomiyama, Assistant Professor
•   

Social Justice Minor, Department of Women's & Gender Studies, School of Arts & Sciences

• Courses
• Introduction to Social Justice
• Practicing Social  

Social Work, School of Arts & Sciences

• Courses
• Social Welfare Policy and Services I and II
• While the first of these courses offers background about social policies and programs, the second course applies this knowledge specifically to areas, like poverty and vulnerable populations. 

Sociology, School of Arts & Sciences 

• Faculty
• Ethel Brooks, Associate Professor
•  With a joint appointment in Sociology and Women's & Gender Studies, Dr. Brooks has numerous research interests, including globalization, gender and development, and South Asian and Central American studies. In some of her research, she focuses on agribusiness in South Asia and Central America. Dr. Brooks was featured as a guest lecturer for the Philosophy course "Eating Right: The Ethics of Food Choices and Food Policy" (see above). 

Voorhees Center for Civic Engagement, Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy

• Studios
• Growing New Brunswick's Food Hub (Spring 2012)
• Overview
• This studio involved the following partners: Elijah's Promise, Rutgers University Food Innovation Center, New Brunswick Community Food Alliance, New Jersey Community Capital, and Ag in the City. One project entails identifying New Brunswick locations where a high tunnel food production system could be developed. Another project involves completing background research on food hubs and determining ways to develop one in New Brunswick. Long term goals include improving the city's food security and stimulating economic development.
• Instructor     
• Dr. Kathe Newman, Associate Professor 
• Urban Agriculture in New Brunswick (Fall 2011)
• Overview
• Working with Elijah's Promise, students explored New Brunswick's potential to produce, process, and distribute food locally. In terms of consumption, students assessed the capability of local residents to purchase from the local food supply. Research methods included field visits, interviews, and listening to guest speakers. 
• Projects
• GIS Maps
• Current gardening efforts, rooftop suitability for urban agriculture, food pantries and emergency food providers   
• Instructor
• Dr. Kathe Newman, Associate Professor