FANG Events

• There will be a joint NWAEG and FANG book group meeting on Wed., Oct. 7 from 7:00pm - 9:00pm at the home of Isabelle Michaud-Letourneau. The discussion will focus on the article "Nutritional Quality of Organic Foods: A Systematic Review" from the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Directions to the meeting can be found here. E-mail lkc9@cornell.edu to request a copy of the article.



• Five FANG members will present papers at a session on "Linking agriculture, nutrition, and the environment to promote food security" at the Conference on Informing Possibilities for the Future of Food and Agriculture to be held May 28-31, 2009 at Penn State. Cornell FANG presenters at the organized paper session include:
     • Anna Herforth, Division of Nutritional Sciences
     • Jacques Pollini, Dept. of Natural Resources
     • Suzanne Gervais, Division of Nutritional Sciences
     • Lesli Hoey, Dept. of City and Regional Planning
     • Steve Vanek, Dept. of Crop and Soil Science
  
  
• Fieldtest of the Andean Farm Simulation Game
  On Thursday, March 5, 2009, Steve Vanek fieldtest the Andean Farmer Simulation Game at this FANG-Grads/GPSAFC-sponsored event.
  
  This fun and educational game was developed with support from the McKnight Foundation to teach farmers and those interested in smallholder agriculture how  management of soil nutrients with manure and legumes affects soil nutrient stocks and crop productivity.  It also shows the linkages between crop diversity, soil quality, and human health and livelihoods to allow discussion of these topics with players.  We are field-testing the game, and your input and evaluation will be appreciated.  Come join us for an evening of sim-farming, learning, food, and fellowship.
  
  
• "FANG Fair"
  The first "FANG Fair," an informal roundtable and poster session on the integration of food, agriculture and nutrition research (see flyer) was held 3:30-6:30 PM on March 27, 2008, in 32 Warren on the Cornell campus. The event showcased the research of students in various departments throughout Cornell including the Program in International Nutrition, International Agriculture and Rural Development, and Crop and Soil Sciences among others. Designed as an informal research exhibition, presenters at the fair highlighted their research through formal posters, colorful chalkboard graphics, computer simulations, table demonstrations, and informal discussions. The event was well attended by faculty and students from diverse departments; it successfully catalyzed discussions across disciplines and raised awareness of Cornell graduate student research linking food, agriculture and nutrition. Dorisel Torres, 2008 vice-president of the FANG Grads student organization, organized the event in coordination with CIIFAD staff.
  
  
• Third Annual University Hunger Summit
  Nine FANG Grads (2 nutrition, 1 IARD MPS, 1 CIPA, 1 Crop & Soil Sciences, 4 Humphrey Fellows) and two undergrads will participate in the Third Annual University Hunger Summit to be held February 29 - March 2, 2008, in Washington, D.C. The FANG-Grads group will be actively participating in the second plenary session entitled “Creating an Urgent Response” as well as lending their support for the Student Partnerships for Action at Home Breakout Session.
  
  
• Symposium on the African Food System and its Interactions With Health and Nutrition
  In conjunction with its Food, Agriculture and Nutrition Group (FANG) activities, CIIFAD co-sponsored a Symposium on the African Food System and its Interactions With Health and Nutrition together with the Institute for African Development (IAD), United Nations University, the Africana Center, the Cornell Institute for Public Affairs, the Division of Nutritional Sciences and Einaudi Center. The two-day seminar was held at the United Nations on November 13 and at Cornell University on November 15, 2007. PowerPoint presentations are available on the symposium website.

FANG Seminar Series

Fall series '07: Linking Food, Agriculture and Nutrition for Improved Human and Environmental Health
A six-week public seminar series "Linking Food, Agriculture and Nutrition for Improved Human and Environmental Health" was sponsored during Fall '08 by the FANG Group, CIIFAD and the Program in International Nutrition (PIN). PowerPoint presentations for most of the seminars are available online.

Spring series '08: FANG Grads Student Research Forum
102 Mann Library - Thursdays, 3:30 PM - 4:30 PM
FANG GRAD members present their research topics to receive feedback and ideas from faculty and students interested in FANG issues.

• March 13 - Christina Nyhus - "Risk of anemia and agricultural change in India 1975-2005"
• April 3 - Andrew Jones - "Integrating agronomic and nutrition research for enhanced food production and improved nutrition in the Bolivian Andes"
• April 10 - Emily Levitt - "Exploring household food systems in Afghanistan"
• April 17 - Anna Herforth - Discussion on "African Traditional Leafy Vegetables: A Pathway to Wealth and Health for Small Farmers in Kenya and Tanzania?"

Resources

• Resource List
  A resource list of web-based materials relevant to the FANG group has been created by Beth Medvecky
• FANG Careers List
  A list of organizations interested in linking food, agriculture and nutrition has been compiled by the FANG Grads Group and edited by Emily Levitt. The name and e-mail of a FANG member who has some experience with each group is included for each organization.
• RefWorks Account
  A FANG RefWorks account has been created as a common space where FANG-related references can be amassed and shared. Using RefWorks, FANG members can add ag-nutrition references to the database, and can access citations and abstracts of articles FANG members have found. The citations from RefWorks can be exported into Endnote, BibTex, or other citation software you personally use, and in many cases access the fulltext articles with one click. See instructions on how to access and use the FANG RefWorks account (NOTE: Only current members of the Cornell community can access the RefWorks account.)
  
  At the end of each semester, a document of all the citations in our account will be posted on the FANG website, so that they are available to graduated and non-Cornell members.

FANG listservs

• FANG-L is a listserv for announcing events and opportunities as well as FANG-related articles and other material of interest to the group. To subscribe to FANG-L, send the following message to: lyris@cornell.edu:
  JOIN FANG-L "Firstname Lastname"
  
  
• FANG-GRADS-L is a listserv for the FANG graduate students group (FANG-Grads) at Cornell. For more information on joining this group, contact Isabelle Michaud-Letourneau.

FANG Grads

The FANG Grads Group at Cornell is a professional and social group for graduate students interested in Food, Agriculture and Nutrition. It is registered as a student group at Cornell and is associated with the CIIFAD-sponsored FANG Group.The FANG Grads Group has its own listserv, FANG-GRADS-L. During Spring '08, they sponsored the FANG Fair and the FANG Grads Student Research Forum. For more information on joining this group or signing up for the FANG-Grads listserv, contact Isabelle Michaud-Letourneau.

FANG-Grads 2009 News
• The 2009 officers are:
  - co-presidents: Isabelle Michaud-Letourneau and Lesli Hoey
  - vice president: Steve Vanek
• Andy Jones has returned to Bolivia where he is conducting research on integrating agronomic and nutrition in the Andes.
• Dorisel Torres has departed for East Africa to continue her research on biochar.

FANG Members

Below are names and interests of current FANG members (-see also survey carried out by Andrew Jones in April 2007 that lists the activities of some of the group members). Although most FANG members are faculty, staff and students at Cornell University, others with FANG interests can also join. Contact Isabelle Michaud-Letourneau, Lesli Hoey or Alice Pell for more information.

• Joseph Ashong
  Graduate Student (PhD), Nutritional Science
  Interests: Micronutrients (Zinc and Iron) and infections (Malaria and HIV/AIDS) in the context of maternal and child nutrition; Nutritional epidemiology; Food fortification/diversification as tools for solving micronutrients deficiencies; Maternal and adolescents Obesity; Methodological issues.
• Rachel Benzer Kerr
  Professor of Geography, University of Western Ontario
  Interests: Agricultural sustainability, gender issues, child nutrition and participatory processes
• Peter Berti
  Health Bridge
  Interests: Improving nutrition, impacts of agriculture interventions; dietary assessment; mobile IT for field surveys
• Dan Brown
  Animal Science
  Interests: Limited Resource Animal Agriculture, nutritional toxicology, animal source, foods to prevent micronutrient deficiencies in children
• Larissa Calancie
  Undergraduate Student, Nutritional Science
  Interests: International nutrition
• Laura Cramer
  Graduate Student, MPS IARD
  Interests: Household food security in southern and eastern Africa. The role of livestock in household food security and the effects of HIV/AIDS on food security
• Lucy Fisher
  Outreach Coordinator, CIIFAD
  Knowledge sharing strategies, agricultural communities of practice, soil health, sustainable rice systems
• Suzanne Gervais
  Nutritional Science
  Interests: Nutrition and food security, participatory methodology, local capacity building, nutrition and agriculture integration and its implementation in food security programs, research and in training
• Cecelia Gonzales
  Graduate Student MS Food Science
  Interests: Iron bioavailability in infant complementary foods
• Anna Herforth
  Graduate Student (PhD), Nutritional Science
  Activities and Interests: PhD research in Kenya and Tanzania on nutrition effects of a program called “Traditional Foods for Health and Wealth,” which promotes production and nutrition-focused marketing of African traditional leafy vegetables. Work with Per Pinstrup-Andersen, Alice Pell, Jere Haas and Kathy Rasmussen. Organized FANG in spring 2007.
• Peter Hobbs
  Crops and Soil Science
  Interests: Agronomy and cropping systems
• Lesli Hoey
  Doctoral student in City and Regional Planning
  FANG Grads Co-President
• Lakshmi Iyer
  Graduate Student, MPS IARD
  Interests: Technology transfer of irrigation practices in South Asia; Soil/Agronomic Practices, Biofortification; Sustainability/eco-friendly practices and poverty alleviation
• Andy Jones
  Graduate Student (PhD), Nutritional Science
  Interests: Food systems approaches to improving human nutrition; sustainable rural livelihoods for improved human nutrition; improving nutrition in rural populations living in marginalized environments/climates or in extreme conditions; Region of interests: former Soviet Union/Central Asia/Bolivia
• Janelle Jung
  Graduate Student, Plant Breeding and Genetics
  Interests: International agriculture, plant breeding, public outreach and education
• Michael Latham
  Nutritional Science
  Interests: International nutrition; PEM; anemia; tropical medicine; micronutrient deficiencies; human rights to health and nutritiony; helminthic infections
• Isabelle Michaud-Letourneau
  Doctoral student in International Nutrition
  FANG Grads Co-President
• Emily Levitt
  PhD Nutritional Science
  Interests: Capacity building in developing countries; food system approaches to prevention and alleviation of malnutrition; iron deficiency/ anemia; culturally appropriate communication/ intervention strategies; currently working on data from Afghanistan related to these issues
• Beth Medvecky
  Assistant Directory, Cornell International Institute for Food, Agricultue and Development (CIIFAD)
• Rebecca Mitchell
  Graduate Student, CBS-Epidemiology
  Interests: Pathogen transmission dynamics; food supply veterinary medicine, human health
• Rebecca Nelson
  Plant Pathology; Plant Breeding and Genetics
  Activities: Director of The McKnight Foundation's Collaborative Crop Research Program, which supports research on neglected crops in Africa, Latin America and Asia. Research relates to the genetics of disease resistance in maize, with a special interest in diseases important in E. Africa
• Chuck Nicholson
  Applied Economics and Management
  Interests: The role of livestock in development, dairy production, marketing and policy, and dynamic simulation modeling
• Erica Phillips
  Partners in Health
  Interests: Food security
• Alice Pell
  Director, Cornell International Institute for Food, Agricultue and Development (CIIFAD) and Professor of Animal Science
• Per Pinstrup-Andersen
  Applied Economics and Management and Nutritional Science
  Interests: Food policy
• Kaitlin Rienzo-Stack
  Biologist, Office of Pesticide Programs, US Environmental Protection Agency
  Interests: landscape ecology, agro-ecosystem services, integrating geospatial analysis into public policy decisionmaking and risk management for human health and agriculture
• Rebecca Stoltzfus
  Professor, Nutritional Science
  Interests: Maternal and child nutrition; nutrition and development in low-income countries; micronutrient malnutrition; infant feeding
• Janice Thies
  Crop and Soil Science
  Interests: Soil health; soil bilogy; soil to plant to human nutrition linkages
• Dorisel Torres-Rojas
  Graduate Student, graduate student, Crop and Soil Sciences
  Interests: Soil fertility, soil health and agronomical practices to improve degraded soils. Technology transfer of agronomical practices to improve agricultural production in Africa. Food security and poverty alleviation. Bioenergy and biofuel applications to Africa.
• Deeptha Chittor Umapathy
  Graduate Student, MPA Public Affairs
  Interests: Sustainable rural development and poverty alleviation, issues relating to gender and poverty
• Steve Vanek
  Doctoral student in Crop and Soil Sciences
  FANG Grads Vice President
  
• Ross Welch
  USDA-ARS, U.S. Plant, Soil & Nutrition
  Interests: Linkging agricluture to human health and nutrition especially micronutrient nutrition. Ways to improve micronutrient bioavailability from plant foods and diets to humans