Sustaining health through what we eat

“It’s important that health-promoting foods be accessible and prevalent in the American diet.”

So says CFAES scientist Jessica Cooperstone, who’s using her multiple areas of expertise—plant breeding and genetics, analytical chemistry, bioinformatics, and nutrition—to try to develop even healthier tomatoes for people to grow and eat.

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Hungry? Have a cricket

Julie Lesnik of Detroit’s Wayne State University will present a seminar called “Edible Insects and Human Evolution” on Ohio State’s Columbus campus on Nov. 2. An assistant professor in Wayne State’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, Lesnik focuses her research on two areas: the evolution of the human diet; and, yes, bugs you can nosh on. She’s written a book with the same title as her seminar. Ohio State’s Initiative for Food and AgriCultural Transformation and Department of Anthropology are co-sponsoring the event. It’s set for 3 p.m. in Room 4012, Smith Laboratory. Contact Cheryl Fischnich, fischnich.1@osu.edu, for more information. (Photo: Getty Images.)

In Cleveland: Eating fresh, growing food security

Picture of Gateway 105 farmers marketA program called Produce Perks, which CFAES’s outreach arm, OSU Extension, helped establish, is tackling northeast Ohio’s urban food deserts and boosting food security.

“Families can stretch their food dollars by utilizing Produce Perks to double their whole-food purchases,” says Veronica Walton, who manages Cleveland’s Gateway 105 Farmers’ Market (shown here last summer).

“The relaxed atmosphere at farmers markets is perfect for conversations about meal preparation, food storage and preservation, all of which decrease food insecurities.”

Read more about it. (Photo: Ken Chamberlain, CFAES.)

Helping Ohio school kids not go hungry and be healthy

Fighting hunger, improving healthOSU Extension’s nutrition program for children and teens, which helps fight hunger and improve health, has ramped up nearly ten-fold in the past three years. Still, there’s even more work to be done. Read the story. As CFAES’s statewide outreach arm, OSU Extension makes the college’s expertise available to everyone living in Ohio. (Photo: SNAP-Ed program, Richland County, Ohio.)

How to start a school garden or grow yours even more

Growing School GardenCFAES’s outreach arm, OSU Extension, holds its 2015 school garden conference, “Growing a Sense of Place,” April 24 in Columbus. It’s for you if you plan, plant or teach in a school garden or are thinking about starting one. Why a school garden? Not just plants grow there.