Thursday, January 29, 2015
Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund Backs Food Studies Program at Hostos College
The class is a pilot course, part of an interdisciplinary food studies program that has been under development at Hostos for more than two years and will enroll students this fall for the first time. The new program will go beyond the traditional culinary classes offered at many schools to provide students with a broad overview of food policy, social justice, environment, health, science and business. It aims to prepare them for jobs as technicians, analysts, nutritionists and entrepreneurs in the fast-expanding food industry in the Bronx, home to the Hunts Point food markets, and elsewhere.
Hostos’s program is intended to train a new generation of professionals in the food industry and empower them to address longstanding socioeconomic issues involving food in their communities. At a time when the Bronx, the city’s poorest borough, faces a growing health crisis from diabetes and obesity-related illnesses, many residents say they do not have convenient or affordable access to fresh fruits and vegetables....