Nutritional Sciences & Toxicology

Nutritional Sciences W104AC

'Food, Culture, and the Environment'

Instructor: Kristen Rasmussen

ACES Fellow: Claire Larkins

Semester: Summer 2024

Nutritional Sciences W104AC, "Food, Culture, and the Environment," broadly addressed the historical, ecological, socioeconomic, biological, political, and cultural environments impacting the human diet in addition to nutrition problems, programs, and consumer protection. A nutrition course with an anthropological perspective, the course examines why we eat what we eat and contributes to the pursuit of multidisciplinary degrees in nutrition policy and planning. As an American Cultures course, the course discussed cuisines from a variety of different countries and regions, with a specific focus on those in America, and examined how race and ethnicity affect diet, food access, and the human relationship with food.

Topics

This food project uniquely aligned with my eclectic passions for donuts, immigrant stories, and entrepreneurship. The journey has been both fulfilling and enlightening, offering deep insights into the Cambodian community and their role in California's donut shop industry.
Nutritional Sciences 104AC Student

Final Projects

Through the course, students developed a Global Cuisine Cookbook (working with a dietitian-led organization, the Culinary Nutrition Collaborative), a research paper on trans fats in Mexico that may be published (working with Salud Justa, a public health program within the Mexican Government), and "donut kid" interviews (working with Pink Box Stories, a California-based organization focused on immigrant-run donut shops). 

For more information about the projects, please visit this link. You can read the project descriptions at the provided link. Students have provided feedback and reflections, which you may read here. 

You can access recordings of the students' final project presentations through the project descriptions on this page.

Global Cuisine Cookbook

The Culinary Nutrition Collaborative was started by two registered dietitian nutritionists to unite culinary nutritionists and chefs to provide ongoing education programs promoting food literacy and culinary education for healthcare professionals and community members. The goal is to teach innovative cooking techniques and ingredient combinations within a health-conscious and culturally sensitive framework. To learn more about the project, access the students' final cookbook here.

Global Cuisine Cookbook Presentation

Salud Justa

Salud Justa (Just Health) is a non-profit and conflict-free organization dedicated to advocating for substantial influence on public health policies in Mexico. The goal is to champion the realization of the right to health among decision-makers and the general public. They also investigate the cultural and dietary influence of industrial trans-fatty acids in today's food industry, examining how these fats alter our food culture and the broader cultural implications of these changes. To learn more about the project, review the policy brief here, research paper here, and outreach document here.

Salud Justa Presentation

Pink Box Stories

Pink Box Stories (PBS) is a storytelling platform and collective that shares stories of Cambodian families behind mom-and-pop doughnut shops. PBS focuses on immigration, entrepreneurship, and the families behind California donut shops. PBS began in 2018, founded by Professor Jaspal Sandhu at UC Berkeley, with a volunteer team of editors, writers, and researchers passionate about these “pink box” stories. Today, PBS is led by writer, curator, and donut kid Emily Taing, who will continue to share stories and collaborate with creatives to preserve the legacy of the Cambodian donut community in California. The Pink Box Stories project work in ACES centers on benefiting the local donut shops. To learn more about the project, review the project interviews here.

Pink Box Stories Presentation
The ACES project was a highlight of my academic experience.
Nutritional Sciences 104AC Student