UW-Madison: Food summit winds up campuswide food discussion

Contact: Heidi Zoerb, (608) 262-4849, hzoerb@cals.wisc.edu

MADISON – More food for thought will be on the menu on Friday, April 23 at the Day on Campus: Food Summit.

The event is a closing bookend to Go Big Read, UW-Madison’s common reading program that began during the fall 2009 semester. As part of the program, the campus and area communities were invited to read “In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto” by Michael Pollan, and then participate in events and book discussions.

In the spirit of Go Big Read, the Food Summit program includes discussions and presentations on the food we eat, where it comes from, and how it affects our health and society. Campus experts will discuss food-related topics such as childhood obesity, nutrition, food safety, food culture, food economics and agricultural development.

Former U.S. Sen. George McGovern, who served as director of the Food for Peace Program and chair of the Senate Select Committee on Unmet Basic Needs, will provide the keynote address.

The Wisconsin Alumni Association and the UW-Madison College of Agricultural and Life Sciences organized the Day On Campus: Food Summit. All the Food Summit programs take place at the Memorial Union. All events are free, except for an optional luncheon. Here is a schedule for the day’s events:

– Welcome message, Chancellor Biddy Martin, 8:15 a.m.

– “Parenting Style and Overweight Youth,” Susan K. Riesch, Waisman Center and School of Nursing, 9 a.m.

– “Babcock, Hart, and the Wisconsin Hunger Fighters,” Dave Nelson, Department of Biochemistry, 9 a.m.

– “Adventures in Agricultural Development in Africa,” Jeremy Foltz, Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, 9 a.m.

– “Managing Import Safety,” Lorna Zach, College of Engineering and Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE), 10 a.m.

– “Martha Stewart Minus the Jail Time: Hannah Woolley, Restoration Cookery, and Ethical Culture,” David Goldstein, Institute for Research in the Humanities, 10 a.m.

– “Raw Milk Consumption,” Scott Rankin, Department of Food Science, 10 a.m.

– Keynote address by George McGovern, 11 a.m.

– Day on Campus Luncheon, noon-1:30 p.m.

– “A Global View of Diabetes,” Linda Baumann, School of Nursing, 2 p.m.

– “Farmers and Markets: Competitive Issues Facing American Agriculture,” Peter Carstensen, Law School, 2 p.m.

– “GardenFit: Can Childrens’ Garden Projects Lead to Better Choices and Better Health?” Dale A. Schoeller and Sarah Jacquart, Department of Nutritional Sciences, 2 p.m.

– “Food Safety Then and Now: the UW Food Research Institute,” Chuck Czuprynski, Food Research Institute, 3 p.m.

– “We Are What We Eat: Fast, Cheap and Easy?” Lydia Zepeda, School of Human Ecology and Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy (WAGE), 3 p.m.

– “A Brief Look at Wisconsin’s Agricultural History,” Jerry Apps, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, 3 p.m.

For more information on Day on Campus: Food Summit, contact the Wisconsin Alumni Association, (608) 262-2551, or visit http://uwalumni.com.