Upcoming Events!

Hello SIPA Foodies!

Welcome to a new semester of the SIPA Food Group! We hope you’re settling in nicely to a new semester. Things are certainly starting to get busy around the IAB building and we, your new SIPA Food Group Board, have been busy, too —  hard at work planning new and exciting events for you all.

First off, let us introduce ourselves:

Co-Presidents: Jessica Ames and Dylan Chase

Treasurer: Janice Dean

Co-Communications: Kevin Johnstone and Talia Smith

While we’re still hashing out details of our upcoming events and activities, please check out the list of food-related events below happening within the next week.

Also, please don’t hesitate to contact us if there’s an event you’d like to advertise, or if you have any general comments/questions.

 

Thanks very much!

-SIPA Food Group Board

 

 

Thursday, February 14, 2013, 8:00 am-12:00 pm

Bring Policy to the Table: New Food Strategies for a Healthier Society

Launching the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University and the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund’s Healthy Food & Community Change Initiative.

The conference will focus on ways to develop evidence-based programs and policies that encourage healthier diets and lifestyles while making healthy foods accessible and affordable to underserved communities. Presenters and panelists will include nonprofit leaders, food and health experts and NYC, state and federal legislator, including Cory Booker, Mayor, Newark NJ, Christine Quinn, Speaker, New York City Council and Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President.

RSVP here: http://www.eventbrite.com/event/4942614493#

You will need your e-ticket to enter the event. Space is limited. 

 

Friday, February 15, 2013, 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm

Food and the Environment: ISERP Seminar Series
Location: Morningside Campus The Diana Building Room 501
Speakers: Paige West, Moderator , Professor, Department of Anthropology, Barnard College and Columbia University; Panelists: Dickson Despommier,Professor, Department of Environmental Health Sciences, Mailman School of Public Health; Matthew Hoffman, Professor, Department of Food Studies, New York University; Amy Trubeck, Professor, Department of Nutrition Food Science, University of Vermont

 

Saturday, February, 16, 2013 10:30 am – 3:00 pm

TED^x Manhattan “Changing the Way We Eat” Webcast Watch Party
Hosted by Wagner School at NYU

 

Tuesday, February 26, 2013 from 6:00 pm to 8:00 pm

Adapting to a Changing Climate: Managing Our Cities & Food Supply

Register:

http://www.earth.columbia.edu/events/view/62244?utm_source=iContact&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Earth%20Institute%20Events&utm_content=Weekly+Events+E-mail+test   

Moderator: Steve Cohen, Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer, The Earth Institute, Columbia University; Speakers: Lisa Goddard, Director, International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), The Earth Institute, Columbia University; Sergej Mahnovski, Director of Mayor’s Office of Long-term Planning and Sustainability; and Adam Sobel, Professor of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics and of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University

The panel, moderated by Steve Cohen, Executive Director of The Earth Institute, Columbia University, will explore how science is enhancing society’s ability to understand and manage the impacts of climate variability and change. We will look at predictions, projections, tools and programs from disasters relief, agricultural, and urban perspectives, as well as investigate what stakeholders can do to improve the process of using science to influence decisions.

Originally scheduled for the night that Hurricane Sandy hit NYC, this panel will discuss how lessons from Sandy can be applied to protect and strengthen resiliency across the globe.

Open to the public.

New Board for 2013

I am sure they will introduce themselves more fully when the semester starts, but we wanted to share with you all the new board for the SIPA Food Group:

Co-President Dylan Chase and Jessica Ames 

Communications Co-Directors: Kevin Johnstone and Talia Smith

Treasurer: Janice Dean

We know they will do great work, and are very excited for the transition. Thanks to everyone from the departing board for making the 2012 experience a great one!

SIPA Food Drive – Dec 4-12th!

You donate food items to City Harvest, and we’ll donate an animal (or a flock!) to Heifer International!

Once again this year, SIPA Food Group will be collecting food items for City Harvest. About City Harvest: Now serving New York City for 30 years, City Harvest is the world’s first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city’s hungry men, women, and children.

We will be holding the Food Drive on the 4th floor of SIPA Tuesday (12/4), Wednesday (12/5), and Thursday (12/6) this week (and 12/11-12/12 too).

The most-needed items include:

• shelf stable milk
• boxed juices, water
• baby food and formula
• pop-top snacks like fruit and pudding;
• canned fruit and vegetables
• packaged granola bars and trail mix;
• peanut butter and jelly (in plastic jars);
• hot and cold cereal;
• pop-top proteins like beans, tuna, salmon;
• ready-to-eat meals with pop-tops like stews, spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, and soup
• instant coffee, hot chocolate, tea

NB: City Harvest cannot accept: unlabeled or dented cans, any open packaging, products that need to be refrigerated, homemade foods, or expired products.

ALSO, SIPA Food Group is pledging to make a matching donation to Heifer International, based on the amount (weight) of food we receive. About Heifer International: “By giving families a hand-up, not just a hand-out, we empower them to turn lives of hunger and poverty into self-reliance and hope. With gifts of livestock and training, Heifer projects help families improve their nutrition and generate income in sustainable ways.”

So stop by our table this week with some food, even just a can or two… every little bit helps!

Upcoming Events

Below are some events for the next few weeks as well as other news. Specifically:

1) Everyone Must Eat? Liberia, Food Security, and Palm Oil. Tuesday Nov. 13, 1-2pm

2) Rice: From Farm to Fork. Monday, Nov. 26, 4:30-6:30pm

3) New SIPA Food Group Board – Interested Parties?

4) SIPA Winter Food Drive – Interest?

5) Museum Trip – Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture – American Natural History Museum – Dec.1

6) The Earth Institute Practicum: Millennium Villages and the Green Revolution in Africa – Pedro Sanchez- Tuesday, Nov. 13

7) African Diplomatic Forum – Friday, Nov. 16th

———————

1) Everyone Must Eat? Liberia, Food Security, and Palm Oil. [Flyer Attached]

MDP students will talk about their research on the implications of palm oil plantations in rural communities of Liberia. For more information about their research check out their report (draft)

When: Tuesday, Nov 13th

Where: IAB ROOM 405A

Time: 1-2pm

Brown Bag Event – free pizza

2) RICE: From Farm to Fork

When: Monday November 26th, 4:30-6:30 p.m.

Where: Room 407 IAB

Cosponsors: SIPA Food, MDP Program

Join us for a conversation about rice. From the farming practices used to grow this staple and the central role it plays in Asian cultures, to the controversies around biotechnology and the challenges of meeting increasing global demand.

Speaker: Dr. Dobermann, Deputy Director General of the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), is a soil scientist and agronomist with many years experience working in Asia, North America and Europe. He is recognized internationally as an authority on science and technology for food security and sustainable management of the world’s major cereal cropping systems. He has authored or co-authored over 250 scientific papers and two books on nutrients in rice and has received numerous awards from various academic, government and industry organizations.

Food and refreshments will be served 

3) New SIPA Food Group Board – Interested Parties?

It’s almost time for student group board transitions, and if you are interested in taking a leadership role with SIPA Food Group for next year (Spring and Fall 2013), please let us know at this email:sipafoodgroup@gmail.com as soon as possible so we can provide further information and set up an information session if needed.

4) SIPA Winter Food Drive – Interest?

We are planning to run a food drive at SIPA this year in December. If you are interested in helping organize, please let us know at sipafoodgroup@gmail.com (great for potential board members!)

5) Museum Trip – Our Global Kitchen: Food, Nature, Culture – American Natural History Museum – Dec.1 (Tentative)

This exhibition starts November 13th, and we are planning a group trip (with subsidized tickets) for Saturday, December 1st. If Interested, let us know at sipafoodgroup@gmail.com. Here is the site and details:

Celebrate cultures and cooking, historic meals and markets, and moments in our lives that we mark with food—as well as the ingredients that we have discovered and shaped over the course of thousands of years. As this exhibition takes visitors on a journey of growing, transporting, cooking, eating, and celebrating food, it also examines contemporary issues of environmental and human health, food security, and feeding the world’s growing population today and tomorrow.

6) The Earth Institute Practicum: Millennium Villages and the Green Revolution in Africa
Tuesday, Nov. 13, 4:20 p.m. – 6:10 p.m. 
Jerome Greene Hall, Room 102
Speaker: Pedro Sanchez, Director, Tropical Agriculture and the Rural Environment Program, Co-Chair, Millennium Project Hunger Task Force, The Earth Institute, Columbia University.
Sponsor: The Earth Institute

7) African Diplomatic Forum

Columbia University’s 6th Annual African Diplomatic Forum is just around the corner!  Join us on Friday, Nov. 16th, from 9am – 6pm,  at Columbia’s School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) in New York. Registration is free and open to the public, but seats are limited, so register at www.cuadf.com today!   Panel Spotlight:

Innovation from Within: How to Encourage and Channel Africa’s Infrastructure and Agricultural Transformation
African countries have come a long way in infrastructure and agricultural development.  However, insufficient infrastructure in terms of transportation, water, energy, and telecommunication as well as inadequate manufacturing capacity limits local agricultural production as well as the opportunities available to develop the economies of scale needed to sell products in bulk and with international-grade quality.  Consequently, secondary producers abroad often make larger profits.  African countries are partnering with foreign companies, countries, and international financial institutions to bridge this gap, but how can they address this need internally as well?  The success of entrepreneurial and individual innovation is key to addressing and eliminating the constraints imposed by inadequate telecommunications, water, transportation, and energy infrastructure.  This panel will explore how African innovators are addressing these challenges while also highlighting the opportunities African countries have to test cutting-edge technologies and to develop home-grown solutions.
Featured Speaker:
Abera Tola Gada; Synergos Senior Fellow and Synergos’ Regional Director, Ethiopia.

Join us to Celebrate World Food Day by supporting the Work of Table for Two

Farm Trip and CSA Interest

Click on Picture to Complete Form

Dear Food Group Members –

In our first meeting we discussed taking a group trip to a local working farm. I have been working on putting together a trip to the farm that we get our weekly CSA produce from, and the CSA committee wanted to gauge overall interest in such a trip – if you are interested, please indicate so via THIS google doc!

Also – the committee is organizing a CSA potluck – if you are interested in that feel free to indicate so as well!

Happy fall!

 

First member meeting

The first Fall 2012 SIPA FOOD Group member meeting on Thursday, September 20th, was a huge success! We had 17 attendees, farmers market apples, and excited discussions of what members want to do this semester.

Here is a preview of what this semester has in store: A trip to a local urban farm, a trip to a local more traditional farm, brown bag lunches, a window seed sprouting workshop, and, as always, whatever members decide sounds exciting as the semester progresses! We also talked about the possibility of a Spring CSA (let us know if you are interested!), gardening opportunities in the CUFSP garden on the Morningside Campus, and ways to get involved in the NGO Table for Two.

Stay tuned for dates and details on upcoming events, and if you missed the meeting, please feel free to contact us and let us know what you are interested in doing this semester, or if you have any suggestions for the above mentioned activities.

Saturday Food Fun (Oct 6th)

This Saturday, October 6th, two different fun food-related events are happening in the NYC area.

First is the Harlem Harvest Festival at St. Nicholas Ave and 116th Street. This festival showcases the tastes of Harlem, and you can sample foods and carve pumpkins!

The Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory Open House 2012 is also this Saturday, 10am-4pm. I went to this last year, and it is a great opportunity to see what the various EI centres are up to. The teams open their doors to the public, put on displays, answer questions, and even debate hot topics. Take a look at the program here, and if that doesn’t excite you see the video below! (PS You can take a free shuttle from CU’s Teachers College). Could be a good lead-in for next week’s event on the State of the Planet too.

The Earth Institute, Columbia University presents STATE OF THE PLANET 2012

Hi SIPA Food members, check out the event below. Glenn Denning, our group advisor  will be one of the panelist.

STATE OF THE PLANET 2012

October 11, 2012, 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM

Columbia University, Alfred Lerner Hall, Roone Arledge Auditorium,
2910 Broadway, New York

or On-line via live webcast at www.stateoftheplanet.org

Rio +20 invited us to move beyond the Millennium Development Goals to
the Sustainable Development Goals. Through the collaborative efforts
of non-profit organizations, businesses, industry, scientific
communities, policy makers, governments, academia and individuals, we
can find solutions to Earth’s most pressing issues. This year’s
conference will look at building a global agenda for sustainable
development.

Join the conversation now.  Your opinions, ideas and actions are
needed to enhance the discussion. Join the conversation today and tell
us know what you really want to know about the state of the planet.
www.stateoftheplanet.org/engage

Conference Speakers include
Glenn Denning, Director, Center on Globalization and Sustainable
Development, The Earth Institute
Jan Eliasson, Deputy Secretary-General; Chair of WaterAid Sweden
Christiana Figueres, Executive Secretary, United Nations Framework
Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
Lisa Goddard, Director, International Research Institute for Climate
and Society (IRI)
James Hansen, Director, NASA/Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS)
Amina Mohamed, Special Advisor to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on
Post 2015 Development Planning; CEO/Founder, Center for Development
Policy Solutions
Sree Sreenivasan, Chief Digital Officer, Columbia University
Jeffrey D. Sachs, Director, Earth Institute
Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Laura Trevelyan, Correspondent, BBC
Hans Vestberg, President and CEO, Ericsson

2012 Welcome and Kickoff Meeting

Thursday 1-2pm IAB Room 410.