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2020-21 Campus Global Theme

2020-21 Campus Global Theme

The Campus Global Theme program identifies a topic linked to one or more of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and engages the entire UC Davis community in related discussion, learning, discovery, and action. 

The inaugural Campus Global Theme Food for Thought: Feeding Ourselves, Feeding the Planet, aimed to explore the complexities surrounding the notion of “Food for Thought," bringing together the UC Davis community in this exploration during winter 2020-spring 2021, and 34 events were organized. 

27 student groups and departments received a Campus Global Theme mini-grant in 2019, ranging from $250 - $1,000, which provided funding, logistical support, and visibility an excellent opportunity for faculty, staff and students across UC Davis to get involved in discussing and addressing an important global issue.

Graphic with earth and plants

Campus Global Theme Statement of Purpose

UC Davis’ first Campus Global Theme: Food for Thought: Feeding Ourselves, Feeding the Planet, roots itself in the strengths of the institution to call for programs that can help our community reflect on the work of nourishing our world. As a comprehensive research university, we have much to teach and more to learn about feeding—feeding for healthy bodies, minds, souls—and beyond that, ecosystems and economies. 

2020-21 Campus Global Theme Schedule of Events

Oceans Role in Sustainable Food Production

  • September 16-17, 2019
  • Robert Mondavi Institute Silverado Vineyard Sensory Theater
  • Co-sponsored by: UC Davis Coastal and Marine Sciences Institute, the UC Davis Sustainable Oceans National Research Training Program, UC Davis California Environmental Law and Policy Center
  • 2019 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

Our symposium will present the current scientific, economic, social, and governance issues surrounding the ocean’s role in global food production and explore potential impacts of climate change on these functions and processes. Sessions include commercial fisheries management, aquaculture development, marine inputs in aquaculture and agriculture, and forage fisheries management and conservation.

Image by Sean Nash
Image by Sean Nash

Building Community Ferment

In this hands-on workshop we make shredded vegetable ferments together in small groups and everyone leaves with their own jar of collaboratively-made kraut. Building Community Ferment is both a practical introduction to the art of transforming vegetables through bacterial collaboration and a creative space to ponder our relationships to each other and the more-than-human world. Come prepared to meet new people, learn a fun do-it-together skill, and be inspired by lively microorganisms.

Isao FujimotoThe Life and Legacy of Dr. Isao Fujimoto

Dr. Fujimoto's life's work over the last several decades has been to lift up the voices of those marginalized by economic, political, and social systems. In addition to kicking off an exhibition and discussion on Dr. Fujimoto, this event brings together contemporary Asian American activists working on issues at the core of Dr. Fujimoto's work and showcases the current community-engaged commitments of Asian American Studies faculty. This year marks the 50th anniversary of Asian American Studies. Join us for a symposium celebrating one of its founding faculty members, Dr. Isao Fujimoto.

Moving Towards a Healthier Food System with Dr. Lawrence Haddad

  • January 29, 2020, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.    
  • UC Davis Conference Center, Ballrooms

  • Sponsored by: Office of Research

Join us as we launch the Distinguished Speaker Series in Research and Innovation with special guest Dr. Lawrence Haddad, 2018 World Food Prize Laureate. The Distinguished Speaker Series in Research and Innovation will bring accomplished thought leaders from around the world to UC Davis to share their vision for the next generation of research and how it can transform our society. The series will be hosted by the Office of Research in partnership with research units across campus.

The inaugural event will be held January 29, 2020 with British economist and food policy researcher Lawrence Haddad discussing how we can move toward a healthier food system. In 2018, Haddad was awarded the World Food Prize for his “relentless leadership and advocacy in mobilizing political will to make nutrition the focal point of development strategies.” Haddad is executive director for the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition, a Swiss-based foundation launched at the United Nations in 2002 to tackle the human suffering caused by malnutrition.

Registration for the inaugural event at the UC Davis Conference Center is open to the research community, students and public.

Feeding Ourselves, Feeding the Planet Social Justice Speaker Series

Speakers from several social justice organizations will be invited to speak on the topic of Feeding Ourselves/Feeding the Planet. The audience will learn about the relationship between social justice, climate change and food security, and practical ways they can get involved to make a difference.

Featured speaker: "What does the climate crisis teach us about what we need to do for food security?" George Lakey proposes a research-based model for empowering grassroots movements for food justice.

Future speakers in this series and event dates will be announced.

From Global South to Global North: Food History and Possible Futures in the Americas

Questions of food sovereignty, enhanced high-yield crops, and environmental degradation in production of food had become part of the public conversation. This one-day colloquium shares the most innovative insights about the origins of our foodways, eating habits, culinary practices, and environmental context from agricultural practices to environmental protection initiatives, and from the fields of Honduras, the Andean puna, and the avocado orchards of Mexico to our very own tables.

Project RISHI LogoEmpowerment through Food Systems in the Rural Indian Development Landscape

At this workshop, Project RISHI (Rural India Social and Health Improvement) aims to paint the development experience in a rural Indian setting, by zooming into our interventions that focus on enhancing nutrition and market access for different pockets of our population. Through this workshop, you will also learn to measure empowerment through interactive assessments and globally tested tools.

Drawing of kraut in a mason jar
Image by Sean Nash

Building Community Ferment

  • February 15, 2020, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.    
  • Mary L. Stephens Davis Branch Library, Blanchard Community Room
  • Sponsored by: Radical Mycology Collective, Friends of the Davis Library
  • 2019 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

In this hands-on workshop we make shredded vegetable ferments together in small groups and everyone leaves with their own jar of collaboratively-made kraut. Building Community Ferment is both a practical introduction to the art of transforming vegetables through bacterial collaboration and a creative space to ponder our relationships to each other and the more-than-human world. Come prepared to meet new people, learn a fun do-it-together skill, and be inspired by lively microorganisms.

Food as medicine event photo of faculty and students in front of culturally relevant high-iron foodsFood as Medicine Counseling:  Culturally Relevant High-Iron Food Counseling for Hmong and Afghan Clients with Anemia

An Active Learning session with Nurse Practitioner and Physician Assistant students will explore culturally relevant high iron food sources, menus and food samples to counsel Hmong and Afghan clients with iron deficiency anemia.

Studies have shown improvement in health outcomes when patients are provided language and culture specific resources. Student clinician (FNP/PA) training in patient nutritional counseling and the skills to access multicultural dietary resources is best learned early in clinical training.  The learning activity, “Food for Health, Food as Medicine”, identifies resources for immigrant populations experiencing food insecurity and anemia. The activity will promote dietary counseling, strengthen clinician cultural humility and address social determinants of health.

Future Food: Cutting-Edge Career Opportunities in Sustainable Animal Agriculture

This panel will represent a variety of careers in animal-sourced food industries that are currently using sustainable and innovative practices.  Both large producers and small companies will be represented in a variety of job sectors.  Alumni and professionals in varied levels will give their best career advice and answer questions.  Networking and refreshments to follow the panel.

Hearts of Glass logo with three peopleCultivating Food and Inclusive Employment–A Vertical Farm Takes Root in Wyoming

  • March 5, 2020, 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.    
  • Silverado Sensory Theater, Robert Mondavi Institute for wine and food science
  • Sponsored by: Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science, School of Education–Teacher Education
  • 2019 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

Join us for a screening of the new award-winning documentary "Hearts of Glass." The film is about an audacious social venture in Wyoming that combines high-tech local food production and meaningful employment for people with disabilities. Plants and people grow together in this intimate portrait of innovation, inclusion and community. After the movie, stay for a panel discussion with the filmmaker, Jennifer Tennican, local food experts, disability self-advocates and other important stakeholders. Following the panel, enjoy a reception featuring local food and drinks. Students are encouraged to share their insights and thoughts. Registration is now open.

Exploring the Cultural Diversity of Sacramento Region Farms: Field Trip to Choi and Daughters Produce Farm

  • March 7, 2020, 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.     
  • Departing from the Bowley Plant Sciences Teaching Facility
  • Sponsored by: Student Farm, Agricultural Sustainability Institute, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
  • 2019 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

The Sacramento Valley, known for its rich soil, innovative farmers, and local food system is home to farmers who come from diverse backgrounds. This field trip series will explore four farms that play important roles in our regional food system: Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation's farm and ranch in the Capay Valley, 3 Sisters Gardens of Broderick in West Sacramento, Choi and Daughters Produce in Winters, and R Kelley Farms in Fremont. Registration is now open.

Building Community Ferment

In this virtual workshop you will learn how to create a sourdough starter. The starter can be used to make a range of foods, not only sourdough bread. In this workshop, we will demonstrate how to use your starter for savory vegetable sourdough pancakes. Following the event, attendees will be able to pick up a sourdough starter kit from the Mary L. Stephens — Davis Branch of the Yolo County Library. Building Community Ferment is both a practical introduction to the art of transforming foods through bacterial collaboration and a creative space to ponder our relationships to each other and the more-than-human world. Come to this online workshop prepared to learn a fun skill, and be inspired by lively microorganisms. All events are via Zoom, visit the Yolo County Library’s Facebook page for the link to join.

Learn more: Spring Quarter Snapshot: DIY Slaw Events Go Virtual 

Building Community Ferment

In this virtual workshop, learn how to brew your own kombucha. Following the event, attendees will be able to pick up a kombucha kit containing a swing-top bottle, a kombucha mother, and tea and sugar packets at the Mary L. Stephens — Davis Branch of the Yolo County Library. Building Community Ferment is both a practical introduction to the art of transforming foods through bacterial collaboration and a creative space to ponder our relationships to each other and the more-than-human world. Come to this online workshop prepared to learn a fun skill, and be inspired by lively microorganisms. All events are via Zoom, visit the Yolo County Library’s Facebook page for the link to join.

Learn more: Spring Quarter Snapshot: DIY Slaw Events Go Virtual

Food for Health, Food as Medicine: Active Learning Educational Approach in Dietary Counseling for FNP & PA Students 

A Faculty Development session will review an Active Learning Module for FNP/PA Student Clinicians in culturally focused diet counseling and resources for Afghan and Hmong clients with Iron Deficiency Anemia using “food as medicine”.

Studies have shown improvement in health outcomes when patients are provided language and culture specific resources. This learning activity engages FNP/PA student clinicians in small groups to recognize Afghan and Hmong cultural risks for iron deficiency anemia, develop multicultural resources for counseling and local sourcing of high iron foods to promote “food as medicine”. The activity will enhance requisite clinician multicultural dietary counseling skills, strengthen clinician cultural humility and address social determinants of health in local immigrant populations. 

This event was rescheduled from the original date in March 2020. 

Building Community Ferment photo credit Sean Nash
Image by Sean Nash

Building Community Ferment

In this virtual workshop, learn how to make your own fermented hot sauce. Using fresh summer produce, learn how to craft your own hot sauce that will be bursting with flavor and live probiotics. Building Community Ferment is both a practical introduction to the art of transforming foods through bacterial collaboration and a creative space to ponder our relationships to each other and the more-than-human world. Come to this online workshop prepared to learn a fun skill, and be inspired by lively microorganisms. All events are via Zoom, visit the Yolo County Library’s Facebook page for the link to join.

Learn more: Spring Quarter Snapshot: DIY Slaw Events Go Virtual 

Building Community Ferment

In this virtual workshop, we make shredded vegetable ferments together and everyone learns to build their own jar of kraut. Attend the workshop to learn from two special guests! The kraut workshop will include two  Pick up your kit at the Mary L. Stephens — Davis Branch of the Yolo County Library after the event, or use your own vegetables from home. Building Community Ferment is both a practical introduction to the art of transforming vegetables through bacterial collaboration and a creative space to ponder our relationships to each other and the more-than-human world. Come to this online workshop prepared to learn a fun do-it-together skill, and be inspired by lively microorganisms. All events are via Zoom, linked to from the Yolo County Library’s Facebook page.

Learn more: Spring Quarter Snapshot: DIY Slaw Events Go Virtual

Catalyzing Adaptive and Resilient Food Systems Workshop 

Four circles with a hand and seedling, burning ground, greenhouse, seeds in hands in the shape of a heartClimate change and associated extreme disaster events threaten agricultural productivity, food stability, and rural community resilience around the world. This webinar series brings together diverse perspectives -- from climate scientists and social scientists to crop biologists and ecologists -- to address the multi-dimensional challenges and opportunities associated with developing climate adaptive and resilient food systems in California, the US, and beyond. Learn more about this workshop series. 

Adaptation & Mitigation Synergies in Agriculture

  • October 7, 2020, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

This session targets potential solutions that achieve both climate change adaptation and mitigation in agricultural systems. Speakers will explore changes to the way we grow food can increase resilience to climate stresses while simultaneously reducing atmospheric greenhouse gases. Notable examples include the development of perennial cropping systems, breeding for root traits, and regenerative agronomic practices like no-till. 

Climate Risk Interactions in Agriculture and Food Systems

  • October 14, 2020, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

This session explores the various climate risks to agriculture and the food systems and how stakeholders can and are already responding to such climate change impacts.Speakers will explore the multidimensional risk interactions between climate change and wildfire, water scarcity, air/soil pollution, fertilizer pollution, public health (including COVID-19), urban sprawl, wildlife conservation, groundwater management, etc. 

Pursuing Climate Resilience in Agriculture and Food Systems

  • October 21, 2020, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

This session explores the challenges to climate action along the agricultural and food value chain in California and beyond. Speakers will focus on the economic and environmental constraints to farm operations, GMO crops to improve climate resilience, commodity costs, labor market constraints, land use planning/management, policy/governance gaps, knowledge gaps, consumer behavior, procurement challenges, etc.  

Towards More Equitable Agriculture and Food Systems

  • October 28, 2020, 10:00 - 11:30 a.m.

This session explores strategies to enable climate-resilient futures in agricultural and food systems. Speakers will highlight the future of farming, youth/civil society engagement, science-informed policymaking, social movements (including labor organizations, NGOs), commitments to socially sustainable benefits, long-term cultural and behavior change (including dietary), sustainable agriculture, food safety (health), food access/nutrition, environmental justice, etc. 

Postharvest Technologies for Small-Scale Producers

Woman with a coolbot

Addressing postharvest challenges faced by smallholder fruit and vegetable growers through international collaboration.

There are inspiring efforts on UC Davis’ campus to improve the lives of smallholder farmers in developing countries. This virtual webinar will highlight six postharvest technologies advanced by the Horticulture Innovation Lab at UC Davis in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central America to benefit small-scale fruit and vegetable growers. These technologies can be solutions for either effectively drying or cooling product in order to minimize food loss and waste. The drying technologies (the UC Davis Chimney Solar Dryer, the Drying Beads, the UC Davis DryCard, and the UC Davis Pallet Dryer) along with the cooling technologies (the Zero Energy Cooling Chamber (ZECC) and the CoolBot Cold Room) will be presented by experts who have implemented these technologies across the globe. Furthermore, many of these technologies are on display at the Horticulture Innovation Lab’s Demonstration Center located on campus and accessible for webinar participants and the general public to visit in person. 

The 7th Annual One Health Symposium: A One Health Approach to Global Food Systems

Explore four different panels on the Future of Food, including All About Bugs!, Appetite for Aquaculture, COVID Cafeteria and What's Cooking. 

Food for Thought Showcase

Food for Thought Showcase

Discover centers and institutes at UC Davis shaping the future of food, and network with our local and regional community of faculty, staff, students, industry partners, and more. Join us for an exciting afternoon, featuring UC Davis entities whose research encompasses food and agriculture.

The event will begin with a series of elevator pitches from UC Davis programs, institutes, and centers. You’ll get to know their innovative work in several aspects of the food system. After the pitch session, you’ll be able to visit breakout rooms with your chosen center, learn more and mingle with others there.

Color in Circus Ring: Cultivating Inclusivity in Circus

  • November 14, 11:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
  • Attend via Zoom
  • Sponsored by: UC Davis Department of Theatre and Dance, UC Davis Performance Studies Graduate Group, Match of Minds program at Brock University
  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

Circus presents itself to be a place of diversity and inclusion. Yet, given some scrutiny, circus promotes stereotypes regarding race, gender, sexuality, and ability. Circus and its Others are looking forward to hearing and learning from Veronica Blair, Hayley Landry, Natayu Mildenberger, Marco Motta, and Lavie Williams on the topic of diversity and inclusion in the center ring.

Free Brunch Program - Digital

  • December 20, 2020, 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
  • Sponsored by: Wholistic Art
  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient
  • Register to attend

As part of the university’s Campus Global Theme, “Food for Thought: Feeding Ourselves, Feeding the Planet,” we are hosting an integrative event that will center people of color who disrupt and innovate within the food system. We invite you to the virtual table. 

Produced by artist Charlyn Griffith-Oro, the Free Brunch Program in its latest iteration, draws inspiration from the Black Panthers’ Free Breakfast program and radical homesteading practices held in MOVE philosophies. Participants are invited to reimagine mutual aid and solidarity in the globalized world of the 21st century. Special guests will share musings, the study and practice of food liberation, the growth of a system seeded from mutuality and care. The FBP brings together folx working through strategies for transformation. 

You can register here. Participants who register at least 2 weeks in advance will be provided with a FREE.S.A. (Free & Sovereign Agriculture) box of food products to use prior to and enjoy during the event. And don't worry! If you register later, you can still become a SUBSCRIBER and receive a box!

This event draws on ancestral, artistic, experiential and academic knowledge about food supply chains, taking the Campus Global Theme seriously in its goal of engaging a massive community of eaters! Graduate student Charlotte Glennie and Professor Catherine Brinkley have supported this Wholistic.art event. Because food insecurity is a problem that affects so many students, there will be outreach and special invitations extended.

Gastropolitics: The Politics of Food: From South and Southwest Asian and North African Homelands to the DiasporaThe Other Collective Banner

The Politics of Food issue of Other Collective will display the complex relations with food production and its consumption. Our relationship with food is dynamic because apart from what it means to us culturally, it is also a channel of global political exchange and empowerment - exploring umbrella food systems or its role as a historical and environmental agent in the primary goal of the issue. Guest submissions discussing diasporic or regional pieces on this topic are welcome on our website.

Film Screening of El Susto: Uncovering Mexico’s public health crisis and the role of sugary drinksEl Susto

  • February 23-27, 2021
  • Sponsored by: Healthy Beverage Initiative and Healthy UC Davis
  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient
  • Sign up to watch the film

Join us for a virtual film screening of the documentary “El Susto” with introductory remarks by UC Davis researchers. The film explores how overconsumption of sugar-sweetened beverages has contributed to the public health crisis involving obesity and type 2 diabetes in Mexico. “El Susto” also highlights how the beverage industry has fought to thwart public health initiatives, from fighting soda taxes to funding research that sows confusion about the health harms of their products.

Universities Fighting World Hunger Summit

  • March 25 – 26, 2021
  • Sponsored by: The World Food Center, the University of California Global Food Initiative, the Nutrition Policy Institute, and Natural Resources, the Hunger Solutions Institute at Auburn University
UFWH Flyer

The 2021 summit will be the 16th held by Universities Fighting World Hunger, but is the first to be hosted by the University of California and on the west coast. This year's theme is One Health. One Planet., and the goal of the summit is to bring together current and future leaders to see a world without hunger. With a focus on involving students, the virtual summit will consist of keynote speeches, presentations, and panel discussions from experts across the United States who will speak to a broad array of topics covering human health, the planet, and their inherent connectivity.

The Future of Food: Exploring Food System Career Pathways for Young People

Cal Fresh Healthy Living, University of California Logo

Come hear the voices of young people across California and UC Davis, as well as professionals from the field, share how their involvement in The Future of Food project and Youth-led Participatory Action Research has challenged them and influenced their future. The presentation will include findings, learnings, and experiences from youth exploring food issues in their local communities, as well as how the community of UC Davis can connect with young people as they explore career pathways.

Global Student Farm Symposium

  • May 14, 2021, 8-10 a.m. PDT
  • Register to attend
  • Sponsored by: UC Davis Global Learning Hub, Global Education for All Fellows, UC Davis Student Farm
  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

The inaugural Student Farm Global Symposium aims to bring students from different parts of the world together into one virtual space to discuss current issues on sustainable agriculture and food security, to collaborate, and design creative solutions.

Cultural Diversity of Sac Valley Farms: Stewarding Land and Community

The Sacramento Valley, known for its rich soil and local food system, is home to farmers who come from diverse backgrounds. This panel discussion will explore how these farmers approach land and community stewardship and allow us learn more about their farms.

Intestinal Sovereignties: Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipaakahaopulani Hobart

  • May 26, 2021, 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
  • Register to attend
  • Sponsored by: Radical and Relational Approaches to Fermentation and Food Sovereignty and the UC Davis Humanities Institute
  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

This talk explores the possibilities and the limits of Indigenous food sovereignty in an occupied Hawaiʻi through the microbiopolitics of poi. A fermented staple food for Kanaka Maoli, poi has been subject to regulatory frameworks in ways that reveal how settler statecraft moves across discourses of taste, race, contamination, and civility, both historically and in the present day. Hiʻilei Julia Kawehipuaakahaopulani Hobart (Kanaka Maoli) is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at UT Austin.

Radical and Relational Approaches to Fermentation and Food Sovereignty is supported by the UC Davis Humanities Institute. The goals of our transcollege research cluster includes curating a year-long series of convergence research activities that center radical and relational Indigenous knowledges and ways of fermenting foods. Ultimately, our cluster seeks to unsettle and expand dominant modes of knowledge production in food science research in ways that advances food sovereignty, an issue of urgent global significance for all peoples.

Building Community Ferment

  • Sponsored by: Mary L. Stephens - Davis Branch Library, Yolo County Library
  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

A workshop series on making fermented foods in which emphasis is on experimentation and community building, not mastery. The online series features a one hour demonstration and a free "kit" available to each participant after the event with materials to make at home. Past topics include sauerkraut, kombucha, hot sauce, and sourdough starter.

Seed to Asian Heritage: Rediscovering Historical Roots, Food Diversity, and Environmental Sustainability through Local Farm in Davis

  • Sponsored by: Department of Asian American Studies, API Retention Center, UC Davis Student Farm, Name Farm
  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

Food is a powerful way to connect with people, history and identity. We aim to use food to engage the UC Davis Asian American community and the broader Asian diaspora by bringing an in-person or virtual speaker, visiting a local farm and the Sacramento Farmers Market, and creating a social media campaign. Our programming will help participants deepen their understanding of where their seeds come from and raise awareness of Asian vegetable growers in the Davis area and broader Sacramento region

Radical and Relational Approaches to Fermentation and Food Sovereignty

  • Sponsored by the UC Davis Humanities Institute
  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

The goals of our transcollege research cluster includes curating a year-long series of convergence research activities that center radical and relational Indigenous knowledges and ways of fermenting foods. Ultimately, our cluster seeks to unsettle and expand dominant modes of knowledge production in food science research in ways that advances food sovereignty, an issue of urgent global significance for all peoples.

Cancelled and Postponed Events

Postponed: Exploring the Cultural Diversity of Sacramento Region Farms: Field Trip to Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation Farm

  • April 4, 2020, 9:00 a.m.    
  • Departing from the Bowley Plant Sciences Teaching Facility
  • Sponsored by: Student Farm, Agricultural Sustainability Institute, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
  • 2019 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

The Sacramento Valley, known for its rich soil, innovative farmers, and local food system is home to farmers who come from diverse backgrounds. This field trip series will explore four farms that play important roles in our regional food system: Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation's farm and ranch in the Capay Valley, 3 Sisters Gardens of Broderick in West Sacramento, Choi and Daughters Produce in Winters, and R Kelley Farms in Fremont. Registration is now open, space is limited.

Canceled: Bright Spots and Blind Spots: Using Big Data to Improve Water Research in Latin America

The UC Davis Water Management lab invites you to an evening of networking and discussion about how to use data science to inform environmental research questions. Using water resources research in Latin America and the Caribbean as a case study, this event will include a brief research seminar followed by a happy hour poster session. We will share our cutting edge research results that combine data, earth, and social sciences to describe past water research in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Postponed: Fruits of our Labor

Uplift the voices of workers who share their triumphs and challenges of labor organizing to build solidarity that will enlighten our understanding of the labor struggle in agriculture.  Enjoy artistic expression related to the themes of food and labor, engage in a worker panel, and network to build solidarity with workers, organizers, students, and community members for an equitable and just food system. Visit our Facebook event page.

Postponed: Exploring the Cultural Diversity of Sacramento Region Farms: Field Trip to Three Sisters Urban Farm

  • April 11, 2020, 10:30 am    
  • Departing from the Bowley Plant Sciences Teaching Facility
  • Sponsored by: Student Farm, Agricultural Sustainability Institute, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
  • 2019 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

The Sacramento Valley, known for its rich soil, innovative farmers, and local food system is home to farmers who come from diverse backgrounds. This field trip series will explore four farms that play important roles in our regional food system: Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation's farm and ranch in the Capay Valley, 3 Sisters Gardens of Broderick in West Sacramento, Choi and Daughters Produce in Winters, and R Kelley Farms in Fremont. Registration is now open, space is limited.

Drawing of kraut in a mason jar
Image by Sean Nash

Postponed: Building Community Ferment

  • April 18, 2020, 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.    
  • Mary L. Stephens Davis Branch Library, Blanchard Community Room
  • Sponsored by: Radical Mycology Collective, Friends of the Davis Library
  • 2019 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

In this hands-on workshop we make shredded vegetable ferments together in small groups and everyone leaves with their own jar of collaboratively-made kraut. Building Community Ferment is both a practical introduction to the art of transforming vegetables through bacterial collaboration and a creative space to ponder our relationships to each other and the more-than-human world. Come prepared to meet new people, learn a fun do-it-together skill, and be inspired by lively microorganisms.

Postponed: Critical Perspectives on Feeding the World

"Critical Perspectives on Feeding the World‚" provides a forum for critical social science and interdisciplinary conversations on agriculture, the environment, and politics. The event highlights leading scholars and activists doing work related to political ecology, agroecology, socially-just agriculture, and California food systems. The event features two sessions that bring together scholars and early career discussants with diverse viewpoints, and a third panel with early career scholars.

Postponed: “Food as Medicine”, Clinical Staff In-Service on Cultural Nutrition Counseling Resources for Afghans and Hmong with Anemia

Clinical Staff Inservice focused upon Afghan and Hmong risks for anemia, local resources for high iron foods as therapeutic treatment for iron deficiency anemia and food samplers of Afghan and Hmong high iron foods will be offered.

Sacramento County Primary Care Clinic serves immigrant Hmong and Afghan families, cared for by UCD Academic Clinical Faculty and students from the Schools of Nursing and Medicine.  Due to health disparities, they often suffer from chronic iron deficiency anemia and food insecurity from language barriers, lack of nutritional literacy and knowledge of local food resources. This training will inform clinic staff of cultural risks, focused counseling skills, and local resources for a high iron diet to use “food as medicine”. Hmong and Afghan food samplers of high iron foods will be provided.

Building Community Ferment photo credit Sean Nash
Image by Sean Nash

Postponed: Exploring the Cultural Diversity of Sacramento Region Farms: Field Trip to Kelley Farms

  • May 23, 2020, 9:00 a.m.    
  • Departing from the Bowley Plant Sciences Teaching Facility
  • Sponsored by: Student Farm, Agricultural Sustainability Institute, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences
  • 2019 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

The Sacramento Valley, known for its rich soil, innovative farmers, and local food system is home to farmers who come from diverse backgrounds. This field trip series will explore four farms that play important roles in our regional food system: Yocha Dehe Wintun Nation's farm and ranch in the Capay Valley, 3 Sisters Gardens of Broderick in West Sacramento, Choi and Daughters Produce in Winters, and R Kelley Farms in Fremont. Registration required, space is limited.

Postponed: Northern California Innovative Cooking Competition

  • May 30, 2020, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.  
  • Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science
  • Sponsored by: Confucius Institute within Global Affairs at UC Davis

The Annual Innovative Cooking Competition is a fun opportunity for any amateur chef in the community to be inspired to create an original dish utilizing at least one Lee Kum Kee ingredient. Six finalists will cook their dishes on site for our judges, and are awarded cash prizes at the ensuing Gala Dinner event. Visit the Confucius Institute website for more Chinese food and beverage events.

Postponed: Unpacking the Plan: How Local Food Policy Impacts UC Davis Students

This event will introduce the Food and Economic Development Plan, a recent initiative to change food system policy in Davis. We will unpack the plan and policies with a critical eye toward assessing the potential policy impacts on students. We will learn about policy engagement at the local level and work as a group to communicate our findings to local leaders.

Postponed: Career Trek: Explore the Industry of Organic Dairy Production

This Career Trek will take undergraduate and graduate students to visit a local organic dairy producer to spend the day learning about the industry, touring a farm and processing facility, and networking with a variety of professionals in the field.  Undergraduate and graduate students are encouraged to participate.  Select alumni may be eligible.  Seating is limited. Registration will open early April 2020.

Canceled: An online interactive dashboard of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) data to enable data-driven policy decisions

  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

We use public datasets available from the USDA Food and Nutrition Service to create an online interactive website that provides up-to-date information related to the WIC program to policymakers and advocates, researchers, journalists, registered dietitians, students, and other interested general public. 

Plant for Health

  • Sponsored by: Department of Plant Sciences
  • 2020 Campus Global Theme Mini-Grant Recipient

Plants are essential to human health and the health of our planet. The “Plant for Health” project will introduce plant-related researches regarding plant nutritional quality taking place at UC Davis to the Davis community and broader public. These researches aim to improve human health through food crop improvements and help mitigate the effect of climate change on humans. The research stories will be published on a website.

More Information

This program complements the work of Global Education for All, an initiative to engage 100% of UC Davis students—undergraduate, graduate and professional—in global learning before graduation.