Category: Food (Page 1 of 14)

Job Postings 6/20/23

Building Services Department Associate Director
The University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
Application deadline: open until filled

Climate Justice Community Organizer
Fairmount Indigo CDC Collaborative
Boston, MA
Application deadline: open until filled

Land Protection Specialist
Mass Audubon
Lincoln, MA/ Hybrid
Application deadline: open until filled

Boston Double Up Food Bucks Program Manager
 Office of Food Justice
Boston, MA
Application deadline: October 28

Zero Waste Outreach and Engagement Specialist 
Stanford University
Redwood City, CA/ hybrid
Application deadline: open until filled

Sustainability Compliance and Inspection Supervisor
Stanford University
Palo Alto, CA/ hybrid
Application deadline: July 6

Sustainable Eating At Tufts

August is Massachusetts Eat Local Month! There will be a number of events held throughout the state with partnering locations featuring local food.  On August 7th, there will also be a film screening of Forgotten Farms, a film about the New England dairy industry and regional food systems.

This month is a great opportunity to think about our local food system, and to find more ways to eat locally in your everyday life.

Eating local is a great way to help support the local economy and become more in tune with the seasons, the local region, and the particular ecosystems within which we live. In addition, eating locally helps you reduce the carbon footprint of your meal.

Ways to eat local

Farmers Markets

The Greater Boston area has a plethora of farmers markets during the region’s growing season, which spans from late May to November.

Find a farmers market near you by using this interactive map.

Join a CSA

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares are a great way to eat seasonally and try fruits and veggies that you might not see in a grocery store. Through a CSA, consumers can purchase their produce directly from farmers through a season-long share. Every week, members receive a box of sustainably-grown, seasonal produce.

Because CSA members purchase their share ahead of time, farmers are supported financially to purchase the supplies they need to grow crops.

New Entry Food Hub CSA, has a CSA pickup location on the Medford/Somerville campus, at the Latino Center. Pickup occurs every Tuesday.  New Entry, an initiative of Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, helps beginning, immigrant, and refugee farmers gain business and farm production skills and access to land, markets and other resources necessary to start a viable farm business.

Sign up for a fall share here.

Buy local at your grocery store

You can find local produce at many grocery stores. Next time you’re at your neighborhood grocery store, look out for the “local” label, and see if you can find produce from the surrounding region.

Sustainable Eating

Pair eating local food with some of our other tips below to be a sustainability superstar! (Click on the image to view the PDF with active links!)

Reusable Plates of Boston 2017

On Tuesday, June 6th, President Monaco hosted the second of three President’s Picnic at the Boston Campus. These annual zero-waste events bring together the Tufts community to celebrate another year of hard work. The zero waste initiative at each of these picnics encourages attendees to BYOP — Bring Your Own Place-setting — which reduces waste created from disposable dishes, cutlery, and cups.

Condiments and drinks were served in bulk, rather than individual packets, to further reduce packaging waste.

Recycling interns helped sort recycling and compost at special Zero Waste Stations.

Attendees who brought their own dishes could also win special, sustainable prizes! This year, the first fifty won a reusable paper towel.

Attendees did a fantastic job helping us keep this event zero-waste. We hope everyone enjoyed the great food and company and will continue these sustainable practices into the future!

Click for recaps from the Medford President’s Picnic and the Grafton Presidents Picnic.

A Tasty, Zero-Waste Celebration

It’s that time of year again! Tufts Catering fired up their grills and showed off their dessert-making chops (biscuits with berries and cream, anyone?) for the first of three year-end celebrations.

We were excited to see so many students, faculty, and staff attend one of Tufts University’s most delicious annual traditions–the President’s Picnic–on the Medford/Somerville Campus this past Wednesday. Find out when and where upcoming picnics will be taking place!

As a zero-waste event, the picnic only provides recyclable and compostable items. While recycling and composting are great for the environment, it’s even better to reduce and refuse. We encouraged everyone to bring their own reusable place setting and were so impressed with the number of people who participated in this year’s BYOP – Bring Your Own (reusable) Place-setting (plate, utensils, cup/water bottle) initiative. Click on the photos to see them full-size!

Families, students, staff, faculty, and even dogs came by the President’s Lawn to get together and celebrate the conclusion of yet another busy academic year.

A huge shout-out goes to Facilities for managing several waste stations to ensure all materials were properly recycled and composted!

Along with the zero-waste materials, we’ve worked with Catering to eliminate individually packaged condiments and drinks and switch to bulk methods.

Need some tips on how to be waste-free at the next event? Check out this helpful post. Happy picnicking!

Click for recaps from the Boston President’s Picnic and the Grafton Presidents Picnic.

Go to our Facebook album to see more photos from the picnic!

Tufts Student Studies Sustainability and Food Systems in Italy

PERUGIA, Italy — “So many people told me that the most important thing I could do at Tufts would be to study abroad. Tufts really focuses on intercultural communication and awareness,” said Alex Cherry from his seat at a café in the center of Perugia, Italy. Alex is pursuing a Dual Major in International Relations and Environmental Studies at Tufts University, though he is currently studying abroad through the Food & Sustainability Studies Program (FSSP) at the Umbra Institute, an American study abroad program in Italy.

At Tufts, Alex says that his educational background has had a focus on the science and policy of environmental studies, while at Umbra “the focus has been more on cultural identity and the contrasting ways that different societies produce and consume food.” Umbra’s FSSP is a curricular concentration that applies an interdisciplinary approach to the study of food and sustainability in order to discover how the individual, the community, and society relate to food in Italy, America, and elsewhere. As part of the program, Alex has taken courses in the history and culture of food, sustainability and food production, and the business of wine.

A key characteristic of the FSSP is that all courses include a series of co- and extra-curricular activities as a supplement to topics discussed in class. To develop a deep understanding of various food production processes, Alex has spent his semester cooking an antique Roman recipe in Florence; exploring an ancient pharmacy to learn about the medicinal characteristics of food; touring multiple, family-run, organic wineries and cheese producers; working in a synergistic garden; and visiting local farmers’ markets. He has also had the opportunity to go truffle- hunting in the hills of Umbria and discuss organic agriculture with Matteo Bartolini, a lobbyist for the European Agricultural Commission for Sustainable Agricultural Reform. When asked what he thought of the flurry of community engagement activities that filled his semester, Alex responded, “What’s the point of being a student? Why am I studying? It is so that I can be trained in a professional way so that I can go and do something for the community that I am a part of.”

In addition to his courses within the FSSP, Alex chose to compliment his semester studies with CESP 351: Fair Trade Practices: Seminar and Practicum. During the course’s practicum, Alex works in a local fair trade shop and assists with the advertisement of events that promote fair trade concepts to the locals of Perugia. He commented that the shop’s community is welcoming to volunteers of all backgrounds, including locals with mental or physical disabilities. “The whole ethos of what they do is making sure that everyone is getting what they deserve, to create a community space,” said Alex as he described how the fundamentals of fair trade translate into the shop’s community. During the seminar portion of the course, the class reviews the impact of fair trade on both local and global economies, the place for fair trade inside the global market, and the role of the World Fair Trade Organization. Readings and discussions offer comparative analysis of Italian and American perspectives on global markets and the complexities of communicating such a topic across cultures.

As he ended his conversation with Umbra staff, Alex explained that he feels it is important for students of an interdisciplinary field, such as food and environmental studies, to learn to have a well-rounded perspective that discounts neither science nor culture and history. He concluded saying, “I am really glad that I got to see both the Italian and American perspective [on food systems] at the same time and in the same place.”

About Food & Sustainability Studies at the Umbra Institute:

The Food & Sustainability Studies Program is an interdisciplinary curricular concentration at the Umbra Institute, an American study abroad program located in the central Italian city of Perugia. Often called a “big university town in a small Italian city,” Perugia is the ideal setting to study abroad in Italy, with fine arts, business, and liberal arts courses. For more information about the Umbra Institute or its Food & Sustainability Studies Program, contact the associate director of the Program, Zachary Nowak (znowak@umbra.org). You can also watch a short video describing studying at the Umbra Institute.

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