By Michelle Hines, University Relations
Contact: 336-334-5371
Posted 4-11-11
GREENSBORO, NC – UNCG professors Marianne LeGreco and Susan Andreatta are pioneering a fresh idea among universities. This fall, they will launch a year-long Food Policy Think Tank for students.
The think tank, a course administered through UNCG’s Lloyd International Honors College, is the cross-disciplinary brainchild of LeGreco, a communication studies professor, and Andreatta, an anthropology professor.
Coursework will include collaboration with local food policy activists and other community partners. Students will serve at community events in addition to attending regular class meetings.
Andreatta says UNCG is on the front end of a new bandwagon of learning related to food policy, along with other institutions such as Utah State and Marylhurst University in Oregon. She wants the course to result in a panel discussion on forum on food policy. She would also like to see students present their findings at the Spring 2012 conference of the Society for Applied Anthropology.
“A think tank that focuses on food policy has the potential to serve both students and the community in a lot of key ways,” LeGreco says. “For starters, it gives different types of people a chance to dialogue with each other about what and how we eat. Food is something that we make decisions about every day, and this think tank will match UNCG students with organizations like the Guilford County Public Health Department and Urban Harvest to analyze the implications of those choices.
“Also, I believe that the Food Policy Think Tank will help facilitate a sort of web or network that brings a variety of stakeholders together. There are some really interesting food conversations going on in Greensboro right now, and we need to do a better job of coordinating our interests and integrating our efforts.”
LeGreco has done extensive research on policy and health communication, working with school meal programs in Arizona and community food programs in North Carolina to examine how food policy and nutrition promotion are translated into meaningful health practices. She published her most recent work on food policy in the March 2011 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.
Andreatta, who has worked with North Carolina fisherman and area farmers to help them thrive, says the Think Tank will evolve organically. “We’ll do a needs assessment, looking at what needs to be done locally with respect to food policy. We’ll be doing something meaningful as we collect information.”
The course is open to 20 students. Students don’t have to be part of the honors college, but they must have a GPA of at least 3.0 as well as references. The program is aimed at undergraduates, but graduate students may be accepted with special permission.
“I've always been intrigued by the idea of a think tank,” LeGreco says. “The opportunity to bring together some very creative and innovative people whose primary purpose is to generate new ideas is very rare. That's why I think it's important for universities like UNCG to create spaces where students can work with community members to tackle very real and significant problems.
“Not only does a think tank help students develop critical thinking and lifelong learning skills, it provides all of us with a high impact experience that can lead to very meaningful changes for our community.”
The College of Arts and Sciences and MERGE, a network within the college to encourage cross disclipinary efforts across the curriculum, are co-sponosring the think tank project.
