A food systems approach to improving sustainable diets globally

This event is supported by the CALS Office for Diversity and Inclusion and is part of the CALS Dean’s Inclusive Excellence Seminar Series, which highlights academic excellence through inclusive science and creates a platform for extended discussions on how our science can and should be transformative in leading to best practices and policies that support social, economic, environmental and climate justice.

The CALS Dean’s Inclusive Excellence Seminar Series and the Department of Global Development present: A conversation with Shauna Downs, Ph.D.

Talk Abstract:

Poor quality diets are among the top contributors to the global burden of disease. At the same time, food production and consumption practices have placed greater stress on ecosystems than any other human activity. There is a clear need to reorient food systems towards the production and consumption of sustainable diets in order to improve both human and planetary health. This talk will focus on three main areas of research aimed at providing solutions to increase the availability, affordability, and acceptability of healthy foods produced by sustainable food systems. These include: 1) examining food environments and their influence on sustainable diets; 2) examining the links among climate, food systems, diets and nutrition; and 3) the design, impact and implementation of interventions aimed at increasing consumption of healthy and sustainable diets.

Speaker Bio:

Shauna Downs, PhD, MS is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urban-Global Public Health at Rutgers School of Public Health. Her research focuses on three main areas: 1) the design, impact and implementation of interventions aimed at promoting sustainable diets; 2) measuring food environments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) and their influence on sustainable diets; and 3) examining the links among climate, food systems, diets and nutrition. She conducts research in India, Senegal, Myanmar, Kenya, Canada and the US using mixed-methods approaches. Prior to coming to Rutgers, Shauna was a Hecht-Levi Fellow with the Global Food Ethics and Policy Program at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics and an Earth Institute Fellow at Columbia University. Shauna received her PhD in Public Health from the Menzies Centre for Health Policy at the University of Sydney and has a Master’s of Science in Nutrition from the University of Alberta, Canada.

Zoom link:

https://cornell.zoom.us/j/92309655476?pwd=ZDRwcExITTdUWWpZWXpRQTJHaUFIZz09&from=addon