The focus of the article is the work of Tisch, former Vice Chair of TC’s Board of Trustees, in supporting food equity in New York City. The story notes that a few years ago, Tisch’s nonprofit, The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund, committed $15 million to that cause, making it “one of the largest donors in New York’s history to back this cause.” Part of that money funded creation of TC’s Tisch Food Center, which, the story notes, “produces research about just and sustainable food systems and what they mean for educators, advocates and policymakers.”

The Tisch Food Center, led by Executive Director Pamela Koch, is premised on the belief that that food and nutrition education has a crucial role to play in empowering people to understand and navigate the food system, as well as to become advocates for change on personal and policy levels. The Center focuses on three broad areas of research:

• Food Systems: exploring people’s conceptual understandings about sustainable food production and consumption
• Nutrition Education: developing and evaluting food and nutrition education curricula and interventions
• And Public Policy: investigating policies and practices that facilitate or hinder effective food and nutrition education implementation and reach.

Visit the Tisch Food Center at http://www.tc.columbia.edu/tisch/

Published Friday, Dec 9, 2016