Nutrition

If you’re pregnant, you may want to think twice before making a hamburger run or reaching for a prepackaged pastry, according to research published last month in the journal Environmental International. 

In the early days of March 2020, Seattle-based anti-hunger nonprofit Northwest Harvest raided their food stores meant for as late as July to create boxes of shelf-stable food for vulnerable populations sheltering in place. Meanwhile, in every corner of the state, consumer habits were shifting.

Affording food is such a challenge in Washington state that residents who experience food insecurity say their grocery bills are their biggest source of financial stress, more so than paying for rent or utilities.

Jennifer Otten, a faculty member and food systems scholar in the UW School of Public Health, has been appointed to the Washington State Food Policy Forum. The cross-sector group was formed by the Washington State Legislature in 2016 to make recommendations for improving food systems in the state.

DEOHS Associate Professor Jennifer Otten When the global food system is thrown into crisis—from pandemic, war or drought—often the first concern is the economic fallout.

DEOHS Assistant Teaching Professor Emily Hovis. Two teams of researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and their partners have been

Panel on sustainability in coffee and tea industries Attend a free panel discussion on current developments in the coffee and tea industries focused on creating just and sustainable supply chains that benefit people and the environment. Brewing Sustainability in the Coffee and Tea Industries May 18, 2022, 12:30 - 1:30 pm

Two international research projects co-led by researchers in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) were recently awarded Tier I pilot grants from the UW Population Health Initiative (PHI). The grants support researchers in laying an interdisciplinary foundation for a future project to generate proof of concept.

As the COVID-19 pandemic created economic hardship and food insecurity for many families, a key governmental program for nutritional support pivoted to offer remote services and more flexible food options.

Last year, the University of Washington Population Health Initiative awarded COVID-19 population health equity research grants to three projects involving partnerships between UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and community leaders.

About 30% of households in Washington state experienced food insecurity last summer, according to a survey by researchers at the University of Washington and their partners at Washington State University and Tacoma Community College.

In the U.S., we each waste about a pound of food each day. Our own choices contribute to the pileup, combined with a system that promotes wasteful decisions, according to a new report from UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) Associate Professor Jennifer Otten and collaborators.

The University of Washington Population Health Initiative has awarded COVID-19 population health equity research grants to three projects involving partnerships between UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) and community leaders.

Fishing for fun, food and cultural connection is a way of life in the Pacific Northwest. View the videos

When Michael Rosenfeld started college, he planned to become a labor historian. But his cell biology professor at Grinnell College turned him on to science.

This spring, the first group of undergraduates to complete the UW Nutritional Sciences Program’s Food Systems, Nutrition and Health major are taking the knowledge they’ve acquired and applying it to help their communities.

The University of Washington Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences (DEOHS) was recently awarded funding for four new projects to address the health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Ensuring that all people have access to healthy food is a challenge in the best of times, but it has become even more daunting during the current pandemic.

Child-care providers play an important role in the development and health of about 10 million young children enrolled in early child care centers in the United States. They teach kids how to care for themselves by keeping good hygiene, eating healthfully, moving their bodies and navigating new emotions and social spaces. But what about the well-being of the teachers themselves?

Before she was a food systems and sustainability expert, Yona Sipos was a video jockey for MTV Canada. Between interviews with celebrities like Avril Lavigne and music videos for Outkast's Hey Ya!, Sipos talked to her teenage audience about science—everything from how to plant an urban garden to cool science experiments to do at home.

As a philosophy-student-turned-fishmonger, Zach Koehn often heard his customers talking about how healthy fish is—and how expensive it can be. Yet Koehn knew cheap fish were available. Some groups, including the Monterey, CA, fish company where he worked, were even connecting inexpensive surplus fish with low-income populations that could benefit from it.

Dr Chan is a Professor and Research Chair in Toxicology and Environmental Health at the University of Ottawa in Canada.

What would it look like to equitably nourish a growing global population? More importantly, how do we get there – which inputs have more leverage within complex systems, and what evidence do decision-makers need in order to support public health? Dr.

Emily Hovis is an Assistant Teaching Professor in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences.

Dr. Sarah Collier is an Assistant Professor in Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences and core faculty in food systems, nutrition, and health within the Nutritional Sciences Program.

Dr. Kathi Lefebvre is a research biologist at NOAA's Northwest Fisheries Science Center. She is also an Affiliate Associate Professor in the UW Department of Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences.

Dr. Grace Lasker is Teaching Professor with the Nursing & Health Studies department at the University of Washington Bothell. She was formerly tenured faculty and director of the BS in Public Health at Lake Washington Institute of Technology, where she taught courses in environmental health, epidemiology, nutrition, cellular biology and chemistry.