Students to explore ethics of eating

For six weeks this semester, Syracuse University students will have the opportunity to explore what the food they consume means and how the world relates to one’s diet through the “Ethics of Eating” seminar. The series of dialogues and dinners will investigate who we are through what we eat.

The dinners will be held on six consecutive Mondays, Sept. 19-Oct. 24, from 6:30-8 p.m., and doors open for dinner at 6 p.m. The seminar is open to students, faculty and staff in the SU community. Dinners are free, but space is limited. Participants must register in advance by the previous Thursday by emailing caroline.e.savage@gmail.com. More information can be found at http://ethicsofeatingconference.wordpress.com or on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Ethics-of-Eating/231143503599076.

Hosted by students, faculty and staff, the conference will consist of six dinners investigating five topics—ecology, ethics, psychology, sociology and spirituality—and a cooking workshop, which will provide participants with the opportunity to put their newfound eating expertise into action and share the benefits of their cultured cuisine with others.

At each meal, a local connoisseur or panel will give a short presentation about that day’s topic and how it relates to the dinner. It will be followed by open discussion and questions in smaller groups, providing participants with the opportunity to network with others concerned about these issues and build solutions for the food future.

Syracuse University is participating this year in the Presidential Interfaith and Community Service Challenge, which is designed to strengthen interfaith and multicultural bonds in the United States. This initiative calls for students on campuses around the country, from all faiths and backgrounds, to engage in dialogue and take action to improve their communities. The Ethics of Eating seminar is one of several educational and action projects planned this year at SU around the issue of hunger.

The dates, themes and locations for the Ethics of Eating seminars are as follows:

• Sept. 19—Socio-Cultural, Schine 304 A, B and C
• Sept. 26—Ecological—Schine 304 A, B and C
• Oct. 3—Mind/Body—Kilian Room, 500 Hall of Languages
• Oct. 10—Cooking Workshop—Lyman Café
• Oct. 17—Spiritual—Schine 304 A, B and C
• Oct. 24—Ethical—Schine 304 A, B and C

The Sept. 19 panel will include:

• Michelle Molloy, a graduate landscape architecture student at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) with an interest in food system studies. Molloy worked this past summer as a community geography research assistant, researching disparity in access to fresh produce in Syracuse and studying food justice issues. She will talk about this research, especially as it has to do with Syracuse.
• Michele Jordan, coordinator of the Interreligious Food Consortium of CNY, will talk about what the IFC is doing in regard to food justice issues, and how students can get involved.
• Douglas Anderson, regional director for Church World Service and director of CROP Walk for this region, will talk about the CROP Walk and global hunger. CROP walk has been adopted as a next project by the SU students involved with the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Challenge; see http://hendricks.syr.edu/programs/presidents-challenge.html for more information.
• Amber Coon, SUNY-ESF student and member of the Syracuse Animal Rights Organization, will discuss how vegan/vegetarian eating contributes to solving the local and global food shortage.

The Ethics in Eating seminar is sponsored by Hendricks Chapel, Healthy Monday, LiveU, NYPIRG, the Student Buddhist Association, the Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition and the Syracuse Animal Rights Organization.