IUFI Newsletter 14 September 2020

Covid rages; the west coast of the US is on fire; hurricanes batter the Caribbean and SE US; all of which only exacerbate existing racial inequalities. Canapés anyone? By the time we get to the presidential election – we will get there, right? – US Covid deaths may have topped 300,000. That’s a tenth of 1 per cent of the national population, so this isn’t the plague (or even malaria or Tb) but it’s about twice the annual US death toll from opioid abuse, gunshot wounds, and car crashes combined – sorry, the demographer in me takes over sometimes. And the canapés? That’s just to say that it is challenging right now to concentrate on scholarship and teaching (and on-line teaching at that). I hope you are all holding up. On the Food Institute front I can report that:

conversations are ongoing about how we can merge the Institute with the Sustainable Food Systems Science initiative and create a center that incorporates work and individuals from multiple schools on campus.
we are in conversation with CRRES (a model btw for a university-wide center) about a seminar series that may be called “Food and (anti-)Race(ism)” and that would bring together in conversation individuals from IU and from the wider Food community. I know it is already September and we are still in conversation, but this is the year of Covid (see above).
FED, the undergraduate Food Education group, is bravely marching on and held a virtual kick-off meeting (with some prizes). We are talking about producing some short videos on simple dishes students might prepare for themselves.
IU Dining is of course soldiering on in a difficult time. You can’t do food virtually. The current crisis may have set back some of our Real Food and sustainability goals but we still look forward to a future of unlimited swipe all you care to eat dining on reusable dishware, hopefully starting with the new McNutt dining hall next year.
The SustainIU Food Working Group is pretty much on hold (and intern-less) for the time being though we are exploring ways that we can continue to advance the sustainability and Real Food goals outlined in the previous point.
The Critical Food Studies Lab is back at work on a series of projects ranging from institutional food purchasing to food policy to an anti-racism food research agenda.
The Campus Farm has a new tractor! It is also donating to the Campus Kitchen.
The Campus Kitchen is organizing a CSA-type distribution (of that Campus Farm produce) from the Crimson Cupboard.

Doubtless there are other things one might mention. A report on research and outreach linked to the SFSS will be coming out soon.

Enjoy the canapés,

Carl Ipsen
Professor of History
Director, IU Food Institute
cipsen@iu.edu
14 September 2020