Uncovering the treasure of Food knowledge in UC Davis, California
Keeping up with the pace of the Global Mission team, can be pleasantly challenging. It can be overwhelming, in a good way, to capture every exciting details of the Global mission. The team arrived to San Francisco airport with the same unbridled enthusiasm they had when they left Reggio Emilia. While waiting at the airport, the floor was their co-working space!
As the amazement continues to unfold for those seemingly tireless adventurers who seek knowledge and insights about food innovation — California is a cave of treasures!
UC Davis was their first stop, indisputably the top university when it comes to food and agriculture. Back in Reggio Emilia during the fall semester, Professor Matthew Lange gave the team a hands on lesson using concept mapping tools to visualize concepts within a certain domain and establish connections between them. This powerful yet simple method allows the users to process huge amounts of data and make sense out of them. As each student in the team has a research challenge, Professor Lange helped the students visualize their challenges using the same tool, after a refresher lecture on the concept of the Internet of Food. This way the students got to see their own work from a different angle and start asking new questions and seek answers for them.
The students also met Professor Bruce German, director of Foods for health Institute. The research work conducted in his laboratory focuses on the relationship between food and delivering health using milk as a model for the perfect food.
The next stop was the Sensory Lab with Dr. Daniela Barile, who also came to Reggio Emilia during the fall semester, with Professor Jean Xavier Guinard, the Executive Director for the UC Education Abroad Program whose research work focuses on the sensory properties of foods and beverages, and further investigates how these properties influence food choices and consumer behaviour.
What could be the most effective way to raise awareness about the ecological function of honey bees? Tasting honey from across America, at the Robert Mondavi Sensory theatre is one of those experiences that left an indelible impression as the students experienced the floral notes from a range of biodiverse landscapes.
Later they had lots of fun making ice-cream from Lambrusco wine, and apple balsamic vinegar (Balsamela). At the end of the day the students had an olive oil tasting with Hoby Wedler, who is a sensory expert and a wine educator.
There is more to California that is not all easy to capture…but if you want to keep up with their pace, check us out on social media using this hashtag #FIGM17.
More soon….
