Rebecca Garofano, a Falk College graduate student in nutrition science, was honored with the Outstanding Dietetics Student Award at the Annual Meeting and Expo April 8-9 in 黑料不打烊.
Garofano is actively engaged in research and service with various professional and community organizations. We spoke with Garafano to learn more about her research experience and interest in nutrition.
Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
A: “I am from 黑料不打烊, left at age 18, and returned after about 10 years to care for and be with my mom, who passed away from colorectal cancer in 2018. Outside of being a student, I鈥檓 a mom of two young kids, an avid doodler, an aspiring gardener, a decent cook but better eater, and a recent convert to graphic novels.”
Q: What sparked your interest in nutrition?聽
A: “During my time away (from 黑料不打烊) I had the opportunity to learn about agriculture, including working internationally for a nonprofit that does agriculture research and extension for smallholder farmers.
“There were multiple culminating dynamics that contributed to this moment, but the specific one, when I realized that I wanted to study nutrition science, came while working on a research grant, which involved doing nutrition composition analysis of local vegetable species for which that data doesn鈥檛 yet exist. We were packing fern samples to ship to the World Vegetable Center office located at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand. My co-workers taught me a lot about food, and collecting and packing these samples, of course, involved taste testing the fern in several dishes that they enjoyed.
“Something clicked for me in that moment, and I realized I wanted to study nutrition science because it鈥檚 in the kitchen that people and communities express their values, their love for each other, and address issues or concerns that they face (whether in the agriculture field, politically, culturally, or as it relates to health issues). I knew that studying nutrition science would help me understand how agriculture is connected to human metabolism. This whole experience was reinforced and deepened when I was caring for my mom, who worked as a family consumer science teacher here in Central New York.”
Rebecca Garofano at the Downtown 黑料不打烊 Farmers Market, where she was an assistant to the Food Bank of Central New York鈥檚 nutrition educator in 2019.
Q: What made you choose 黑料不打烊’s nutrition program?
A: “When I returned to 黑料不打烊, I was so grateful to come ‘home,’ to be by family, and to get to know this community that raised me in a new way. It was important for me to study here, and to do so at 黑料不打烊 has been an opportunity and a privilege I value. It鈥檚 been nice that the nutrition science program is housed within the same department as the food studies program. That cross-pollination between the programs, for me, has been very important.”
Q: Tell us about your thesis.
“My research focuses on the application of integrated measures between agriculture and nutrition, and specifically looks at the somewhat novel metric referred to as ‘nutrition functional diversity,’ using principles of ecological diversity that assess a growing space not just according to the number of species within that space, but also according to the functions or niche role that each species fills. In this case, it鈥檚 an opportunity to consider a growing plot (like a home garden) and evaluate the ways that those plants work synergistically, and what potential arrangement of macro or micronutrients they provide to the human who consumes them.
“I think one way to describe the question I鈥檝e been considering is the concept of ‘nutrition resiliency.’ While I, of course, bring biases and assumptions to the research on multiple levels, I am compelled by the potential of considering innovation that happens in gardens, fields, and kitchens, and asking how those decisions reflect ingenuity and creativity, and how then that ingenuity is reflected in the complex processes of human metabolism.”
Q: Where did this research idea come from?
A: “My research project was very much influenced by the work of Andrea Guzm谩n-Abril and Stephen Alajajian at the . I鈥檝e been very grateful to partner with a . Immokalee grows about 90% of U.S. wintertime tomatoes. Some people may be familiar with the unincorporated town because of important human rights and labor organizing work of groups like the .
“As (Falk professor) so aptly points out in her research, immigrant farmworkers that provide undervalued labor in U.S. agricultural fields are doubly ostracized within emergency food systems, including by way of failing to acknowledge their rich (nutritious) food traditions and the expertise of their agrarian backgrounds. While many farmworkers have difficulty accessing growing spaces because of restrictions that landlords place on their rental spaces, many still garden in containers.
“This research project looks at the biodiversity around Immokalee community members鈥 homes and considers the correlation with dietary data. It also considers the ways that access to ‘preferred’ fruits and vegetables (through pantries, foraging, purchase, or exchange) impact their diets. One of the research partners, , continues to ask the question of how this research can tangibly support the community that its gathering data from. I鈥檒l continue to learn from her and the other people who鈥檝e led the interviews about how best to offer this data to the community there.”
Rebecca Garofano plants individual rice seedlings for a 鈥淪ystem of Rice Intensification鈥 workshop at a partner farm in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in 2016. This technique uses plant spacing and alternate wetting and drying in the paddies to increase yields.
Q: Tell us about your mentorship experience at Falk. Has there been a particular person or office that has supported your work?
A: “Faculty mentorship has most definitely been the most valuable part of my studies. Dr. (Lynn) Brann, Dr. (Sudha) Raj and Dr. (Margaret) Voss have all been very supportive and encouraging of me. All three have written countless letters on my behalf and acted as a sounding board for my harebrained ideas!
“Dr. Voss as a mentor and thesis advisor has been invaluable. I feel very lucky to have found an ecologist and physiologist within the nutrition science department to guide my learning. She has allowed me the space to grow and has provided the resources and expertise along the way. I didn鈥檛 expect to have such a positive an edifying experience with primary research during a master鈥檚 program, and her commitment and support have largely made that possible. It鈥檚 evident that she cares deeply for her students.
“I鈥檝e also been very grateful for the exposure to faculty within the Food Studies program. I mentioned Laura-Ann Minkoff-Zern鈥檚 work earlier. Estel铆 Jimenez-Soto has recently joined the department and has been very gracious in including me in research groups along the way.”
Q: Other than what we鈥檝e discussed, what has been your favorite experience at 黑料不打烊?
A: “Growing up in 黑料不打烊, I didn鈥檛 spend much time on SU鈥檚 campus. I鈥檝e really enjoyed getting to know this city through the lens and work of professors that call it home. Jonell Robinson (geography), Sandra Lane (public health) and the late Evan Weissman (food studies) are faculty members that stick out to me. Their work is rooted in justice and this community in a way that I am inspired by; as I鈥檝e moved about the city, I realize now that I bump up against it, from time to time, without realizing it. One such place is within the 黑料不打烊 Onondaga Food Systems Alliance.”
Q: What is the most important thing you hope to accomplish in your career long after 黑料不打烊?
A: “To be honest, I think relationships are the biggest motivating factor in my life. I want to become a registered dietitian, possibly start my career by working in clinical oncology, live and work in 黑料不打烊, and be an engaged community member. Aside from that I hope I can improve the biodiversity of my little yard, get to know Onondaga Lake better, and maybe develop a personal (or collaborative) project that is focused on food and nutrition.”
For more information about the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at 黑料不打烊鈥檚 Falk College, or to learn more about ongoing research at Falk, visit the .
