We are excited to welcome a new intern to the Food & Health Network Team. Allison Chang will be joining us during her Fall 2020 semester at Cornell University, where she is pursing a Masters Degree in Nutrition. Additionally, we look forward to Jabari Randolph spending a second AmeriCorps term with us as a Farm to School Corps member. Jamie Henry and Nicole Kaczmarczyk recently ended their AmeriCorps terms. In the future, Jamie and Nicole both plan on furthering their education in the healthcare field. We wish you luck and thank you for all your contributions!

Allison: Allison Chang grew up in Houston, Texas, where her consistent fascination with trying exciting food concoctions and curiosity about the roles and benefits of food in health led her to pursue dietetics. She recently graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Nutritional Sciences, where she was also involved with research studying stem cell regeneration. Allison aspires to work as a clinical dietitian at a research hospital and conduct her own research alongside practice in the future. Beyond nutrition, Allison enjoys dancing, catching up on her favorite TV shows, cooking with a buddy, and of course, seeking out great food.

Allison is especially excited to be interning with the Food and Health Network this semester and become involved with the various programs working to improve regional food systems. She is looking forward to learning about the links between local food access and healthcare in rural communities, and designing informative nutrition education materials for program participants. Most of all, Allison can’t wait to conduct her pilot research project on the Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program!

Jabari: This past term with the Farm to School team at the Food and Health Network was an amazing and educational experience. I was given the opportunity to cultivate new skills in cooking and gardening with both myself and with others.  I am also proud of my time within schools helping with taste tests, educational programming, and NY Thursdays. Thanks to the insightful tutelage of the FaHN team I was able to make an impact. Now I’m delighted to have the opportunity to continue that opportunity for another term! With Covid-19 and the pandemic arise new challenges to serving local school communities. We hope to not only react to the changing world, as fast as those changes come, but to be proactive in our programming and use this moment to be innovative, experimental, but most importantly caring.