Student Council Student Group Update

by Michelle Borges

The Friedman Student Council began this semester by reviewing funding requests from Friedman student groups. Each semester, the council receives funding from the Friedman School and raises additional funds to support student group activities and to plan other events that bring the Friedman community together.

Below are several events to look forward to this semester. All students are welcome to participate in any of the events—no prior knowledge or skills are expected. Keep an eye on your email accounts for more information about these events and how to get more involved. As always, if you have any feedback for the council, especially with respect to the best way to communicate events and information, don’t hesitate to email us with your comments or questions at friedmanstudentcouncil@tufts.edu.

Newtrition

Newtrition will continue its TED Talk-style conversations with Editions IV and V. The purpose of this newly formed student group is to communicate and discuss new ideas and thoughts in nutrition and health that are going to be relevant both now and long into our respective futures after Friedman. Students will also gain the opportunity to develop their public speaking and communication skills. Students are encouraged to present exciting ideas that may even be outside of their own academic discipline.

For more information, contact Kenny at Kenneth.Westerman@tufts.edu or Kurtis at Kurtis.Morrish@tufts.edu

Friedman Garden

The Friedman Garden is a place where students can go to relax, relieve stress, gain or sharpen gardening skills, and reap the benefits of eating the produce they grow right in the Jaharis building’s backyard. To support the garden, the student group will be organizing a Garden Clean Up Day and a Spring Planting Day.  Participating in the planting day will increase awareness of the Friedman Garden and offer students a chance to dig around in the dirt. This is a wonderful chance for people who enjoy gardening but whose homes do not allow it. There will also be opportunities to work in the garden over the summer, so this is a great activity for students who plan to spend their summer in Boston. There are also tentative plans to make produce donations to a local food pantry.

To become more involved with the Friedman Garden, contact Claire at Claire.Mance@tufts.edu

Friedman Justice League

The Friedman Justice League (FJL) seeks to make the Friedman community more diverse and find ways to allow the Friedman Community to better address issues of discrimination and oppression through its teachings, research, and programs. FJL is preparing to host a few discussion groups, a screening of the documentary, Can You Dig This, and a Toxic Tour. Can You Dig This covers urban agriculture, community empowerment, and the potential of food to transform individuals and communities. The Toxic Tour will take place in a low-income community in Roxbury that has a history of environmental racism, including toxic dumping and extensive brownfields; as well as discrimination through redlining and predatory lending. Through a network of partnerships, community engagement, a successful land trust, and urban agriculture, the Dudley neighborhood has been able to remediate, stabilize, and reclaim the community, leveraging urban agriculture as a key means towards the well-being of residents.

For more information, visit https://friedmanjusticeleagueblog.wordpress.com or email friedmanjusticeleague@gmail.com or Rebecca at Rebecca.Harnik@tufts.edu

Slow Food Tufts

Slow Food Tufts aims to be an active player in agriculture, ecology, and local cuisine while linking pleasure and food with awareness and responsibility. Slow Food Tufts is organizing a Taza Chocolate Tour, Harpoon Brewery Tour, a community brew-off, and skill-share workshops led by your fellow Friedman students. Taza Chocolate is a “Mexican-inspired stoneground, organic chocolate manufacturer” based in Somerville, MA. The purpose of the tour is to learn about about chocolate production and tour a successful local business that is aligned with the Slow Food mission statement of promoting and sharing food cultures. Harpoon Brewery is another local business. On the tour, students will have the opportunity to learn about the brewing process and, of course, enjoy tastings along the way. The annual community brew-off event brings together students from the Tufts Friedman School Slow Food group and The Fletcher School to highlight brewer talent, socialize, and learn to critically taste different beverages. Brewer winners will be chosen in various categories.

For more information, contact Carla at Carla.Curle@tufts.edu or Carly at Carly.Hall@tufts.edu  

Friedman Business Link

Friedman Business Link is hosting a panel discussion on innovation and technology in food and agriculture. The event will expose students to the overlap of food, nutrition, health, and agriculture in the tech industry, focusing on new approaches to chronic challenges in the fields and new markets emerging through innovation in the tech sector.

For more information, contact Lauren at Lauren.Beatty@tufts.edu

Jumbo’s Kitchen

Jumbo’s Kitchen provides basic cooking skills and nutrition lessons to children at the Josiah Quincy Elementary School in partnership with the Red Oak After School Program and by the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center, Inc. Lessons take place on Friday afternoons.

For more information about how to get involved, contact JumbosKitchen@gmail.com.

Dig In! Nutrition Education

The Friedman Student Council also continues to support Dig In! Nutrition Education (DINE), a student group that has led the Quincy School Garden program for nearly a decade. The program allows Friedman students to engage with local third graders and talk about issues that are relevant to the topics discussed throughout their coursework.

For more information, contact Carolyn at Carolyn.Panzarella@tufts.edu or Rebecca at Rebecca.Harnik@tufts.edu

The Friedman Sprout

Last, but not least, the Friedman Student Council helps support The Friedman Sprout, our student-run online newspaper. Be sure to always check out the Sprout to keep up with student writing.  

For more information, contact Matt at Matthew.Moore@tufts.edu, or Katherine Pett at k.docimo@gmail.com .