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Food Science and Human Nutrition Department

Food Science and Human Nutrition Department

Student Involvement

  • FOOD SCIENCE AND HUMAN NUTRITION CLUB

    Though catered towards Food Science, Nutrition, and Dietetic majors, the Food Science and Human Nutrition Club at the University of Florida welcomes students of all backgrounds and interests to come share their love for food and education. Active members are given the opportunity to interact with faculty and staff within related departments and have access to a variety of volunteer, scholastic, and leadership opportunities throughout the UF community and beyond.

    The Club aims to serve the UF and Gainesville community through education of food science, dietetics, and nutritional sciences.

    Club Pillars

    Service

    • Serving as a resource for professional development of students
    • Serving the UF & Gainesville community through education of food science, dietetics, and nutritional sciences

    Education

    • Educating students and the University of Florida community on special topics within food science, dietetics, and nutrition
    • Educating the Gainesville community through healthy eating habits and food production

    Wellness

    • Enhancing the social well-being of students and community members though service and education 

    Typical Activities and Events:

    • Teaching nutrition to the Gainesville Science Club
    • Cooking for the patients of Winn Dixie Cancer Hope Lodge

       

      • Developing menus
      • Creating food labels
    • Competing in the Institute of Food Technologists competitions such as:

       

      • College Bowl
      • Product Development Competition

    Meets: Wednesdays at 5:15PM, location varying. 

     

     

     

    Follow the FSHN Club on Facebook.
    Follow the FSHN Club on Instagram.

    Contact the FSHN Club at foodsciencehumannutrition@gmail.com or by messaging any of the officers through Facebook.

    Advisors:
    Herschel Johnson
    Dr. Beth Gankofskie

    OFFICERS 2023-2024
    President: Taby Acosta
    VP of Food Science: Evelyn Neilson
    VP of Nutritional Science: Elise Turresson
    VP of Dietetics: Kasey Parks
    Treasurer: Olivia Keable
    Secretary: Leah Llobell
    Outreach Assistant: Sophia Weigel
    Culinary Coordinator: Marisa Mass
    Wellness Coordinator: Michelle Loew
    Social Media Chair: Eileen Liu

  • UF COLLEGE BOWL

    IFT College Bowl is an annual trivia event that fosters critical thinking, friendly competition, and collaboration that undergraduate and graduate students may participate in. Trivia can range from various topics related to the food science and human nutrition, such as physical sciences, engineering, IFT knowledge and more. Participants gain technical skills and experiences outside of the classroom. Joining College Bowl or any IFT-related event starts in the fall semester and continues throughout the year. 

    Please see the IFT College Bowl website for more information.

    The FSHN Club posts events and news from the College Bowl on social media:

    Contact the UF College Bowl at vpfoodscience.fshn@gmail.com 

    Advisor:

    Dr. Naim Montazeri

    2019-2020 Board:

    VP of Food Science: Elizabeth Tang

    Team Captain: Elizabeth Tang

 Related Organizations

  • CASU: CULINARY ARTS STUDENT UNION

    he purpose of CASU is to cultivate a community of food. We constantly foster and promote diversity via our organization's events and meetings. We showcase different cultures and highlight the link between food and community, all while bringing our members together. We also teach our members essential cooking skills that they will continue to use throughout their lives. Our executive board consists of 20 officers, and we try to have 1-2 events each month, totaling up to 8 events per semester. With smaller cooking classes where members can get more hands-on experience, the attendance can be anywhere from 30-40, due to the limited space of the pilot plant. However, with our GBMs, we have had 120 people attended in the past events.

    Throughout the semester, we hold a variety of events to teach students about food science, cultural experience, diversity, and nutrition. Our General Body Meeting (GBM) is a type of event that we will have at the beginning of each semester to introduce ourselves to the members. With the GBMs, we cook most of the food ourselves with the purpose of introducing and showcasing the cultural and historical aspects of the food to the members. Another type of event that we have is the cooking class. With these cooking classes, we teach students basic cooking techniques by demonstrating certain recipes with a theme in mind (the theme can be certain food from a region or food that are good for your brain/skin). This is a more hands-on event for students as they will cook all of the food by themselves with our help. In addition, we also hold a cooking competition every semester based off the show "Chopped". Students can test their creativity in making food and have fun with friends at this event. Another type of event that we have is conflict cafe, where we teach students about the food from a certain country and invite a speaker to talk about the current conflict that is happening in the region. Students can engage in discussion about the topic with one another and have more insights about the current news. 

    Follow CASU on Facebook.

    Contact CASU at casu.president@gmail.com or messaging through Facebook. 

    Advisor:

    Sharyn Passeretti

    2019-2020 EXECUTIVE BOARD:

    President: Trung Van

    FOOD SQUAD
    Team Leader: Claire Hendrick
    Daniel Reiter
    Robert Van Valkenberg
    David Ervin
    Gabby Gardunio
    Catherine Padilla
    Alexis Diaz

    LOGISTICS
    Team Leader: Linda Dillon
    Deepali Signh
    Arvind Shankar
    Gera Fisher
    Jawad Khan

    OUTREACH
    Team Leader: Nathan Campbell
    Franz Nartatez
    Andrew Le
    Khoi Vu

  • Food Recovery Network (FRN)

    The Food Recovery Network (FRN) was established to implement hunger relief programs for communities and to improve the sustainability of local restaurants, schools and other organizations that conduct food service. Here in Gainesville, FRN aims to provide sustainability and nutrition education to the community and to make a lasting impact on the reduction of food waste and food insecurity.Through food recoveries, donations, volunteering, and education, FRN persistently works to achieve a more sustainable, healthy, and aware Gainesville.

     What we do:

    Food Recoveries/Donations: One Step at a Time

        • Host community lunches/dinners with recovered food
        • Recover food from local farms/businesses/schools
        • Donate recovered food to local food banks and shelters

    Volunteer Work: Helping the Community

        • Gleaning (gathering extra leftover produce after harvest)
        • Food Pickups from donor businesses/farms/schools
        • Food Donation Drives
        • Gardening events at the Field & Fork Farm and Gardens

    Sustainability/Nutrition Education: Reinforcing our Commitment

        • Sustainable blog posts on our website
        • Informative social media posts
        • Volunteering at local elementary schools to teach nutrition topics
        • Tabeling on campus
        • Zoom webinars and general body meetings on food waste and sustainability

    Meets: Every other Tuesday at 6pm

    Follow FRN on Facebook
    Follow FRN on Instagram
    Subscribe to FRN's Website
    Email to Subscribe to FRN's Monthly Newsletter

    Contact FRN at frngainesville@gmail.com or by messaging any of the officers through Facebook.

    Advisor

    Dr. Beth Gankofskie

    Club Officers (2020-2021)

    Co-Presidents: Katie Capen & Izabella Smith

    Vice President: Zoe Lohse

    Treasurer: Anastasia Cashman

    Secretary: Sierra Woodruff

    Food Service & Outreach Coordinator: Yanissa Rodriguez

    Community Education Coordinator: Madison Borman

    Campus Education Coordinator: Na-Young Shin

    Greek Life Coordinator: Abhaya Dilip

  • Students Eat Right (SER)

    Students Eat Right (SER) is an organization for students to join with the goal of advocating for public health matters as they relate to the field of dietetics and human nutrition. Membership is welcome to all students and majors with an interest in advocacy, politics, and matters of human health on a local and national scale. SER provides an opportunity for students to learn more about legislation behind the dietetic profession and connect with Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics resources while hosting fundraisers, awareness events, and interactive meetings with current event discussions to enrich and educate students on campus.

     What we do:

        • GBMs range from discussing hot topics and misinformation in nutrition, bill tracking and legislative understanding, keeping up with current events in politics, and event planning

    Types of Events:

        • Fundraisers for a chosen advocacy issue in which donations will go towards research or directly to community resources as aid
        • Travel to/Attendance of conferences such as FNCE, Academy webinars, and political summits to promote engagement and networking within the field of dietetics
        • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion events on a semesterly basis to connect with campus life
        • Tabling to spread awareness and promote interaction with our chosen advocacy issue

    Meets: Every other Thursday at 6:00PM

    Follow SER on Instagram
    Email to subscribe to SER's biweekly newsletter

    Contact SER at studentseatrightuf@gmail.com or by messaging us on Instagram

    Advisors

    Dr. Beth Gankofskie, RD

    Kohrine Hazim, MS, RDN, LDN

    Club Officers (2023-2024)

    Co-Chairs: Rebecca Rohe & Rafaella Galvez

    Treasurer: Jonathan Stephens

    Secretary: Courtney Piltaver

    DEI Chair: Taby Acosta

    Social Media Chair: Veronica Candreva