TINA FEY AND AMY POEHLER. PIERRE AND MARIE CURIE. STEVE JOBS AND STEVE WOZNIAK.
Sometimes the most amazing work comes from those who are willing to team up with others. In a world where the problems we face are increasingly complex, from climate change to stamping out vexing diseases, collaboration may help us find better answers. Bringing many perspectives to big problems leads to better and more creative solutions. At Colgate, professors are pairing up across departments to solve thorny environmental problems. They’re partnering with companies that can take great educational ideas from one campus to dozens. And they’re dreaming up the next big thing with funds that turn “wouldn’t it be cool if…” conversations into reality. In the pages that follow, we share some of the ways that Colgate professors are joining forces.
The hidden side of all we eat Food brings people together. At Colgate, that truth is about more than the simple draw of a great meal. This past summer, with the help of the Kallgren Fund (see pg. 29), eight professors traveled to several Midwestern cities to study food, community, and culture. Their target destinations? Local farmers’ markets and international agriculture companies, hunger-relief organizations and top-notch restaurants. When they returned, we asked them to share the highlights.
W H A T M A D E Y O U WA N T T O G O O N T H I S T R I P ? Chris Henke (sociology): I wanted to learn about new food groups and movements in U.S. cities. I’ve read about the rise of food justice — the idea that communities should be able to grow, sell, and eat healthy foods — in urban contexts, but hadn’t talked to people in these organizations. April Baptiste (environmental studies): I was hoping to get a better understanding of GMOs, the role of urban farms, and the spaces that were experiencing food injustices. I was also interested in the agricultural tech side of food and wanted to learn about Monsanto firsthand.
Ben Anderson (economics): I was interested in gaining insight into the practical challenges and difficulties facing urban farmers as well as those working to resolve hunger issues in Midwestern cities. Mark Stern (educational studies): I have an interest in gentrification and urban development. I had a hunch that farmers’ markets and foodie restaurants were a part of this narrative. I also wanted to know why I can’t not binge watch Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives whenever it’s on, despite sort of hating it.
SHARE A MEMORABLE MOMENT WITH US. Robert Nemes (history): The conversations we had with bakers, farmers, chefs, and others. For instance, we had a great talk with a bread maker in Detroit, who told us about how long it had taken him to master this craft. Now he can make dozens of different breads and was playing with ingredients (including Michigan beers) to create even more. Antonio Barrera (history and Africana and Latin American studies): One larger highlight was seeing the differences between African Americans, Latinos, and whites working in farms, gardens, farmers’ markets, and restaurants. Their respective histories of slavery, dispossession, immigration, and privilege position each one of them in particular ways. Their histories provide them with different political, social, and cultural agendas. It is not that I did not know this before, but rather that this trip made it real.
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