The Food for Thought program at Indiana University received a grant from the US Dept of State’s Citizen Diplomacy Action Fund, which is implemented through Partners International. Food for Thought is a student-run group that focuses on food security, environmental stability, and global nutrition. They used the grant to help fund their free food box program designed to provide locally sourced ingredients that are built around a particular global cuisine (Mediterranean/Middle Eastern, East Asian, Latin American, and South Asian). And of course it came with a cookbook too!
(Photo: Food for Thought founders. L-R: Shreya Mapadath, Ethan Joss, Marria Peduto. Photo credit: Chris Meyer from news.iu.edu). The grant also went to support their Spring Symposium. This was a four-day virtual event held in the middle of April, which included a variety of speakers who are policy experts, community leaders, chefs, and academics. Discussions included creating low-cost meals and how SNAP benefits can help, the effects of global food insecurity, feeding people in crisis zones, the importance of Black-led grassroots food organizations, and creating food stability in local communities and colleges. There were also daily food demonstrations, highlighting Uyghur, Indigenous, and Burmese cuisines (I’m guessing that was the most popular part!).