Category Archives: News and Events

APA Planners Training Service Announces Workshops

The American Planning Association’s Planners Training Service (PTS) will be offering three new workshops on current topics in planning during their November event in Washington, DC.  Workshops will run from November 10-15 and will focus on Community Food Systems Planning, Transportation Innovations in Biking and Parking, and Suburban Redevelopment.  Dr. Samina Raja, of the Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab, will be presenting with Kara Martin, AICP, on advanced planning and policy techniques for launching and strengthening food systems.  The two day workshop earns AICP members 14 credits and will focus on using community food systems planning  to promote pubic health, economic development, and quality of life.

 

Walk to School Day in Sweet Home School District

The Safe Routes to School Project, coordinated by Travis Norton of the UB Food Lab, recently launched a successful Walk to School Day in Sweet Home School District.  Part of a larger national campaign to improve infrastructure around schools to encourage students to walk and bike to school, the event took place at several elementary schools in Amherst on October 8th.  Read more about the event featured in the Buffalo News.

‘Rust Belt Radicals’ Paper featured on UB News Center

Dr. Samina Raja’s newly published paper, ‘Rust Belt Radicals’, was recently featured in the UB News Center.  The article features an interview with Dr. Raja discussing how Buffalo, one of the country’s most impoverished cities, became a leader in urban agriculture.  Through the work of many activists focusing on engaging policymakers and amending local laws, Buffalo has made extraordinary strides in the past decade.  Read the full article here and find out about seven ways to get food noticed in your city.

 

Faith and Hunger Conference

Food For All and the Network of Religious Communities are hosting the Faith and Hunger Conference on Thursday, November 6th at 5:30, at St. Gregory the Great Parish.  The presentation will focus on how the Roman Catholic, Ahmadiyya Muslim, and Jewish communities have responded to hunger in their communities.

Dr. Dennis Castillo from Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, will be the keynote speaking on the Catholic Church’s response to hunger from a global and local perspective.  Dr. Nasir Khan will speak from the Ahmadiyya Muslim perspective.

There will be time allotted for questions.

Space is limited.  Those who wish to attend need to RSVP to Kelly Kowalski of the Network of Religious Communities at KellyAnnKK@aol.com or (716) 882-7705.

The event will be held in the Gathering Room of St. Gregory the Great Parish located at 200 St. Gregory Court, Williamsville, NY 14221.

 

 

Two Food Lab Papers Published

The Food Lab is pleased to announce two members of the lab were published this fall.

Dr. Samina Raja’s paper, “Rustbelt Radicalism: A Decade of Food Systems Planning Practice in Buffalo, New York” has been published in the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development.

Dr. Solhyon Baek’s paper, “Park Design and Children’s Active Play : A Micro-Scale Spatial Analysis of Intensity of Play in Olmsted’s Delaware Park” was published in Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design.

We congratulate both researchers and encourage you to read and share the articles.

David W. Wolfe, Ph.D., keynote speaker, presents Climate Change and the Future of Food on October 10th, 2014 at UB.

The Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab presents Climate Change and the Future of Food on Friday, October 10th at 2pm in 114 Wende Hall on UB’s South Campus.

Dr. David W. Wolfe is Professor of Plant and Soil Ecology in the Department of Horticulture at Cornell University, and a leading authority on climate change impacts on natural ecosystems and food security. He has co-authored several influential reports for policy-makers, such as the 2014 National Climate Assessment sponsored by the U.S. Global Change Research Program. He currently leads a $5 M USDA project focused on new tools for greenhouse gas management in agroecosystems, and contributes to several soil conservation and climate change adaptation projects in the Ethiopia, Malawi, and Tanzania.  At Cornell he teaches “Climate Change and the Future of Food” and chairs the Atkinson Center Climate Change Focus Group.  He has been featured on National Public Radio and other news media outlets, and is author of the award-winning book on soil ecology for general audiences, Tales From the Underground: A Natural History of Subterranean Life.

Following the presentation, a facilitated Q & A session will take place.  Please direct questions to Subhashni Raj at subhashn@buffalo.edu

DavidWolfeFlyer2014OCT10

Read more about Dr. Wolfe here: www.hort.cornell.edu/wolfe; www.climatechange.cornell.edu; http://soilhealth.cals.cornell.edu; www.nyserda.ny.gov/climaid

NY State Council on Food Policy Visiting Buffalo

The New York State Council on Food Policy will be hosting its annual summer meeting and listening session Wednesday, July 23 in Council Chambers at Buffalo City Hall. “Farm, Food and Policy: Getting it Right in New York State” will include a presentation by the newly formed Buffalo and Erie County Food Policy Council, the Food Justice Working Group of One Region Forward, and the Growing Food Connections Project.  The session will run from 10am to 4:30pm and is open to the pubic.  More information on the event can be found here. 

Travis Norton Honored with Two Awards at MUP Graduation

Travis Norton, a Research Project Coordinator at the Food Lab, was recently honored with two awards at University of Buffalo’s Masters of Urban Planning graduation.  The Western New York Division of the American Institute of Certified Planners recognized Travis with the AICP Excellence Award for having the highest promise for professional excellence.  Additionally, the University of Buffalo School of Architecture and Planning also honored Travis with the Academic Excellence Award for having the highest GPA in the program.

Much of Travis’ work focuses on transportation issues.  His interests lie in the linkages between the built environment and human behavior, including the connections between transportation systems, health, and sustainability.  He is currently managing the Food Lab’s Safe Routes to School Program with Sweet Home Central School District and has been instrumental in the creation of Growing Together, part of One Region Forward, a report on creating sustainable food access and justice for Erie and Niagara Counties.

June 23, 2014

Food Lab’s Will Becker Featured in B/a+p Spring Magazine

Will Becker, a dual Master of Architecture and Master of Urban Planning candidate, was recently featured in B/a+p Spring Magazine’s Student Profile.  A research assistant in the Food Systems Planning and Healthy Communities Lab, he is part of the Growing Food Connections Project.  His work focuses on documenting practices in GFC’s “Communities of Innovation“.  His design focus brings a fresh approach to the Food Lab.

Read the full article to learn more about Will’s work both in the lab and in the School of Architecture and Planning.