Athens, Ga. – Caree Cotwright, an assistant professor of foods nutrition at the University of Georgia, will speak about nutrition and childhood obesity at the Athens Science Café meeting on Oct. 22 at 7 p.m. in the cafeteria of Chase Street Elementary School. The event is free and open to the public.
Cotwright, a faculty member in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences, will give a short introductory talk before leading an informal discussion among participants about nutrition and innovative interventions to combat the problem of childhood obesity. Healthy snacks will be provided by Heirloom Café and Fresh Market.
The event is held in conjunction with the exhibition “Food, Power, and Politics: The Story of School Lunch,” on display at the UGA Richard B. Russell Building Special Collections Libraries until May 15. The exhibition, presented by the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies, examines the complicated history of the National School Lunch Program.
Science cafés are informal meetings commonly held in coffee shops, pubs or community centers where attendees have an opportunity to learn from and interact with a scientist. Unlike traditional lectures, science cafés involve more open discussion and debate among the audience.
For this event, organizers of the Athens Science Café decided to branch out from their traditional downtown venues.
“While we typically hold our cafés at bars and coffeehouses, we welcome the occasional opportunity to develop community partnerships,” said Stephanie Pearl, a postdoctoral researcher at UGA and co-organizer of the café. “Athens Science Café is excited about partnering with the Richard B. Russell Library for Political Research and Studies and the Clarke County School District for this edition of the café.”
“It seemed only fitting that a discussion about childhood nutrition should take place in one of our local schools,” said lead curator Jan Levinson.
For more information about this event see the Athens Science Café website at http://athenssciencecafe.wordpress.com or follow @AthSciCafe on Twitter. For more information about the new exhibit “Food, Power, and Politics: The Story of School Lunch,” see the Russell Library’s website at http://www.libs.uga.edu/russell or follow @RussellLibrary on Twitter.