Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health
In the News
December 15, 2025
Households using more of the most popular WIC food benefits stay in the program longer, UW study finds
New research has found that households who redeem more of their benefits in the most popular food categories are more likely to remain in the program long-term. Assistant Professor Pia Chaparro is first author on the study published in JAMA Network Open. “Finding ways to identify kids and families that are at risk of dropping…
December 8, 2025
With community fridges, neighbors feed each other
FSNH faculty Marie Spiker will collaborate with UW Urban Freight Lab to improve safety and efficiency of hyperlocal food sharing via community fridges that are accessible 24 hours a day for the public to take and leave food. “Because they’re decentralized, it’s hard to know whether a micropantry is full or empty, or whether a…
October 31, 2025
Statewide effort to put more whole grains on shelves and plates gets $19 million boost
New statewide initiative to put more healthy, climate-friendly grains on people’s plates will include faculty from the Food Systems, Nutrition, and Health program as the project’s implementation science team including Jennifer Otten, Sarah Collier, and Marie Spiker. The FSNH team will examine how innovations in grain breeding and food product development can be successfully adopted…
October 13, 2025
Wait, Are Carbs Actually Awesome?
UW faculty member Adam Drewnowski is quoted in this article discussing perceptions about carbohydrate consumption, and helps clarify how to choose nutritionally optimal carbohydrates which can be beneficial to your diet and long term health.
September 29, 2025
Seattle to launch first connected network of community food micro-pantries
FSNH faculty member Marie Spiker is involved in this pilot research project that will retrofit existing micro-pantries in Seattle with sensors to create a “cyber-physical” network. The system will anonymously track pantry use, donation patterns, and food safety, giving communities real-time data to improve food distribution and reduce waste. The project also aims to strengthen…
September 9, 2025
Some refined grains are surprisingly nutritious
Adam Drewnowski’s work in a recent study published in Nutrients that combined diet records with health markers such as weight, waist size, insulin levels, and food costs to identify foods which not only improved health, but were affordable. Drewnowski said, “Our evaluation took whole grain content into account, along with fiber, vitamins and minerals. By…
August 11, 2025
USDA freezes UW project that turns Washington shellfish farmers’ seaweed problem into soil solution for land farmers
The Blue Carbon, Green Fields project was a multi-year collaboration between the UW, Baywater Shellfish, Puget Sound Restoration Fund, Washington Sea Grant, Washington State University, and farm business incubator Viva Farms, focused on removing more than 17,000 pounds of seaweed from shellfish beds and applying it to crops on four local farms. The U.S. Department…
May 19, 2025
UW project took nuisance seaweed from shellfish farm to help growers. The USDA cut its funding
Seaweed is a problem for shellfish growers. One UW project hopes to turn the nuisance seaweed, like this one at Baywater Shellfish in Hood Canal, into nutrients for farm soil. In its first year, the team harvested nearly 17,000 pounds of wet seaweed. Project Director Sarah Collier says there was so much interest that they…
May 16, 2025
Understanding your food’s expiration dates and preventing waste
Anne Lund, registered dietitian and director of the Graduate Coordinated Program in Dietetics at UW, speaks with KIRO TV about food expiration dates. Lund advises that the expiration date is only part of the puzzle and some foods may expire before or after the date because it comes down to how the food was handled.
April 29, 2025
Navigating unhealthy food culture on college campuses
Michelle Averill is interviewed by a first year UW student and offers advice for healthy eating choices as a busy college student. She offers advice to think ahead and identify which food feel the most nourishing to you. This article appears in a series contribution by Washington youth through The Seattle Times Student Voices project.
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