Drexel Food Lab

“Food isn’t waste until we waste it" Transforming what would become food waste into something delicious- that's the power of upcycling! https://lnkd.in/e9AY8hCA

Thank you Drexel Food Lab and Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., CHE, CRC for inviting David Perry and me to speak at the Philly Chef Conference last week. It was just incredible to get to chat with so many amazing chefs and other talented innovators in the Phlilly food community!

As I wrap up my food service rotation at the Drexel Food Lab, I had the incredible opportunity to participate in the Philly Chef Conference. It was an amazing experience where I connected with talented chefs and learned about their journeys, innovations, and products. Throughout this rotation, I've gained invaluable knowledge and skills that I will carry with me as I continue my path toward becoming a registered dietitian. A huge thank you to Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., CHE, CRC, Rachel Sherman, and Alessandra Mora for being phenomenal mentors during these 8 weeks. From prepping, cooking, and serving meals for large-scale events like the community Dornsife Dinner to ensuring food safety and reducing food waste, this experience has been transformative. I also had the privilege of attending the Plant Based World Expo in NYC! Special thanks to the director of my dietetic internship program, Danielle Kronmuller DHSc RDN LDN, for always being a fantastic guide and offering support throughout this journey. I’m excited for the next chapter as I move forward into my next rotation!

Such a great vibe at the 10th Annual Philly Chef Conference at Drexel University this past week! My social impact fund know.capital, LLC sponsored the food entrepreneurship workshop, which was a ton of fun. I met amazing people like Bobby Flay slayer Palak Patel (she's super nice despite being a deadly Food Network competitor), and I also got a deeper appreciation of the amazingly supportive food community in Philly. The food & beverage was of course just ridiculously good. Do yourself a favor and attend this conference next year if you have a remote interest in food, and if you want to really get to know the talented people who make it happen in all aspects of the food/beverage/hospitality. This event is super comprehensive and also very warm and accessible. Pro tip: try Sofia Deleon's Tenango Rum - her hibiscus cocktails are dangerous. From a higher ed perspective, this event is a terrific case study on how colleges/universities can effectively engage with various stakeholders to create authentic value for the community. Numerous panels were focused on food equity, innovative themes like food as medicine, and discussions on problem solving human and society ills. This is how higher ed can not only be relevant to today's world, but also drive real change and be the nexus of a community that improves it. Kudos to Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., CHE, CRC, Director of the Drexel Food Lab, Paul O'Neill, Rachel Sherman, and the entire Food and Hospitality Department at Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions for an amazing event. And a big shout out to all of the Drexel Food and Hospitality students who did such a terrific job of creating a Danny Meyer type hospitality experience for all attendees, guests, and speakers. Looking forward to next year!

I was thrilled to serve on and listen to the members of the Culinary Medicine panel at the Drexel University School of Nursing and Hospitality 10th annual Chef Conference yesterday. Each one of us had a distinct and well-informed point of view concerning what Culinary Medicine meant to us. It was really interesting to hear about how Culinary Medicine plays out in non-profits, hospitals, universities, public schools and our own personal lives. What made the panel even more fun was the "Mystery Dine" that Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., CHE, CRC setup for conference attendees who were intrigued by the idea of paying $100 for a dinner, sight unseen, and breaking bread with virtual strangers the night before. Our panel and assorted other guests met for a fantastic dinner at Forsythia. I enjoyed French food, uproarious conversation and laughter with Alex Askew Brandy-Joe Milliron Maddy Booth JULE ANNE HENSTENBURG and Stefania Patinella, M.A., NBC-HWC. I can't remember ever dining with 7 people for the first time at a restaurant I had never been to before. At the actual conference I was able to talk entrepreneurship with Amy Zitelman and catch up with Jennifer Cohan Tonii Hicks Scott Swiger Brian Lofink Olga Sorzano and Palak P. I enjoyed impressive culinary demonstrations from Shola Olunloyo Nicholas Bazik and my own "Snack v. Chef" fellow alum Hari Cameron. For two days I was able to learn so many things, eat so many delicious things and chat with so many amazing friends old and new. A fellow attendee commented that the conference was so "fun" and not "cringe-y". I share this post to remind other professional conference organizers that these events can be informative AND fun, memorable and not cringe-y. A lot of the time people in hospitality are not the most hospitable. This Chef Conference managed to gather a group of hospitality professionals together who were not only hospitable but showed the next generation of hospitality professionals just how amazing and rewarding the infinite careers in hospitality can be. Proud to be a participant, panelist and member of the advisory board of the @drexelfoodlab. p.s. Nigerian-Korean pop-up happening soon! iykyk

Learning and connecting—two of my favorite things! I recently had the pleasure of attending the Philly Chef Conference at the Drexel Food Lab and Drexel University's College of Nursing and Health Professions and it did not disappoint! The breakout session “Slow Drinks” led by Daniel Childs was exceptional, offering unique insights on fermenting & foraging for your own ingredients. And let’s talk about the Vegan Chocolate Cake by@Fran Costigan, it was absolutely delicious! It was wonderful to see all the Drexel students actively engaged and soaking up knowledge. Grateful for the opportunity to learn from such talented chefs and connect with fellow food enthusiasts!  Thank you! I can't wait until next year! Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., CHE, CRC Rachel Sherman Paul O'Neill The food and drink at Broad Street Love was tremendous!

Incredible day at the Drexel Food Lab for the Philly Chef Conference. Ethan Frisch of Burlap and Barrel: Single Origin Spices doing a spice tasting+in conversation with chef Omar Tate about so many important ideas and issues. Being with hosts with the most - Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., CHE, CRC and Rachel Sherman - and seeing so many great folks like chefs Clara Park and Shola Olunloyo, Radhika Sharma, and Benjamin Schmerler...honestly, food people are just so lovely. Shoutout to all the sponsors for supporting such fantastic event! #CPG #Specialtyfood #spices #chefs #Philly

Our WCU Dietetic Interns are doing great things in their wide variety of settings! That is one of the many benefits of the West Chester University of Pennsylvania Dietetic Internship program. There are a large variety of options for rotations to meet your needs and interests. If you’re a student looking for a unique DI program, check us out! DICAS opens for our program October 1 and applications for Spring are due January 15, 2025. So happy to see Mikayla Garrick loving her time at the Drexel Food Lab. https://lnkd.in/e9NSD6Ad

In the quest for a healthier, more sustainable future, the Drexel Food Lab and Aramark are making strides through their impactful collaboration!  Aramark, a leader in campus dining services, has partnered with our talented students and faculty to explore plant-based dining options, driving a meaningful change in Drexel University dining halls. Together, they've worked to make plant-based options not only more accessible but also delicious and tailored to local tastes. From dedicated vegan stations to integrating plant-based choices across all dining setups, this partnership is all about incremental, impactful change. With ideas from the World Resources Institute's "Cool Food Meals," they're showing how convenient, tasty options can inspire more students to choose plant-based and reduce their carbon footprints. Our collaboration has turned Drexel’s dining halls into a hub of innovation, aligning perfectly with Aramark’s "Be Well, Do Well" plan to foster a healthier planet on the path to net zero. Key insights have emerged from the collaboration, highlighting the importance of convenience, taste, and affordability when introducing plant-based meals. By focusing on gradual yet impactful changes, we’re empowering students to make choices that are better for their health and the planet. We want to extend a huge thank you to Aramark for their incredible support during our partnerships as well as to the entire Drexel team, especially Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., CHE, CRC for all of their hard work and expertise! We’re very excited to continue this journey, making plant-based dining accessible and enjoyable. #Sustainability #PlantBased #DrexelFoodLab #Aramark #HealthAndWellness #CampusDining #Innovation #DrexelUniversity #Impact

Corporate collaboration is one of the defining elements of the Drexel Food Lab, and in the spirit of Climate Week, I wanted to highlight a super interesting study done for Aramark by the Food Lab that explored how on-campus dining behavior at colleges & universities might potentially change if more plant-based options were offered in a variety of settings. This study was presented at Plant Based World Expo North America. Long story short, consumption behavior didn't change. The implications are profound in that long held beliefs about the perceived resistance to more plant-based offerings could be a false premise, especially among culinary folks. Humans are more habitual than anything, so this might be more of a behavior-based problem than a diet-based one. A more plant-based menu has lower cost, a lower environmental impact, and better overall health outcomes. And obviously, the implications from a health equity policy perspective could also be profound especially as it relates to school lunch programs and other publicly funded pools of money (where for some kids in lower income households, a school lunch is their only hot meal of the day, if not their only meal during the day). Thank you Alan B. Horowitz at Aramark for your leadership on this study, and great job Lauren Miller, MS data science student at Drexel University, on this study and for your excellent presentation. And thanks Jonathan Deutsch, Ph.D., CHE, CRC!