FAS PROJECTS 
Community Food Nutrition Profile (CFNP)
The UNH Department of Animal and Nutritional Sciences (ANSC) and the UNH Office of Sustainability are collaborating in the development of a profile tool that integrates multiple disciplines and societal sectors to inform systemic assessments, interventions, and evidence-based evaluations to improve health and integrity across the entire food system. Specific components of the Community Food and Nutrition Profile (CFNP) include characterization of community members' food resources, acquisition behaviors, and diet and health practices and status. These will be integrated with assessment of the economic, cultural, and ecological resources of the community's agriculture and foodways. The CFNP findings will be used to provide baseline data on the University's sustainability and status in terms of food, nutrition, and health practices, and will also be used as a benchmark from which progressive interventions and policies will be developed and evaluated.
Compost Program
The UNH Compost Program demonstrates a viable and effective alternative to adding food waste to the wastewater stream and the landfill where it remains a waste product. Since the program began in 1998, over half a million pounds of food waste have been diverted from the waste stream and composted! The compost process closes the food cycle and returns the valuable soil enriching nutrients in food and other organic waste to the soil. When returned to the land, finished compost improves soil texture and water-holding capacity and increases nutrient levels. The success of the UNH Compost Program is due to a strong partnership among the UNH Office of Sustainability, UNH Hospitality Services, the UNH College of Life Sciences and Agriculture (COLSA), Kingman Farm, and the Durham community.
Dual Major in EcoGastronomy
Are you interested in growing food, cooking food, and eating heathfully? Do you want to learn about the complex and holistic nature of our food community? If you answered yes, then get ready to enhance your primary major and expand your professional opportunities with a Dual Major in EcoGastronomy. Integrating UNH strengths in sustainable agriculture, hospitality management, and nutrition, the new Dual Major in EcoGastronomy -- the first of its kind in US higher education! -- offers a unique academic program emphasizing the interdisciplinary, international, and experiential knowledge that connects all three fields. And as a dual major, the program provides a complement to any primary major. The dual major is a unique partnership between the Whittemore School of Business & Economics and the College of Life Sciences and Agriculture, in collaboration with the University Office of Sustainability.
Local Harvest Initiative
In recognition of the many benefits vibrant agriculture affords New Hampshire, the UNH Local Harvest Initiative raises awareness and educates students, staff, and community members about our local agricultural landscape and its role in sustaining our physical and economical health and well-being, now and in the future.
New Hampshire Center for a Food Secure Future (NHCFSF)
The New Hampshire Center for a Food Secure Future (NHCFSF) is a University of New Hampshire-based collaboration among diverse stakeholders in the food system including state agencies, non-profits, business and industry partners and associations, as well as educators and practitioners. The Center was created to address the need for coordinated, comprehensive action linking agriculture, the food environment and health and nutrition in our state and region.
New Hampshire Farm to School Program
The New Hampshire Farm to School Program is designed to connect local farms and farm products to New Hampshire classrooms and cafeterias by integrating agricultural production, school food procurement, and school curriculum. To date, over half of the K-12 schools in New Hampshire - approximately 258 schools in 52 districts as of July 2007 - are participating in the program.
Northeast Farms to Food Update
In collaboration with the Northeast Small Farm Working Group (NESAWG), the UNH Office of Sustainability updated the Northeast Farms to Food report in 2004. The report contains information and data necessary for the region’s leaders, citizens, educators and activists to better understand the food system. In 2006, OS again collaborated with NESAWG, as well as the NH Center for a Food Secure Future and the Northeast Midwest Institute to create a 2006 update focused on the farm bill.
Organic Dairy Research Farm
Responding to a need by farmers for scientific research to support organic dairy efforts, UNH is the first land grant university to have a commercial-scale organic dairy farm. It is a research center for organic production and management and an education center for organic dairy farmers, farmers considering the transition to organic, and students of sustainable agriculture. The UNH Organic Dairy Research Farm is part of UNH's commitment to sustainability and the renaissance of food and agriculture in New Hampshire. It is complemented by related UNH research, including research in dairy nutrition.
In spring 2008, UNH researchers received a significant grant to study UNH's organic dairy research farm as a sustainable closed agroecosystem, exploring viable strategies for becoming energy independent. The $380,000 three-year grant, from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Sustainable Agricultural Research and Education (SARE) program, aims to explore whether closing energy and nutrient cycles could help small family dairy farms in the Northeast survive economic vulnerabilities. The study comes as rising energy, feed and capital investment costs shrink the already narrow profit margin of dairy agriculture in the Northeast, threatening the regional sustainability of the industry. Such an ecosystem-level approach to a commercial organic dairy production is unique, at least in the United States. Learn more...
Watch video of the first calf being born at the Organic Dairy Research Farm!
Organic Garden Club
Founded in 2003, the student-run Organic Garden Club (OGC) was voted UNH’s Student Organization of the Year in 2007. The OGC maintains a two-acre site on a 30-acre, USDA certified organic parcel of land on the UNH Durham campus - the first certified organic land on campus. The OGC grows a variety of produce, which it sells to UNH Dining and at a weekly farm stand on campus (Wednesdays July through September from 11 AM –2 PM in Murkland Courtyard). The OGC also hosts dinners at Portsmouth’s Cross Roads House and a monthly Durham community dinner at the Waysmeet Center.
Signing the Slow Food Principles
In May of 2006, UNH signed the Agreements of Intentions and Collaborations “for the purpose of creating a worldwide network of universities and research institutions linked to the International Slow Food Association.” These principles include “protection of agricultural biodiversity,” “support of the rights of peoples to self-determination with regard to food,” and “education of civilized society and training of workers in the food and agricultural sector.” UNH is one of ten universities in the U.S. to have signed the principles, and the first to award the founder of Slow Food—Carlo Petrini—an honorary degree.
Additional Activities
Every year, UOS engages in a variety of activities related to its FAS Intiative which are not captured under a specific project. These include co-sponsoring various events, collaborating with partners on emerging projects, presenting at meetings and conferences, and more. Some examples from 2007-2008 are:
- collaborating with partners to host the UNH Fair Trade Fair, a day-long event examining fair trade practices;
- co-sponsoring conferences including NH Beginner Farmers Conference and the NOFA-NH Winter Conference;
- presenting at the Northeast Campus Sustainability Consortium Summit and NH Farm & Forest;
- serving on committees including the Northeast Regional Farm to School Steering Committee and the Organic Dairy Research Farm Executive Committee;
- working with faculty and staff to develop a proposal for a Dual Major in EcoGastronomy;
- and much more.
