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Jennifer Wilkins joined the Division of Nutritional Sciences as a Senior Extension Associate in 1993. Her work focuses on how the food and agriculture system impacts public health, environmental sustainability, and community well-being. Degrees include: BS degree in 1978 from Huxley College of Environmental Studies, Western Washington University, MS degree in 1981 from Teachers College, Columbia University, Ph.D. in 1991 from Washington State University, in Nutrition and Consumer Economics, RD post-graduate dietetic residency at University of Washington Hospitals.

Shortly after joining the Cornell faculty Jennifer conceptualized and developed the first regional food guide in the United States – the Northeast Regional Food Guide. This food guide promotes health, sustainability, and local food systems. She was a Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Policy Fellow from 2004 to 2006 during which time her work appeared in the media including an op-ed in the New York Times and she developed a newspaper column, The Food Citizen which has appeared monthly in the Albany Times Union since May 2006, and in the Ithaca Journal since November 2007.

Dr. Wilkins directs the Cornell Farm to School Program - for which she received a Dannon Institute Award for Excellence in Community Nutrition in 2003 - and the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. She served as president of Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society from 2003-2004, and served on the board of Directors for the Society for Nutrition Education from 1994-97. She is the 2004 recipient of the Environmental Nutrition Award from the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition Dietetic Practice Group within the American Dietetic Association. She recently joined the Chefs Collaborative Board of Overseers and is a guest lecturer at the Università di Scienze Gastronomiche (University of Gastronomic Sciences) established by Slow Food in Pollenzo, Italy.

Peters CJ, Fick GW, Wilkins JL. Testing a complete diet for estimating the land resource requirements of food consumption and agricultural carrying capacity: The New York State example. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 2007; 22(2); 145–153.

Wilkins JL. Eating Right Here: The Role of Dietary Guidance in Remaking Community-Based Food Systems. Chapter in Hinrichs C and Lyson TA (eds.) Remaking the North American Food System. 2007. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Roberts KS, Struble MB, McCullum C, Wilkins JL. 2006. Use of a risk communication model to evaluate dietetics professionals’ viewpoints on genetically engineered foods and crops. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 106(2).

Wilkins, JL. 2005. Eating right here: Moving from consumer to food citizen. 2004 Presidential address to the Agriculture, Food, and Human Values Society and the Society for the Study of Food and Society, Hyde Park, New York, June 11, 2004. Agriculture and Human Values. 22(3): 269-273.

Wilkins JL. 2005. Seeing Beyond the Package: Teaching about the Food System through Food Product Analysis. Food, Culture, and Society. Vol 8(1): 91-108.

McCullum C, Pelletier D, Barr D, Wilkins J, Habicht JP.2004. Mechanisms of power within a community-based food security planning process. Health Education & Behavior. 31(2): 206-222.

Peters CJ, Bills N, Wilkins JL, and Smith RD. 2003. Fruit Consumption, Dietary Guidelines and Agricultural Production in New York State – Implications for Local Food Economies. Research Bulletin 2003-02, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. http://aem.cornell.edu/research/researchpdf/rb0302.pdf

Peters CJ, Bills N, Wilkins JL, and Smith RD. 2003. Fruit Consumption, Dietary Guidelines and Agricultural Production in New York State – Implications for Local Food Economies. Research Bulletin 2003-02, Department of Applied Economics and Management, Cornell University. http://aem.cornell.edu/research/researchpdf/rb0302.pdf

Peters, C.J., G.W. Fick, J.L. Wilkins. 2003. Cultiv