Jennifer Wilkins
Sr. Extension Associate
2009
HENutrSci

Web Bio Page

Current Activities

Current Professional Activities
Director, Cornell Farm to School Program
Director, CCE Farmers' Market Nutrition Program
Member, Agriculture, Food and Human Values
Member, American Dietetic Association (ADA)
Co-Chair, Advisory Committee on Public Policy, Society for Nutrition Education
Member, Society Nutrition Education (SNE)
Visiting Professor, Università degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche (University of Gastronomic Sciences)

Current Research Activities
  • Role of "Stage" in gastronomic education
  • Qualitative assessment of motivations and benefits among food service directors from participation in farm to school programs 
  • Nutritional difference between local and long-distance transported fruits and vegetables.
  • Quantitative assessment of interest and current practices related to state-grown and value-added products among New York State college and university dining directors.
  • Comparison of the land use requirements of the Atkins diet compared with a diet based on Food Guide Pyramid recommendations and the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
  • Impact of participating in Community Supported Agriculture on long-term fruit and vegetable intake and overall diet quality among continuing, new, and low-income CSA members.


    • Current Extension Activities
  • Newspaper column, The Food Citizen, published monthly in the Albany Times Union
  • Newspaper column, The Food Citizen, published monthly in the Ithaca Journal
  • Web-based farm to school resources for extension educators and other community leaders
  • Web-based Food System Education revision, "Discover the Food System"
  • Northeast Regional Food Guide
  • Professional development in farm-to-school, regional dietary guidance, community food systems and related policy


    • Biography

    Biographical Statement
    Jennifer Wilkins, Ph.D., R.D.
    Senior Extension Associate
    305 Martha Van Rensselaer Hall
    Division of Nutritional Sciences

    Phone: (607) 255-2730
    Fax: (607) 255-0178

    Email: jlw15@cornell.edu

    Jennifer Wilkins joined the Division of Nutritional Sciences 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 one of eight people selected from a national pool of over 150 for Class IV of the Kellogg Foundation Food and Society Policy Fellowship. During this 2-year fellowship (2004 to 2006) 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 extension partnership with the New York State Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. She served as president of Agriculture, Food and Human Values Society from 2003-2004, served on the board of Directors for the Society for Nutrition Education (SNE) from 1994-97, was a member of SNE's Advisory Committee on Public Policy (ACPP) from 2006-2008, and is now the chair of the ACPP. 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 has served on the Chefs Collaborative Board of Overseers and is an occasional visiting professor at the Università degli Scienze Gastronomiche (University of Gastronomic Sciences) in Pollenzo and Colorno, Italy.



    Education
  • PhD 1991 - Washington State University
    Nutrition and Consumer Economics
  • RD 1983 - University of Washington Hospitals
    Clinical Dietetic Residency
  • MS 1981 - Teachers College, Columbia University
    Nutrition Education
  • BS 1978 - Huxley College of Environmental Studies, Western Washington
    Nutrition and Environmental Health


    • Administrative Responsibilities
    • Director, Cornell Farm to School Program
    • Director, Cornell Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program


    Keywords
    Food Systems
    Nutrition Education
    Dietary Guidance
    Community Nutrition


    Courses, Websites, Pubs

    Courses Taught

    Introduction to Human Nutrition - Concepts and Controversies. Universita Degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche (University of Gastronomic Sciences), Pollenzo, Italy.

    Food System Perspectives on human, environmental and community health.     Universita Degli Studi di Scienze Gastronomiche (University of Gastronomic Sciences), Colorno, Italy.



    Related Websites

    Cornell Farm to School Program

    The Northeast Regional Food Guide



    Selected Publications

    Wilkins JL, Lapp J, Tagtow A, Roberts S. Civic Dietetics: Integrating Concepts from Civic Agriculture into Dietetic Practice. Accepted for publication as a Perspectives in Practice  in the Journal of the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. 2010.

    Wilkins, JL. (2009) A Review of “Measured Meals: Nutrition in America”, Food and Foodways. 2009;17: 4, 247 — 250.

    Clancy K, Hamm M, Levine AS, Wilkins J. Organics: Evidence of Health Benefits Lacking. Science. 2009;325:7 August. www.sciencemag.org

    Peters CJ, Bills NL, Lembo AJ, Wilkins JL, and GW Fick. Foodshed analysis and its relevance to sustainability.  Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 1 March 2009; 24(1): pp 1-7

    Peters CJ, Bills NL, Lembo AJ, Wilkins JL, and GW Fick. Mapping potential foodsheds in New York State: A spatial model for evaluating the capacity to localize food production. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 1 March 2009; 24(1); 72–84

    Wilkins JL. Civic dietetics: opportunities for integrating civic agriculture concepts into dietetic practice. Agriculture and Human Values Journal. 2009;26(1 and 2):57–66.

    Peters CJ, Bills NL, Wilkins JL, and GW Fick. Foodshed analysis and its relevance to sustainability. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 2008;23(4). Published online by Cambridge University Press 08 Dec 2008.

    Wilkins JL, Peters CJ, Hamm M, Reinhardt E. Increasing Acres to Decrease Inches: The Land Requirements of Low-Carbohydrate Diets. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition 2008;3(1):3-16. Available online at http://jhen.haworthpress.com. © 2008 by The Haworth Press.

    Peters CJ, Wilkins JL, and GW Fick. 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. Published Online by Cambridge University Press 04 Jul 2007

    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. Use of a risk communication model to evaluate dietetics professionals’ viewpoints on genetically engineered foods and crops. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2006;106(5):719-727.

    Wilkins, JL. Eating right here: Moving from consumer to food citizen. 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. 2005;22(3):269-273.

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

    McCullum C, Pelletier D, Barr D, Wilkins J, Habicht JP. Mechanisms of power within a community-based food security planning process. Health Education & Behavior. 2004;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

    Wilkins JL, Lapp J, Tagtow A, Roberts S. Civic Dietetics: Integrating Concepts from Civic Agriculture into Dietetic Practice. Accepted for publication as a Perspectives in Practice  in the Journal of the Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. 2010.

    Wilkins, JL. (2009) A Review of “Measured Meals: Nutrition in America”, Food and Foodways. 2009;17: 4, 247 — 250.

    Clancy K, Hamm M, Levine AS, Wilkins J. Organics: Evidence of Health Benefits Lacking. Science. 2009;325:7 August. www.sciencemag.org

    Peters CJ, Bills NL, Lembo AJ, Wilkins JL, and GW Fick. Foodshed analysis and its relevance to sustainability.  Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 1 March 2009; 24(1): pp 1-7

    Peters CJ, Bills NL, Lembo AJ, Wilkins JL, and GW Fick. Mapping potential foodsheds in New York State: A spatial model for evaluating the capacity to localize food production. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 1 March 2009; 24(1); 72–84

    Wilkins JL. Civic dietetics: opportunities for integrating civic agriculture concepts into dietetic practice. Agriculture and Human Values Journal. 2009;26(1 and 2):57–66.

    Peters CJ, Bills NL, Wilkins JL, and GW Fick. Foodshed analysis and its relevance to sustainability. Renewable Agriculture and Food Systems. 2008;23(4). Published online by Cambridge University Press 08 Dec 2008.

    Wilkins JL, Peters CJ, Hamm M, Reinhardt E. Increasing Acres to Decrease Inches: The Land Requirements of Low-Carbohydrate Diets. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition 2008;3(1):3-16. Available online at http://jhen.haworthpress.com. © 2008 by The Haworth Press.

    Peters CJ, Wilkins JL, and GW Fick. 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. Published Online by Cambridge University Press 04 Jul 2007

    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. Use of a risk communication model to evaluate dietetics professionals’ viewpoints on genetically engineered foods and crops. Journal of the American Dietetic Association. 2006;106(5):719-727.

    Wilkins, JL. Eating right here: Moving from consumer to food citizen. 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. 2005;22(3):269-273.

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

    McCullum C, Pelletier D, Barr D, Wilkins J, Habicht JP. Mechanisms of power within a community-based food security planning process. Health Education & Behavior. 2004;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