BrainFood 2021
Food, science, community.
BrainFood was a free virtual Harlem community engagement event combining food and neuroscience held on August 19, 2021 to an audience of 110 community members.
BrainFood was supported by a 2021 Public Outreach Grant from Columbia University’s Center for Science and Society.
BrainFood flyer used for print marketing.
BrainFood was a food distribution, conversation, cooking demonstration, and Q&A session
Public food distribution in coordination with community partners Harlem Grown, Mandala Cafe, and Riverside Church
Moderated discussion about food and neuroscience between Harlem-based award-winning cookbook author, chef, and FIELDTRIP founder Chef JJ Johnson and myself
Chef JJ-led cooking demonstration of a nutritious avocado black fried rice recipe created for BrainFood by Chef JJ
Public question and answer session
Accessibility was built into BrainFood’s design
To ensure that participation was not limited by access to required ingredients, we constructed and distributed 64 full meal ingredient kits prior to the BrainFood virtual event
To ensure that participation was not limited by individual access to internet, we arranged for the option of public viewing at The Riverside Church
To ensure that participants could access relevant information without having to attend the virtual event, we made and distributed a recipe card and a brain fact card with each meal ingredient kit distributed.
I co-created BrainFood with Zuckerman Institute Public Programs Associate Lisa Dinh. As food and science lovers, Lisa and I had been talking about organizing a food neuroscience public engagement event for years—we wanted to use eating food, one of our most basic everyday tasks, as a vehicle for talking about the science that is involved in all of our lives.
Originally, we envisioned our event as a collaboration with a Harlem chef in creating a brain-related menu item at a Harlem restaurant. We had identified and coordinated with a restaurant partner for this, but then the COVID-19 pandemic hit and our plans, like everything else, changed.
We realized that we had only been thinking about accessibility on a surface level, and it felt, frankly, tone deaf to be organizing a food-related event that required individuals pay to participate during this period of heightened food and income insecurity. So, we went back to the drawing board—BrainFood was the result.
As project lead and project scientist, my roles for BrainFood included:
Project co-design and co-management
Grant writing
Community partner co-coordination
Volunteer recruitment and coordination
Meal ingredient kit ingredient acquisition
Meal ingredient kit construction and distribution
Marketing material design and creation
Marketing campaign execution
Event run-of-show design and creation
Public speaking
Lisa and I with Mandala Cafe founder Daiken Nelson at our Mandala Cafe ingredient kit distribution.
Recipe card and neuroscience fact card included in each meal ingredient kit. Chef JJ’s team authored and designed the recipe card, and I authored and designed the neuroscience fact card.
Instagram marketing materials. I authored, illustrated, and designed all marketing materials associated with BrainFood.
Photo by Devin Powell. Community members viewing the BrainFood live stream at The Riverside Church.