GEN MEREDITH
“Real potential and benefit will come from us remembering to focus on systems change—changing policies and practices and investing in community capacity—instead of only focusing on short term fixes.”
Gen Meredith emphasizes the critical role food plays in long term health outcomes and the value that community engagement holds in understanding how to implement more impactful public health programs. The team that built Cornell’s Masters of Public Health, of which Gen was an integral part, saw the university’s strength in food systems work as a real opportunity to integrate it into the whole program, to weave it into the first year curriculum and offer a concentration in Food Systems for Health. With food at the core of health, Gen hopes students complete the program with a deep appreciation for the importance of integrating food security and sovereignty into future programs they develop, shape, and/or direct.
Gen’s work with the MPH comes in part from personal motivation. “It pains me to think that there are little kids trying to learn at school who are hungry and might not know where their next meal will come from; or college students who can’t afford food; or adults and parents who struggle to get the food they want and need for themselves and their families, while at the same time, we waste so much of it. With this in mind, I am inspired to be part of a systems change to support improved outcomes.”
A key component of the MPH food systems concentration is collaborating and engaging with the community. Bringing together the technical expertise of faculty and students with the contextual expertise of community members and partners, they create a robust, productive learning experience for all involved. Gen teaches a course supported by an Engaged Cornell Curriculum Grant, where students work on food systems and health focused community projects with a community partner in NY or Zambia. Working in real life settings through the lens of public health practice, presents students with a new perspective and allows them to learn more by doing.
The Childhood Nutrition Collaborative, part of Tompkins County Collective Impact Initiative and a MPH community partner, captures the embodiment of Gen’s vision for more systems-focused change. The Collaborative works to meet the urgent food needs of community by providing better food access, more fresh fruits and vegetables, and reducing waste. At the same time, they are listening to understand barriers to healthier community food systems and learning what solutions community members are finding. Enabling all voices will generate a network that improves community capacity for long-term systematic change by sharing both challenges and solutions with one another.
Partnerships and collaborations are an invaluable part of Gen’s MPH work. Community partners, such as CCE, Food Bank of the Southern Tier, Friendship Donation Network, and Healthy Food for All, have been a significant part of helping the MPH program come to fruition and helping students learn. Conversations with Kathi Colen Peck and Anu Rangarajan helped create links to the original MPH collaborators and inform some of the formative ideas about the food systems concentration.
Gen Meredith is the Associate Director for Cornell’s MPH Program.
Written by Grace Montgomery, LFRS Intern Fall 2017/Spring 2018