The end of the academic year is just around the corner. We have so much happening and so many things to celebrate!

Registration is now open for Savor: The Dirt-y Solution to Climate Change on June 18. Regenerative agriculture represents integrating old farming practices with new cultivation methods to enhance soil ecology and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. I'm personally excited to help bring this program to fruition. It is an exciting and promising avenue to mitigate climate change and improve the sustainability of our food systems. 

The students of the Food Tech Club and the Davis Alt Protein Project recently hosted the Upcycled Iron Chef Competition and I was honored to be a judge. The students teamed up with Upcycled Foods, Inc., which supplied flour made from brewer's spent grain called ReGrained SuperGrain. The teams created Georgian cheese bread, cilantro-blackened fish tacos, quesabirria tacos with seitan and cinnamon sugar churros. The food was innovative and delicious and showcased our food science students' amazing culinary abilities. Read our blog to see who won!

I presented a lecture with the AI Institute for Next Generation Food Systems about reducing food waste, which encompasses all my professional roles. One-third of food produced globally is not eaten. Finding value in waste streams and byproducts generated from things like tomato processing and winemaking can help reduce food waste and, in some cases, make delicious foods! You can watch the lecture video and read the article below about upcycling Chardonnay grapes for more. 

The annual Iron Brew Competition is the culmination of the practical malting and brewing course, when students formulate and brew their recipes for judges. Fermin Barbarosa and Tali Cooper won with their Belgian Blonde Ale, Brew La-La this year. Sudwerk Brewing Co. will release their beer soon and we'll share details on our social media channels.

Congratulations to the UC Davis Coffee Center for opening their new facility on May 3! The Coffee Center is a center of excellence in the UC Davis College of Engineering and the first academic research and teaching facility in the U.S. entirely dedicated to the study of coffee. 

Finally, I invite you to read the story of Bob and Barbara Leidigh. They met at UC Davis nearly sixty years ago and developed a love of grape growing and winemaking. For years, they have generously supported the Robert Mondavi Institute as part of our Friends program and we are grateful for all that they have given back to their alma mater!
 
Sincerely, 

Ned Spang
Director, Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science
Associate Professor, Department of Food Science and Technology

View the entire May 2024 newsletter.