From eating a Zen "slow food" lunch led by a tea ceremony practitioner to learning about fast food in Africa, 52 middle and high school teachers spent June 27-29 on campus learning how to integrate information about international food customs and food production into their curricula.

The cross-curriculum workshop, involving teachers from 24 New York counties, was called "Slow Food/Fast Food: Food Cultures Around the World." It was presented by the Cornell Educational Resources for International Studies (CERIS) program, the outreach group at Cornell's Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies.

Teachers learned, for example, how fast food franchises, street food and the global slow food movements offer mirrors to social, economic and political situations and contexts. In addition to presentations on such topics as the global spice trade, fast food in Africa and traditional foods in the European Union, the teachers also experienced a British high tea, learned how to cook Thai fresh rolls from an expert, and got a tour of food-related art objects at Cornell's Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art.

"We encouraged the teachers to look at connections among diverse subjects such as culture, nutrition, global trade policies, history and biology, and the effect that all of these have on the food that is served and eaten around the world," said Nicole Koschmann, education outreach coordinator at CERIS. "The teachers heard from Cornell professors and graduate students about their research in these areas and were also able to begin developing their curriculum units using CERIS and Cornell's extensive resources."

The overarching goal, she added, was "to encourage teachers and their students to have a greater understanding of the different regions and cultures of the world through the medium of food while meeting New York state curriculum standards for science and social studies/global history, geography, and food and consumer science standards. Most of the teachers attending teach family and consumer science and social studies, but some art, foreign language, health and science teachers also attended. Two-thirds of those attending teach in rural districts.

CERIS provided each teacher with $250 toward their expenses. The program was also sponsored by the Southeast Asia Program, South Asia Program, Cornell Institute for European Studies, Institute for African Development and the Latin American Studies Program.