Healing Humans

Modern food systems significantly influence human health but fail to ensure widespread nutritional security. Diet-related health issues such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity have risen alongside changing diets. Marginalized groups often lack the means and resources to access culturally-appropriate, nutritional foods, which is an obstacle in the way of achieving adequate nutrition. In this session, we examine how food systems can improve the accessibility, affordability, and nutritional value of foods to improve human health without sacrificing cultural significance.

Thematic Questions:

  • How can we balance the need for nutritional security and cultural preferences with the challenges of industrialized food systems, which often prioritize convenience and cost over health and sustainability?
  • How can food systems be better aligned with public health goals, ensuring that economic, environmental, and social factors work together to promote long-term health outcomes?
  • What role do food systems plan in improving the physical and mental wellbeing of humans? How can we ensure that the benefits are equitably distributed to all people?

Panelists

Jenny Murphy

City Harvest, Senior Director of Supply Chain

Jenny Murphy is the Senior Director of Supply Chain at City Harvest, where she oversees the organization’s food sourcing teams. This year, her teams will rescue more than 81 million pounds of high-quality, nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste from farmers, grocery stores, wholesalers, and retailers within the five boroughs of New York City and across the country. The organization then delivers this food for free to a network of 400 soup kitchens and food pantries throughout New York City. Since joining City Harvest in 2011, Jenny has helped to procure over 900 million pounds of food. Jenny also oversees the organization’s disaster response team, and led the response to disasters including Hurricanes Maria, Harvey, and Irma, and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Jenny began her career working for a wine company, handling their import and logistical operations. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Boston University's School of Management (Questrom School of Business), where she studied non-profit management.

Sarah Miller

CitySeed, Executive Director

Sarah Miller is a lifelong New Haven resident with over 20 years of non-profit and community leadership experience. She holds a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University and Master of Social Work from the University of Connecticut. Sarah previously served as Director of Strategy at Clifford Beers Community Care Center and Director of Development and Communications for the Institute of Cultural Affairs International. At CitySeed she is focused on strengthening and scaling-up the organization’s many contributions to local food programs and systems, including deepening and broadening support for farmers, food business operators, and the community that depends on them. Sarah is also an elected member of the New Haven Board of Alders, and lives in New Haven’s Fair Haven neighborhood with her husband and two children.

Sue Ellen Anderson-Haynes, MS, RDN, CDCES, WFS NASM-CPT

Cultured Health, Registered Dietitian, Co-founder of Cultured Health

Sue-Ellen Anderson-Haynes is an award winning, nationally recognized nutrition and diabetes expert, author, health writer and speaker, global leader in gestational diabetes, and is a plant-based holistic women’s health dietitian of over 15 years. She has appeared on national radio, television, online and print in outlets such as SiriusXM, CNBC, NBC10 Boston, PubMed, Harvard Health Publishing, Forbes Health, Wallstreet Journal, WebMD, and is the Owner & Founder of 360Girls&Women®, B.E.A.T Gestational Diabetes® and Co-founder of Cultured Health™ - a digital healthcare app that connects dietitians to clients based on culture.

Ayeisha C. Cole, MPH

Community Alliance for Research and Engagement, (CARE), Director

Ayeisha C. Cole, the new Director of CARE, is currently immersing herself in the New Haven public health landscape. Ayeisha's career in public health, spanning over a decade, has been marked by a strong focus on research and community engagement. She earned her Masters in Public Health from Benedictine University and has since been dedicated to prevention and treatment in Infectious Diseases. Her transition to Chronic Disease Prevention is marked by her commitment to combat food insecurity through CARE's nutrition program, which focuses on healthy food procurement options, the development of a food as prescription program, and the Support Wellness of Pantries (SWAP) initiative.