Food is at the core of our existence. As we celebrate March as National Nutrition Month, we are reminded of the role food plays not only in our personal and planetary health, but overall global security and economics. This year’s Nutrition Month theme “Celebrate a World of Flavors,” not only focuses on how flavors from cultures around the world can nourish us and help us celebrate diversity, but also describes the culinary delights brought to America in the early 20th century. This issue of The AgriNutrition Edge Report looks at one explorer, David Fairchild, whose travels led to the introduction of new fruits and vegetables to Americans, forever changing the way we eat and birthing a global food economy. All things local indeed are global. The issue also looks at the role Fairchild played in bringing cherry blossom trees to the nation’s capital.
Finally, the newsletter features a new book from dietitian colleague and friend Barbara R. Baron, who contributed the chapter “ABBONDANZA!!! Food, Family, and Faith” to Called to Lead: Success Strategies for Women. Baron focuses on how she was mentored by her mother and grandmother in an Italian American kitchen, and how those experiences provided a foundation for leadership within her family and chosen profession.