How to Major in Food

In honor of our summer food issue, Destination Newark investigated the local schools in the city to see if they had any degree programs or curricula related to food. And while Newark won’t be graduating any gourmet chefs anytime soon, it would appear that nearly every school’s offering—from technology to medicine to law—has some kind of gastronomic application.

Berkeley College

A bachelor’s in Nursing at Berkeley College requires degree candidates to take SCI3310: Nutrition for Healthcare Professionals. The class, “an introduction to the basic principles of nutrition and a foundation for wellness,” covers topics like nutritional trends and their influence on our health, and eating and gastrointestinal disorders.

New Jersey Institute Of Technology

Newark is already using technology to grow produce in facilities like AeroFarms, but at NJIT, students can take Biology 338-001: Ecology of the Dining Hall. In the class, they will discuss topics that include What We Eat and Why, Energetics of Food and Eating, and Genetically Modified Foods.

RUTGERS-NEWARK

Rutgers-Newark’s School of Environmental and Biological Sciences has a Department of Nutritional Science where students can obtain a bachelor’s, a master’s and a Ph. D. in Nutritional Sciences. The extensive programs allow you to pick a concentration for your nutritional sciences degree: dietetics, nutrition, Community Nutrition, Food Service Administration, and Nutrition, Food & Business.

Essex County Community College

If you’re interested in earning a health science degree, you can get a good start at Essex County College. The college offers an associate’s degree in health science that includes classes such as HSC 101: Introduction to Nutrition and HSC 102: Nutrition Through the Life Cycle.

Seton Hall Law

At first blush you might think that food and the legal profession have nothing in common, but look again at Seton Hall Law. The school offers a Food and Drug Law course (HLTH8500: Food and Drug Law) that offers students “an overview of the laws and regulations of the Food and Drug Administration that restrict the sale of unsafe, deceptive or unproven foods and drugs.” Other course topics include the use of biotechnology in foods and justification for the deregulation of dietary supplements. dN

—Rose Driscoll