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University of Florida

Exploring Foods: From Cuenca to Gainesville


UF Faculty: Jeanette Andrade
Department: Food Science and Human Nutrition Department
College: College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

UF Faculty: Juan Andrade
Department: Food Science and Human Nutrition Department
College: College of Agricultural and Life Sciences

Partner Faculty: Johana Ortiz
Department: Chemical Sciences Department
Partner Institution: University of Cuenca
Title: Exploring Foods: From Cuenca to Gainesville
Project Description: Students in Introduction to Food Systems: Seeds4Life class will work on a project in groups of 3 to conduct a food environmental scan/ observation / interviews with food vendors surrounding the Gainesville area. Students in Cuenca will conduct a similar project. Results will be compared near the end of the course. During these weeks, they will need to be communicating with students in Ecuador about their progress. The presentation will be about similarities/differences and overall, what further research / education can be initiated for the food vendors. Furthermore, the students will have an opportunity to discuss reflections on the project – addressing their own biases and what they have learned throughout this assignment.
Learning Outcomes:
  • Students will expand their perspectives on their own cultural rules and biases about food vendors by listing at least 3 similarities and 3 differences between the types of food establishments in Gainesville (US) and in Cuenca (Ecuador).
  • Students will be able to listen to others with respect and question previously held concepts by identifying and discussing two misconceptions about food vendors in each country as recorded at the beginning of the VE and at the end.
  • Students will recognize intellectual and emotional dimensions of more than one worldview by analyzing the similarities in at least 1 issue present in the food establishments of both countries and the diversity in the list (at least 2, one per country group) potential solutions to address it.
Participating Countries: Ecuador
Number of Participants:
19 UF students & 11 University of Cuenca students
Discipline: Food Science & Human Nutrition
UF Course Code & Name: HUN 4936 - Seeds4Life
Project Duration: 11 Weeks
Activity Type(s):
  • Student-to-Student Dialogue
  • Student-to-Student Project
  • Virtual Guest Speaker
Time allotted to each activity:
  • Synchronous Activities: 1-2 hours/week
  • Asynchronous Activities: 4-8 hours/week
  • Local group activities: 2-4 hours/week
  • Individual Work: 1-2 hours/week
Technology Tools:
  • Zoom, Google Chat, or WhatsApp
  • Canvas
  • Microsoft office
Sequence of Activities:
  • Icebreakers: Possibly we will use Padlet to get students to open up about favorite foods/beverages or at least some aspect of food as this is a food systems course and their project surrounds food environment. This will allow them to work in an asynchronous fashion to minimize time constraints with class schedules and such.

  • Engagement: An informal discussion. This gets students to get to know one another and identify what is the food environment from one city to the next. It allows an open discussion about what they could possibly pursue for their own project. Comparing class questionnaires. As part of this project, dependent on which food establishments the groups would like to pursue, the students have to establish questions to ask the manager/employees, customers, and to observe the establishment. Students will compare the list of questions they had identified and solidify their list to ensure they are seeking similar answers.

  • Collaboration: At week 4 of the food systems class, which is around 2 weeks of the semester for Cuenca, students will introduce themselves and discuss what ideal food establishments they frequent and some potential areas of interest in a synchronous format during class time of the US students. Students will then discuss, in an offline format, the food establishments they want to target for this project and to ensure that Cuenca has similar establishments. For example, coffee shops.

    At week 6, students will provide a document that was completed online about perceptions that they have with these food establishments - good/bad, etc.

    At week 9, students will provide a document that has a list of questions after discussing synchronously in week 8 about what they want to obtain from these food establishments.

    In week 12, they will present a document about their progress and potential issues/barriers that they have identified in an asynchronous method.

    In week 15, students will present synchronously their findings and a solution for at least 1 issue identified through the project.

  • Reflection: As students submit their respective aspects of the project throughout the various weeks, they will provide thoughts about working with students from a different country that involves communication and teamwork abilities. Near the end of the semester, students will provide a more extensive reflection about any misconceptions that they had going into the semester with working with individuals outside of their country, how these misconceptions were resolved, if at all, and how they will expand their cultural network going forward.