The creation of a food labeling system is among Fulbright winner Sabrina Davis' leadership projects on campus.
The creation of a food labeling system is among Fulbright winner Sabrina Davis' leadership projects on campus.

Chapman University senior awarded Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship

Presidential Scholar Sabrina Davis ’12, a graphic design student who created a colorful nutrition labeling program to help students make smart food choices, has been awarded a Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship.

Davis, who graduates this spring with a major in graphic design and a minor in food science, will use the scholarship to study and work in Madrid, Spain, where she looks forward to refining her Spanish and immersing herself in European culture and cuisine.

“I want to study the culture where Spanish originated,” Davis says.

And she looks forward to more experiences similar to a wine and food pairing class she took during a study tour of Italy last summer. Davis says she hopes to eventually combine her design and food science skills to create her own restaurant and a line of food classes and cookbooks.

“I’ve always had a left brain, right brain thing going as I’ve been deciding which career to go into. I went back and forth my freshman year,” she says. She decided to combine the two with a major and minor “and see where that went.”

It went well. By her junior year, Davis had developed enough design and food science know-how to undertake an independent study project with Sodexo, the university’s dining services provider, to create a “green light, red light” style nutrition information labeling system. Using food science software to crunch nutrition content and design programs to create images, Davis produced placards that display nutrition content of popular dishes served at the Randall Dining Commons. Green circles note the most nutritious daily dining choices, and orange and red circles note which foods where moderate or minimal consumption is advised.

Now the colorful placards are a mainstay in the dining hall. At each food station the placards display the fiber, fat, sodium and nutrient content for some of the favorite dishes served. At a glance, students can judge a food choice based on the number of green, orange or red circles it has or take a closer look and read the nutrition content printed inside the colorful circles.

Davis’ project evolved into a paid internship at the dining commons, where she designs menus, meets with student dining services committees and creates a weekly express healthy choices food station.

In addition to her academic work, Davis also has a full roster of leadership activities, including serving as alumni chair for the Chapman chapter of Mortar Board, a national honor society. Barbara Mulch, Ph.D., director of fellowships and scholar programs, cited Davis’ leadership skills as being key to her winning the Fulbright scholarship.

“Spain is one of the more competitive countries, but Sabrina has multiple talents which I believe made her a very strong applicant.  She is very bright, with excellent academic credentials as well as strong leadership and interpersonal skills,” Dr. Mulch said.

Davis will travel to Spain for the 2012-13 academic year. She is still waiting to hear at which university she will be assigned.

Dawn Bonker

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