Food Lab Partnerships

With its launch in 2018, the First Lady’s Food Lab (FLFL) worked to build a bridge between the University and the Charlottesville community through the lenses of food. UVA students were connected with three community partners:

• Educational programming with Stone Robinson Elementary School in partnership with a Curry School of Education graduate student. Click here for the 2019 SRE program report.
• FLFL linked UVA students with the International Rescue Committee in the summer of 2019 through an internship program with New Roots Farm. This UVA Student Spent Her Summer Working for Food Justice (UVA)
• Through a successful Morven student grant proposal, UVA Students were funded through the UVA Environment & Equity Fund as Morven Food Lab Food Justice Fellows to work alongside the Charlottesville Food Justice Network to conduct research on Charlottesville’s food system.

Recent Press:

• This UVA Student Spent Her Summer Working for Food Justice (UVA)
• Students from Community Public Charter School visit Morven Farm (The Daily Progress)
• Students pitch ideas to open Morven Farms to the Community (CBS 19)
• Students brainstorm engagement for Morven Farm (The Daily Progress)

In recognition of Dorothy McAuliffe’s visionary leadership and her role as honorary chair of the Women’s Global Leadership Forum, the University of Virginia is inaugurating the First Lady’s Food Lab at Morven Farm. The new facility will acknowledge her commitment to supporting sustainable agriculture, local farmers, and those who lack access to nutritious food in the Commonwealth.

Read More about the work of Dorothy McAuliffe and the announcement of the First Lady's Food Lab:

• Virginia puts end of childhood hunger in sight (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
• Dorothy McAuliffe put aside pomp as hard-lobbying Virginia first lady (Washington Post)
• UVA Inaugurates Morven Food Lab in Honor of First Lady of Virginia (UVA Today)