On June 13 we had the pleasure of donating a supply of Yumbini to the Oregon State University Honors College “forgot your lunch program”. “Forgot your lunch” provides healthy lunches to Honors College students free of charge, enabling them to have energy to do their best.

Oregon State University in Corvallis is Oregon’s largest university, and one of only two Land-, Sea-, Space- and Sun-Grant universities in the United States. These federal grants fuel robust research, education and extension activities in agriculture, aerospace, biobased fuel, and oceanography. Not surprisingly then, OSU boasts being #2 in Forestry and #3 in Oceanograpy, not just in the US, but worldwide. Oregon State also has an active Food Science and Technology department where students study all aspects of growing and preserving food. They are able to take advantage of the large pilot plant for experimentation as well as research brewery, winery, dairy and food innovation center.

The Honors College is a competitive program within Oregon State University that offers “the benefits of a small college experience with all the opportunities of a premier research university”. It features an “ever-evolving curriculum of small, collaborative courses led by teachers from across Oregon State”. Students are also required to complete a thesis, giving them the “the opportunity to complete original research under the guidance of a faculty mentor”. Upon completion of their selected major, Honors College students receive an Honors Baccalaureate, Oregon State’s most prestigious undergraduate degree.

You might say Oregon State’s Honors College is where the journey to Yumbini began! I had the great fortune to study Food Science and Technology and receive my Honors Baccalaureate back in 1979. The very practical, hands-on and grounded education I received at Oregon State has served me well all these many years. I am so happy to be able to support the success of today’s Honors College students with warm healthy Yumbini meals!