Jennifer Berg

Jennifer Schiff Berg graduated from the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University with a master's degree in Food Service Management in 1996 and a PhD in Food Studies in 2006. She has taught numerous courses in the Department since 1990 and now serves as the director for the Graduate Program in Food Studies.

With a focus on the intersection of food, culture, and identity, she conducts her own research on Jewish American foodways. Her dissertation, entitled From Pushcarts Peddlers to Gourmet Take-Out: New York City's Iconic Foods of Jewish Origin, 1920 to 2005, examines the history and symbolic significance of New York's iconic foods of Jewish origin. Recent and forthcoming publications include co-editing Questione di Gusti: A Matter of Taste, for Gambero Rosso, a book chapter for The Encyclopedia of Jews in American Culture, a forthcoming essay on New York City's icon foods for Gastropolis: Food and New York City and several encyclopedia entries on subjects ranging from “pizza” to “food studies.”

Berg serves as the treasurer for the Association for the Study of Food and Society, an international organization dedicated to an interdisciplinary discourse on the role of food in culture and society and advisory board member for the American Institute of Wine and Food. She co-chair Days of Taste, a yearly farm-to-table program for 2000 New York City public school students. She is a certified Greenmarket tour guide and tour market trainer for the New York City Council on the Environment.