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TheTurnerNutritionAwarenessProject at the University of Pennsylavnia

Welcome to the virtual home of the Turner Nutrition Awareness Project (TNAP). TNAP, which is sponsored by the University of Pennsylvania's Center For Community Partnerships and the Department of Anthropology, seeks to link the intellectual resources at Penn with the those of the John B. Turner Middle School in West Philadelphia to improve the health and nutrition of the surrounding community. The project has been supported by grants from the Ford Foundation, the W. H. Kellogg Foundation, the Nassau Fund, private donors, and the University of Pennsylvania.

TNAP is based upon the principles of academically-based community service (ABCS), integrating the academic, service, and research missions of the University while working to meet the community's need for health information. Through its relationship to the Center for Community Partnerships, TNAP represents one aspect of Penn's commitment to university/community partnerships. Through its relationship to the Department of Anthropology's program in Public Interest Anthropology, it provides an opportunity for undergraduate and graduate students to integrate theory and its application to complex social problems. And through its relationship to the Turner School, it demonstrates a recognition of the fact that the best learning is that which is applied to the common good.

The aims of TNAP are:

To enhance the ability of Turner students and their families to make informed decisions regarding the foods they consume.
To describe and analyze the nutritional ecosystem of the Turner community.
To work to increase the quality of the diet and the nutritional status of the Turner community.
To help establish community-directed, sustainable structures and programs to maintain an awareness of the relationships between diet and health.
To monitor and evaluate dietary quality and nutritional status of the Turner community across time.
To set in motion the process of dissemination of the results to the medical and scientific communities.
To provide educational experiences for University of Pennsylvania students that will help them see the links between knowledge and service through academically-based public service.

History TNAP Components Publications Links

History of TNAP

Components of TNAP
Composed of students from Anthropology 310 and volunteers from the West Philadelphia Improvement Corps and the Urban Nutrition Initiative, the Penn community takes an active role in a collaborative effort with Turner students and teachers to disseminate information on nutrition and health and to empower community members to make healthier dietary choices.

Nutrition Health Classes
Community Needs Assessment
Vegetable Garden
Fruits 'R' Us and vegetables Too! (School Store)
Public Health Campaign

Useful Links

Nutrition Websites Penn Websites

    5 A Day for Better Health                                      University of Pennsylvania
    Dole 5 A Day                                                        Center for Community Partnerships
    Family Food Zone                                                 West Philadelphia Improvement Corps
    Healthy Fridge
    Kids Food Cyberclub

Penn Program in Public Interest Anthropology

Academically Based Community Service Courses

Anthropology 310: Nutrition, Health, and Community Schools
Anthropology 318: Anthropological Perspectives on Monitoring and Evaluating Social Programs
Other courses at the University of Pennsylvania

This homepage is maintained by Francis E. Johnston Last Updated February 22, 1999