2008 Woodie Awards
Herbfest spices up UMass
Emily Reynolds, Collegian correspondent
Issue date: 5/9/08 Section: News
HerbFest 2008 took place in the Student Union Ballroom yesterday, showing off projects that students from the herbs, spices, and medicinal Plants class have worked on.
"HerbFest is a project that the students work on through the semester," said professor Lyle Craker, who has been running the class for nearly 20 years. "We like to demonstrate the uses of herbs and spices."
The project started in the morning with about 200 students from schools in the surrounding area and was later opened to the public for a few hours.
"It gives them a chance to show what they have been learning," said Craker.
Students filled the ballroom with projects, showing off all sorts of uses for herbs and spices, including those as common as caffeine, soaps, and teas, as well as those not so common, like herbs that double as aphrodisiacs.
One herb that is common but not well known is stevia, which comes from Paraguay. It flavors food and doubles as a weight loss tool.
"The Food and Drug Administration regulates it as a dietary supplement instead of a food additive," said Elizabeth Saunders, who did her project on the herb.
Stevia can be used in place of sugar in many dishes. It can help diabetics by controlling blood sugar levels and helps people with autoimmune diseases.
"It comes in a lot of forms, and it is really easy to bake with," said Saunders.
Saunders demonstrated the use of stevia in bread and cookies she had made. Also included on her table were nearly a dozen cookbooks that contained stevia in the recipes, showing the versatility of the little-known plant.
Like Saunders, many projects had something for the viewers to enjoy. Among the projects, there were samples of chocolate, tea, soda, and various baked goods with herbs and spices in them.
Hampshire student Claudia Coleman, like Saunders, did her project on something a little less known to the general public.
"A tincture is the extraction of the medicinal part of the plant through an alcohol process," said Coleman.
"HerbFest is a project that the students work on through the semester," said professor Lyle Craker, who has been running the class for nearly 20 years. "We like to demonstrate the uses of herbs and spices."
The project started in the morning with about 200 students from schools in the surrounding area and was later opened to the public for a few hours.
"It gives them a chance to show what they have been learning," said Craker.
Students filled the ballroom with projects, showing off all sorts of uses for herbs and spices, including those as common as caffeine, soaps, and teas, as well as those not so common, like herbs that double as aphrodisiacs.
One herb that is common but not well known is stevia, which comes from Paraguay. It flavors food and doubles as a weight loss tool.
"The Food and Drug Administration regulates it as a dietary supplement instead of a food additive," said Elizabeth Saunders, who did her project on the herb.
Stevia can be used in place of sugar in many dishes. It can help diabetics by controlling blood sugar levels and helps people with autoimmune diseases.
"It comes in a lot of forms, and it is really easy to bake with," said Saunders.
Saunders demonstrated the use of stevia in bread and cookies she had made. Also included on her table were nearly a dozen cookbooks that contained stevia in the recipes, showing the versatility of the little-known plant.
Like Saunders, many projects had something for the viewers to enjoy. Among the projects, there were samples of chocolate, tea, soda, and various baked goods with herbs and spices in them.
Hampshire student Claudia Coleman, like Saunders, did her project on something a little less known to the general public.
"A tincture is the extraction of the medicinal part of the plant through an alcohol process," said Coleman.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Candle
posted 5/12/08 @ 6:21 PM EST
Wow! Professor Craker! What a great project. I feel like this is "the Apprentice" Thank you to Emily for writing such a great article about a very important herb "Stevia" it's important to the diabetic community because it is zero on the glycemic rate. (Continued…)
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