Universiteit Leiden

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Education, Research

Call for volunteers: "Food stories for the biome"

6 April 2022

The Leiden European City of Science 2022 event “Food stories for the microbiome” is looking for volunteers!

Are you interested in food and cooking? Do you have a link to a food culture situated outside of the Netherlands? Are you curious about the beneficial bacteria that populate our guts and the relationship between food and gut health? Then join us for a guided exploration on food, culture and the gut microbiome!

“Food stories for the microbiome” is organized as part of the Leiden European City of Science 2022 by the Faculty of Humanities, Leiden University and MyMicroZoo, a Leiden-based life sciences company specialized in gut microbiome sequencing.

Research on the microbiome, the microorganisms cohabiting the human body, generates provocative insights about our health and identity. It is understood that the microbiome of an individual is constantly changing and affected by a range of environmental factors that reflect one’s daily habits (e.g. one’s diet or medicine use), social relationships (e.g. one’s housemates), and habitant (e.g. one’s home). In this project, we will focus on food preparation as an activity that directly affects the microbiome as well as an activity that merges culture and tradition with personal preferences and individual choices. We are what we eat, but what we eat is often affected by where we come from, where we are and what our collective and personal values are.

“Food stories for the microbiome” is a participatory project that explores the strong links between food, culture and the gut microbiome. In a series of 4 workshops, we will explore the science of the microbiome, have our own gut microbiome analysed, and recall, share and taste traditional food remedies for gut health.
For this project, we are looking for enthusiastic individuals with a willingness to learn more about the gut microbiome. Participants will be offered 2 free microbiome tests and are expected to attend 4 group meetings and a final public event with a communal meal on June 27th, 2022.

Interested? Please send us your motivation before April 10th:
Prof. dr. Robert Zwijnenberg: r.zwijnenberg@hum.leidenuniv.nl. You can also contact us if you have questions or need more information.

You can also join us for a digital Q&A on Microsoft Teams on Wednesday, April 6th, 20:00- 21:00 (Click here to join the meeting)

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