Alexandria, VA. – April 9, 2025 - The American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) is pleased to announce the recipient of the 2025 Ruth O’Brien Project Grant.
The American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (AAFCS) Ruth O’Brien Project Grant was established in 1972 through a bequest from Ruth O’Brien, who served as assistant chief of the Bureau of Human Nutrition and Home Economics in the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The Ruth O’Brien Project Grant supports research and development in family and consumer sciences (FCS) to assist members of the FCS profession to develop and use their full potential to serve society; provide support for education, study, and scientific research in fields relating to FCS; develop leaders within the field of FCS; or improve the usefulness and effectiveness of FCS in all its aspects.
The project selected for funding in 2025 is “Utilizing AI-Generated Recipes in a College Food Pantry in Central Arkansas.” The project directors are Kathryn Carroll, CFCS, CPFFE, and Rebekah Luong, CFCS from University of Central Arkansas (UCA). Dr. Carroll is an Associate Professor and Graduate Program Director and Ms. Luong serves as Interim Department Chair and FCS Program Director in the Department of Nutrition and Family Sciences at UCA. The proposed project begins July 1 and is designed to investigate the potential benefits of AI-generated healthy recipes in client-choice food pantries, specifically focusing on helping clients better utilize available items. Using a framed field experiment with clients on a college campus in Central Arkansas, the proposed study will examine whether providing health-oriented AI-generated recipes for in-stock items results in a larger volume of food being selected; increased client satisfaction; and differences in the types of food selected.
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Kathryn Carroll, CFCS, CPFFE
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Dr. Carroll and Ms. Luong will be recognized at the 2025 Annual Conference in Kansas City, Missouri, and will share the results of the funded project at the 2026 Annual Conference in Louisville, Kentucky.
“Our new grantmaking program, FCS Forward, supports scientific inquiry, validates and advances the FCS Body of Knowledge, and addresses important societal challenges in Family and Consumer Sciences. The AAFCS Grantmaking Program funds projects focused on research, innovation, effectiveness and recruitment. Specifically, funding is available for projects that help fulfill these objectives and are in accordance with the goals of the Association and the FCS profession.” - Karin Athanas, AAFCS Executive Director
About AAFCS:
The American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, founded in 1909, is the only professional association dedicated to Family and Consumer Sciences students and professionals who represent multiple practice settings and content areas. For 114 years, AAFCS has focused its mission on providing leadership and support for professionals whose work assists individuals, families, and communities in making more informed decisions about their well-being, relationships, and resources to achieve optimal quality of life. Through research, experiential education, and technology, our members help people develop the essential knowledge and skills to lead better lives, be work and career ready, build strong families, and make meaningful contributions to our communities.
Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Family and consumer sciences or FCS is the field of study focused on the science and the art of living and working well in our complex world. The field represents many areas, including human development, personal and family finance, housing and interior design, food science, nutrition, and wellness, textiles and apparel, and consumer issues.