The Onward California tour doesn’t rely on words and pictures alone to tell the UC story. People who visit the exhibition can also taste the UC story, by way of free gelato in 10 flavors inspired by the achievements of the 10 UC campuses.

The UC Davis flavor is Honey Bee — in recognition of the Harry H. Laidlaw Jr. Honey Bee Research Facility, described on the label as the largest and most comprehensive state-supported agriculture facility in North America and the only one in California.

Gelateria Naia is the tour’s “official gelato sponsor” — donating 50,000 Bar Gelato treats (gelato on a stick), made in Hercules (Contra Costa County).

“Ten years ago we opened our first gelateria at the foot of Cal on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley,” co-founder Chris Tan told Dateline UC Davis, explaining his company’s strong connection with UC Berkeley and indeed all of UC.

The UC Davis connection

Of course, UC Davis has its own connection to Naia: Alexis Morris, wife of co-founder Trevor Morris, studied community development here, receiving a Master of Science degree in that subject in 1996.

She did her undergraduate work at UC Riverside (Bachelor of Arts, sociology). Naia’s production and retail managers are Berkeley grads in chemistry and political science.

“We want to do our part on improving public awareness of the value that UC delivers to California through higher education,” Tan said.

Naia’s 10 UC gelato flavors show the breadth of that value, in agriculture and nutrition; health and brain science; astronomy, computers and energy; and sustainability and the arts.

Wait a minute ...

Hmmmmm, UC Davis is remarkable in all those areas, too. So perhaps Honey Bee should be only one of our flavors. Maybe we should have our name on some of the other flavors, too, like Super Strawberry and Cognitive Chocolate and Vanill-Lick.

And especially Being Green: This gelato (made with matcha green tea) recognizes UC San Diego as the third-greenest school in the nation, as determined by Sierra Club’s 2011 Cool School rankings. In 2012, however, UC Davis vaulted to No. 1! (Take a look at those banners across campus.)

The reality is, a UC spokeswoman said: Every UC campus rocks! And the Onward California tour is getting the word out.

Here are the other campuses, their flavors and the wording from their labels:

Berkeley: Vitamin (K)iwi — Kiwi is naturally high in vitamin K, a vitamin discovered by UC Berkeley.

San Francisco: Super Strawberry — UC San Francisco researchers found that eating lots of fruits and vegetables is associated with a 50 percent reduction in the risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

Santa Cruz: Vanill-Lick — With headquarters at UC Santa Cruz, Lick Observatory is home to many astronomical discoveries, including several moons of Jupiter and extra-solar planets.

Merced: Cognitive Chocolate — UC Merced professors helped IBM develop experimental computer chips designed to emulate the brain’s abilities for perception, action and cognition.

Santa Barbara: Energizer Coffee — UC Santa Barbara Professor Daniel Morse has led development of a biologically inspired nanostructured battery that promises high power, longevity and low cost.

Los Angeles: The Limelight — Star power: UCLA alumni have 107 Academy Award wins and nominations. UCLA’s film school draws upon industry leaders for its faculty, advisers and mentors.

Irvine: HTTP Pistachio — UC Irvine alum Roy Fielding is co-founder of Apache HTTP Serve Project and architect of the HTTP/1.1 protocol used worldwide for Internet access.

Riverside: Citrus Grove (tangelo and lemon) — UC Riverside has roots as a Citrus Experiment Station and continues to help grow California’s citrus industry, developing more than 40 new citrus varieties.

San Diego: Being Green (matcha green tea) — Sierra Club’s magazine ranked UC San Diego the “greenest” school in California and the third “greenest” in the country.

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