May 31, 2012

Today for class we had our Locavore Brunch. At the beginning of class, everyone told what dishes they brought and explained where they got the ingredients and our reasoning behind them. My group made kale chips, pasta salad with red pepper and basil, and a fruit salsa with flour chips. We chose those because we are growing strawberries and kale in our garden. After we had lunch, we talked about some of the different assignments we have done and our experiences with them. This was a very good time and the food was yummy.

May 29, 2012

Today for class we went to the Holter's Dairy Farm in Pomeroy. Alyssa Holter gave us a tour of their facilities along with her parents and her sister. Also, there was a women with the American Dairy Association. The Holter's have over 200 cows. This tour was very interesting and I learned about dairy farmers. Their facilities were very nice and clean.  I was surprised with how much work and dedication it takes to keep a dairy farm up and running.  There are so many specific rules they have to do so they do not contaminate any of the milk. When we first arrived we saw an area where they keep the baby cows all together. Until they are 6 weeks old, they are in pens of their own so they can bottle feed them the mothers colostrum and then switch to milk replacement after three days. As the calfs get older they are moved up a pen until they can go to pasture. They then can roam their land, which is a few hundred acres.   It was a great experience and I really enjoyed it.

May 24, 2012

Today we had Karen Bakies, LD, RD from the American Diary Association Mideaset as our guest speaker. Her job title is Nutrition Affairs Director. The National Dairy Council is the leader in nutrition research, nutrition education, childhood nutrition and communication since 1915.  They provide timely, scientific-based nutrition information to the media, physicians, dietitians, nurses, educators, consumers, and others concerned about fostering a healthy lifestyle. Karen is funded by the dairy farmers themselves. They receive 15 cents for every 100 pounds of milk. This was a great presentation and I learned a lot from it!

May 22, 2012

Today we met with our group to discuss what we need to finish for our project. It was good to get together so we were all on the same page.

May 17, 2012

We traveled to Good Earth Farm to see what they were all about. When we got there, Paul greeted us and provided some background information. He explained that the farm is exclusively a non-profit organization and that they donate all of the food they grow, which is about 10,000 pounds a year. They also use the food for the residents of the house on site. They also provide meals for about 60 people at a time when they have dinners. The Good Earth Farm is funded by grants and donations. When Paul started this project, he received the land for free, which gave him a good start considering his wife was the only working at the time. He is very concerned about food insecurity in Athens and surrounding areas, which is the reason he started this project. This was a great to experience and was so interesting to see someone so selfless, it was refreshing. The only help they get is from volunteers, which is amazing. This would be a good place to do work!

May 15, 2012

Melissa Alfano was our guest speaker who represented WIC in the Athens area. WIC is Women Infants and Children, Supplemental nutrition program. Those that are eligible are pregnant women, breastfeeding women, postpartum women, infants and children. The income guidelines are as follows: at or below 185% of the US poverty income guidelines or on medicaid. Ohio WIC is 100% federally funded and operates in all 88 counties in OH. WIC improves pregnancy outcomes, reduces infant mortality and provides infants and children with a healthy start. The services they provide include: nutrition educations, breastfeeding education, supplemental foods, and farmers market. The role of the RD and DTR are to fill out welcome to WIC, health history forms, assessments, nutrition care plans, and to make referrals for high risk and special formula. They also teach classes and do nutrition education.

May 10, 2012

Today we went to the ecohouse and the compost facility. Our guide showed us how the compost worked and how they collected the food from Shively dining hall and Central foods. She spoke about the expansion of the facility and how they were getting a compost machine that was three times as big as the one they already had. This will produce a lot of compost, which they use throughout OU's campus. They are funded by grants. The ecohouse is a house that has many different features to save energy and be ecofriendly.

May 8, 2012

Today we went to The Ohio State University Extension building to learn about 4-H and other programs they offer. First, Brittany presented what 4-H, which is a youth organization composed of children and young adults around the area. 4-H stands for head, heart, heath and hands. The purpose of 4-H is to shirt to science from all fields, national vs state, community clubs vs school enrichment, and saving America's youth. Brittany emphasized that children from urban, suburban and rural areas are all part of 4-H and has been the case since the 1980's. The funding source for 4-H comes from many different places. The majority comes from the county commissioner, a smaller portion from OSU and they fund there activities by membership fees. She did not really talk about it, but I believe they plan, monitor and evaluate their program by how many members are each county program. If they did not have enough participants they cant do certain things because they do not have the funds. The role of the nutrition professional could be in the nutrition sector of the 4-H club. Many of the students who chose to do the nutrition projects, they can help with their projects and give them information. Next, Joyce Shriner talked about the OSU  extension program in general. The mission of the extension program is engaging people to strengthen their lives and communities through research based education programming. The funding for the extension program comes from federal, state and county and sometimes levy's bring in some money for the program. The role for the nutrition professional could be in the family  nutrition program and also in the 4-H sector. This was a very interesting talk and I never even realized this as a possible opportunity in the future.

May 3, 2012

Today, Heidi Anderson was our guest speaker. Heidi is a RD for WellWorks and  has worked with OU for 6 years. She is the Education and Special Event Coordinator and  primarily works with marketing and public relations. Heidi explained the Chip program, which promotes a plant based diet. This program works with others and they want to help promote this lifestyle worldwide. Heidi is funded through membership fees and the services they provide through WellWorks. Heidi's role is to encourage people to live a healthy lifestyle and guide people to make good, nutritious decisions. She was very interesting and I never really thought about a career in this path before.

May 1, 2012

Today our guest speaker was Janine Farber, RD. She is one of five dietitians that works for Meijer. The goal of the Meijer Healthy Living  program is to increase sales and promote customer loyalty by creating and communicating health solutions and product knowledge to shoppers. Janine does many community events, in store events, media appearances and creates publications. The funding for Janine comes from sponsorship's from different products including Planters, Tropicana, and Dole. The role of the dietitian is to help customers of Meijer make healthier decisions and become more knowledgeable on nutrition and what products they choose. Janine informed us about the Nu Val system, in which I never heard of before. This is a food scoring system that helps consumers see the nutritional value of a product at a glance. I would love to see this system in all stores to help those who do not know how to pick the healthiest choice within a product.

April 26, 2012

Unfortunately, Karen Dion from The Ohio Board of Dietetics could not be with us, so Dr. Holben reviewed the information about the board with us. The mission of the Board is to effectively protect the public by regulations the practice of dietetics through licensure, and by fairly and consistently enforcing the laws and rules governing nutritional practices. There are four RD members on the board and an educator member. The licensure fees are the funding for this organization.

April 24, 2012

Our guest speaker today was Francie Astrom a Registered Dietitian that works in WellWorks here in Grover Center. This is an OU Wellness Program that is supported by university wellness funds and membership fees. Also it is supported by services that they offer such as massage, nutrition counseling, and personal training. The purposes of the program include: providing a wide variety of programming, wellness focused vs medical model, to help others obtain optimal health, improve health status, and reduce risk of disease in the members. OU faculty/staff and dependence, OU retirees and dependence, community members, corporate members and full time medical and graduate students are able to join the program. The RD is integral to the success of the wellness program. The RD provides up to date nutrition information and review and interpret current literature. Also, they are a resource to staff as well as members and act as a change agent.

April 19, 2012

Today in class we discussed the different agencies that we were assigned to. It was nice to hear about all the different organzations out there and was very interesting. I was surprised of the wide variety and types of different organizations. The most shocking fact that I thought was the amount of money that our federal government spends on food programs. There were many organizations that I have never heard of before or heard of but did not know what they specically did or who they targeted. I read over all the handouts and I will believe these will be good references throughout my career.

April 17, 2012

In class we had a speaker, Nick Claussen from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. He talked about many different statistics of those who are food insecure. He explained that the program is designed to not to provide enough food for the family for the entire month. This program is a government program to help those who do not have a healthy intake of nutrition due to lack of resources. The state government sponsor's the program and monitors the use of the cards and catches any errors  in the screening process. The purpose of SNAP is to help individuals who do not get enough nutritionally sound foods into their diets. This is a crucial part to these people, because the impoverished are more likely to get sick, etc . so they need these types of foods. The role of the nutrition professional is mostly education to the recipients of the benefits. This will help them make the best decisions when going  to use their SNAP cards at the store or the farmers market. The farmers market should really be pushed by professionals because they are so fresh and nutritious and will give them the best benefits.

April 12, 2012

On Thursday we continued the lecture on Health and Nutrition Policy. After the lecture, we got into our groups. We discussed what types of produce we would try to grow. This was a good discussion and we decided need to go back and really make sure we have good  reasons for growing each vegetable/fruit.

April 10, 2012

We started off class with  a ice breaker. Dr. Holben wrote food security on the board and we had to finish the statement. He explained how this could be helpful for a group of people to see how much they know about a certain topic. After this, we talked about  Health and Nutrition Policy. This is very important to know, I never really considered that part before this class.

April 5, 2012

Today in class we continued our discussion on food insecurity and went over The Guide to Measuring Household Food Security. This was interesting to see how this is screened for and eye-opening that Ohio is the 6th in the nation in food insecurity. During the second half of class we received our agencies and group topics. For the agency assignment, I was assigned Bread for the World and I honestly have never heard  of this program. I am excited to learn about this program and all the other programs that  I am unfamiliar with. For the group project, my group's population is females 12 to 18, during puberty in the Athens area. I believe this will be very exciting to research and learn about. Also, the garden plot is also something I am looking forward to because I have never gardened before.

April 3, 2012

Today we met at the community garden with Megan. Megan showed us where all the supplies were and where our garden plot was. After talking with Megan and asking her questions, we split into our four groups and had a discussion. For our group we talked about different target groups we could possibly do. One group we discussed was girls during puberty. During this time it is very important for girls ages 12 to 18 need to have proper nutrient intake during this crucial time. We thought that many girls are not getting enough of the nutrients they need and we gives us a big range to decide what type of vegetables we would want to plant in our plot.

March 29, 2012

For class today we went over the community nutrition paradigm. All the components are very important important, but it is essential that evaluation is part of every component and it happens frequently. Also we discussed the steps  to a community needs assessment. These steps are essential, and lead to an action plan for the problem at hand. These two concepts are a very important base to community nutrition and is the basic understanding you need to fully apply concepts to all the components.

March 27, 2012

Community nutrition is very dynamic and has many components. Up to this point, I have not been exposed to all of the components,  but I would love to learn more about it. I would like to explore all my options and see if this could lead to what I want to include in my professional endeavors.  I believe community nutrition is all about food availability, access and safety. Also I believe the whole process is an  important concept for every individual to be aware of. For this class I am excited to learn more and actually experience being a part of the process. Some projects could include the garden, a food drive, or workshops on various topics of community nutrition components.