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.