Sunday, May 27, 2012
Thursday 24th, Dairy Council
Thursday we had a guest speaker again. Her name was Karen Bakies and she is the Nutrition Affairs Director for the American Dairy Association Mideast. It is a grassroots network of state and regional dairy councils that aim to provide timely, scientific-based information to the media, physicians, dietitians, nurses, educators, consumers and others concerned about living a healthy lifestyle. The programs are funded by the dairy farmers. Aside from specifics of the dairy council, Karen talked to us a lot about having good communication skills. Knowing our audience, style of message delivery, and utilizing media are all three important factors that were emphasized for successful audience acceptance. I personally liked when Karen talked about information retention and vocabulary. It is important for us to remember that though we might be very passionate and excited about the nutrition information we are talking about, the audience is only going to take away a small fraction of what we say to them. Also, with learners being 80% more likely to retain information that they experience themselves, it is important to engage the audience and think of creative activities to get them involved. As far as language goes, it is important for us to also remember to keep in mind who we are talking to. We go to college for 4+ years and learn tons of scientific terms and concepts, but if we can't bring those ideas down to their most basic level and explain them to a lay audience then our message is lost. Overall, Thursday was an informative class, and not just one that helps nutrition majors, it was a useful lecture for students from all disciplines.
Tuesday 22nd Group Meeting
Tuesday we didn't have a scheduled class time, but we did meet with our groups to work on the work book and figure out what we have left to do. Thankfully were are almost finished with it, and can put our binder together next week.
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Good Earth Farm Thursday 5/17
Thursday we met at Good Earth Farms, and it was a perfect day for it! Good Earth is a "food provider" for local food pantries and soup kitchens. Their main goals are to "to provide healthy food to those who most need it and to provide a place of education and retreat for visitors." Paul Clever, one of the founders, gave us a tour and talked to us about why the do what they do. The founders of Good Earth Farms saw a need for fresh fruit and vegetables in food pantries and soup kitchens, so they made it thier mission to provider more of those items to food pantries and educate about local produce. The farm is funded through grants and donations, and every Saturday the farm is open for volunteers to help with gardening. I was impressed to learn how much produce they produce in a season. Overall, Paul was a really nice guy and I liked the purpose of the farm, hopefully in the coming weeks I can make time to volunteer some of my time at Good Earth!
WIC and Cancer Webinar Tuesday 5/15
Tuesday we got to meet Melissa Alfano, an OU alum! She is the the director of Athens and Perry county WIC. As we learned through the agency assignment, WIC is a supplemental feeding program for pregnant, breastfeeding, and postpartum women and their infants and children and is a federally funded program. The main goal of WIC is to give kids a healthy start. This goal is fulfilled by offering programs such as breastfeeding education, nutrition education, and food vouchers. We learned that as a director of WIC, it is mostly about following the motions and filing the correct paperwork, but it is important to have a clinical background to have skills to help the people they work with.
During the cancer webinar we listened to Cheryl Rock PhD, RD talk about how cancer can be linked to diet and exercise habits. She mainly went over studies that have been conducted which link nutrition to cancer. Also, phytochemicals were seen to reduce the risk of cancer and slow the development of cancer. I don't know how crazy I was about the webinar format, I prefer face-to-face interaction..it's more engaging.
During the cancer webinar we listened to Cheryl Rock PhD, RD talk about how cancer can be linked to diet and exercise habits. She mainly went over studies that have been conducted which link nutrition to cancer. Also, phytochemicals were seen to reduce the risk of cancer and slow the development of cancer. I don't know how crazy I was about the webinar format, I prefer face-to-face interaction..it's more engaging.
Friday, May 11, 2012
Thursday 5/10
Thursday we got to visit OU's compost facility and EcoHouse.
Annie Cadmus gave us a tour of both places, she is the director of sustainability. The compost facility was much smaller than I imagined, but it was exciting to hear that it is currently under construction and tripling in size and the small facility compostes tons of food waste each year. The facility is funded by grants and partially through OU. It was surprising to learn that, at this point in time, there is no financial benefit for composting in Ohio because it's so cheap to send waste to a landfill. I'm proud to be attending a university that sees the importance of sustainability, even if its not the most cost-effective (yet!). I was also surprised with the smell of the facility, with all of the food waste I expected it to be pretty stinky. It didn't smell like flowers, but it wasn't bad at all considering the amount of food waste concentrated in such a small space.
After checking out the compost facility, we drove down to the EcoHouse, a place I didn't know existed until this class. EcoHouse is home to three students each year, who take care of the house while learning about sustainable living and conducting sustainability projects. There is also a free community garden open to anyone. It was neat to see the different solar panels and learn how tenants can get readings on how much energy they are using on a daily basis. The house also had their own composting area. It was pretty simple, three small areas separated by wooden pallets, and every couple weeks they turn the waste into the next section. It looked so simple, it is something I am considering trying once I have the space to try it! It was really neat getting to learn about EcoHouse, if I would have known about it sooner I would have definitely put in an application to live there.
Annie Cadmus gave us a tour of both places, she is the director of sustainability. The compost facility was much smaller than I imagined, but it was exciting to hear that it is currently under construction and tripling in size and the small facility compostes tons of food waste each year. The facility is funded by grants and partially through OU. It was surprising to learn that, at this point in time, there is no financial benefit for composting in Ohio because it's so cheap to send waste to a landfill. I'm proud to be attending a university that sees the importance of sustainability, even if its not the most cost-effective (yet!). I was also surprised with the smell of the facility, with all of the food waste I expected it to be pretty stinky. It didn't smell like flowers, but it wasn't bad at all considering the amount of food waste concentrated in such a small space.
After checking out the compost facility, we drove down to the EcoHouse, a place I didn't know existed until this class. EcoHouse is home to three students each year, who take care of the house while learning about sustainable living and conducting sustainability projects. There is also a free community garden open to anyone. It was neat to see the different solar panels and learn how tenants can get readings on how much energy they are using on a daily basis. The house also had their own composting area. It was pretty simple, three small areas separated by wooden pallets, and every couple weeks they turn the waste into the next section. It looked so simple, it is something I am considering trying once I have the space to try it! It was really neat getting to learn about EcoHouse, if I would have known about it sooner I would have definitely put in an application to live there.
Tuesday 5/8
Tuesday we met at the extension office and learned a little about 4-H and and the OSU extension program. First, Brittany talked to us about 4-H and how it has changed over the years. Many of us assumed that 4-H has a lot to do with farming and agriculture, but we learned that there are many other components that have been added over the years as our country as shifted away from farm life. The programs are meant for children from all areas to socialize and gain life skills, all while having fun. Science, citizenship, and healthy living are the three focus areas of the 4-H programs offered. We learned that the Athens 4-H programs are funded through the county commissioner, OSU extension, membership fees, and fundraisers and is overseen by extension educators like Joyce.
Joyce talked to us about the OSU Extension system. We learned that her job is funded through yearly grants. The focus of the OSU Extension is agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer science, community development, and as discussed earlier, 4H and youth development. Joyce talked a lot about the Family Nutrition Program, which is a mandatory program for adults on food assistance. The classes focus on MyPlate, fruit and vegetables, dairy, whole grains, protein foods, food shopping, and food safety. The OSU extension hires paraprofessionals to teach these classes, and some extension offices offer internships. It was intetesting to learn about FNP because I never knew there was required education for recipients of food assistance.
Our trip to the extension office was another great opportunity to see where nutrition fits in areas outside of a clinical setting. It's a shame that so little funding is offered to these types of programs.
Joyce talked to us about the OSU Extension system. We learned that her job is funded through yearly grants. The focus of the OSU Extension is agriculture and natural resources, family and consumer science, community development, and as discussed earlier, 4H and youth development. Joyce talked a lot about the Family Nutrition Program, which is a mandatory program for adults on food assistance. The classes focus on MyPlate, fruit and vegetables, dairy, whole grains, protein foods, food shopping, and food safety. The OSU extension hires paraprofessionals to teach these classes, and some extension offices offer internships. It was intetesting to learn about FNP because I never knew there was required education for recipients of food assistance.
Our trip to the extension office was another great opportunity to see where nutrition fits in areas outside of a clinical setting. It's a shame that so little funding is offered to these types of programs.
Monday, May 7, 2012
Thursday 5/3
Thursday before speaking to Heidi Anderson we were given time to check out the research Expo at the convocation center. I got to check out Ryan, Remi, and Lauren's presentations and they all looked great! I also got a chance to check out my other friends research who are outside of the nutrition field.
Heidi Anderson is the education and special events coordinator at WellWorks. As we learned before from meeting Francie, the programs are funded mainly through memberships and the services they offer. For me, it was exciting to learn that though Heidi is an RD, she is actually using her masters in health education to do her job. This interested me since I am not a nutrition major anymore, and I have been looking into getting a masters somewhere in the public health or education field. We learned that Heidi does a lot of event planning for Well Works such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and the Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP), as well as smaller special events like cooking demos and walks. I really liked learning about the CSA because it makes local produce available more easily to community members. Participants by a share in a farmer's crop on a year-to-year basis, and for 20 weeks you can get a box of fresh produce every week. Heidi said they are currently working on taking this program university-wide. This program is so great because not only because having more produce is healthier, it is also supporting local agriculture which helps our local economy! After feeling a little hesitant about changing my major, meeting Heidi has given me hope that I can still help people live a healthy lifestyle without being an RD.
Heidi Anderson is the education and special events coordinator at WellWorks. As we learned before from meeting Francie, the programs are funded mainly through memberships and the services they offer. For me, it was exciting to learn that though Heidi is an RD, she is actually using her masters in health education to do her job. This interested me since I am not a nutrition major anymore, and I have been looking into getting a masters somewhere in the public health or education field. We learned that Heidi does a lot of event planning for Well Works such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) and the Coronary Health Improvement Project (CHIP), as well as smaller special events like cooking demos and walks. I really liked learning about the CSA because it makes local produce available more easily to community members. Participants by a share in a farmer's crop on a year-to-year basis, and for 20 weeks you can get a box of fresh produce every week. Heidi said they are currently working on taking this program university-wide. This program is so great because not only because having more produce is healthier, it is also supporting local agriculture which helps our local economy! After feeling a little hesitant about changing my major, meeting Heidi has given me hope that I can still help people live a healthy lifestyle without being an RD.
Tuesday 5/1
On Tuesday we got to meet Janine Faber from Meijer healthy living. I never thought of the role an RD could have in a grocery store, but Janine showed how creative RD's can get with their career. The goal of Meijer Healthy Living is to increase sales and promote customer loyalty by creating and communicating health solutions and product knowledge to shoppers. The Healthy Living team offers many resources to customers through community and in-store events, media segments, publications, and their websites. It was neat to see the many ways Meijer reaches out to their community to promote a healthy lifestyle, I especially liked how they utilize social media like Pintrest and Twitter to connect. We learned that a majority of their programs are funded through sponsorships from the different brands they offer. However, the team has complete say over which brands they promote. Though the business side wants to sell products and make money, they still focus on promoting the healthiest products. Janine also went into detail explaining the NuVal system, which Meiher utilizes in their stores. I think the scoring system is a great way for people to make simple swaps to eat healthier. Though the system cannot replace nutrition education from a RD, I see how the system can help the customer make decisions between products if they are unsure of label lingo. Tuesday's class was fun because it wasn't a traditional RD position, and Janine brought lots of handouts and goodies to keep us entertained. :)
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