5/27

Friday I went with Angela and Kira to the good earth farm. I was finally able to do something other then weeding which was a nice change of pace. We picked the spinach from the ground and cut off the roots. After picking the spinach we picked off only the leaves and washed them in water along with lettuce. After they had been rinsed and dried we carefully inspected each leaf for bugs, dirt, apperance etc. After we had gotten through an entire grocery cart full of lettuce and spinach we bagged them up and weighed them.

5/26/11

Thursday we didn't have class but our group met for a little bit to discuss our needs assessment project as well as our locavore brunch meals. We went over the workbook for a little while and broke down the work by chapters to make it easier. For our locavore menu we talked about doing some sort of tomato/basil/mozzarella salad, as well as possibly doing something with local fruits to make a fruit salsa.

Holters Holstein Farm

Tuesday's class we went out to Holter's Holstein farm and took a tour. I had never been on a dairy farm before so I thought it was really interesting. We got to see where the cows were milked, fed, inseminated etc. They only have enough food to feed the heffers from the grass, so they buy feed from the store to feed the rest of the cows. I learned that the cows are given a 50-60 day dry spell which is something I had never heard of before. Overall it was a really interesting experience.

5/18

Thursday's class we listened to a discussion on dietetics licensure. The purpose of the board of dietetics which is located in columbus is to provide working knowledge of ohio dietitian licensure laws. The board review requirements for licensure include limited permits, initial licenses and license renewal. They also deal with complaints. We discussed that it is important to take complaints to them even if you aren't sure, just to help prevent fraudulent practice. 46 states regulate the practice of nutrition and dietetics in either registration, certification or licensure. I learned that there are 5 board members (3 dietician members, 1 educator who has a phD, and 1 public member who has no affiliation to nutrition/dietetics). They serve a 5 year term and meet 6 times a year to discuss things to help protect the public. Overall I thought it was a pretty interesting talk since I wasn't really familiar with the licensure rules especially in Ohio when it comes to dietetics. Since my undergrad was in athletic training it was nice to learn how different professions  have different requirements when it comes to being licensed.

5/16

Tuesday we met with dr. holben to discuss our projects for a few minutes. We are using starter plants so we have already planted things like tomatoes, peppers, spinach and soy beans. We met as a group after and discussed a little bit about how we want to go about finishing up the needs assessment. After class I went to the good earth farm to help out. I did some more weeding around the garden. Picking the excess weeds from around the spinach and some of the blueberry patches.

5/12

Thursday's class, Karen Bakies came in to talk about the American Dairy Association. She is a registered dietician there. She had some really interesting and useful information. I learned there were about 3,200 dairy farmers in Ohio as compared to only about 500 in the state of West Virginia. They work with some really great programs such as Fuel Up to Play 60 which teams up with the National Football League to promote more physical activity and eat nutrient rich foods. The National Dairy Council is a member of the Nutrient Rich Foods Coalition which is a partnership that brings together leading researchers, health professionals, communication experts and agricultural organizations. They work together on educating people on how to get more nutrition from their calories by eating the nutrient-rich way.

Not only was the information on Milk and nutrient foods important, but I also enjoyed her insight on how to deal with people when publicly speaking. I thought it was really smart to address the situation when someone tries to argue with your opinion and that you should in a nice way tell them that you appreciate what they are asking but refer to research or other ways to tell them that they have been misinformed. You never want to talk down to, or at someone, and I thought that was a really helpful piece of advise for the future. I also really liked answering a question right and getting a sweet blue cow eraser haha.

5/10

Tuesday's class Melissa Alfano came in to talk about the WIC program. WIC is a supplemental nutrition program that is eligible to pregnant women, breastfeeding women, postpartum women, infants and children. To be eligible they must fall at or below 185% of the poverty income guidelines. WIC is 100% federally funded, and operates in all 88 of Ohio's counties. WIC improves pregnancy outcomes, reduces infant mortality and provides infants and children with a healthy start to life by providing or referring to support services, along with nutrition and breastfeeding education. WIC gives out 5 coupons per month that look like a check to use for different food packages, which include foods like: milk, juice, whole grains, cereal, fruits and vegetables, fish and baby food.
What I really thought to be a good idea was that in case they come across someone who is illiterate and can't read they have a chart of pictures of all the foods they can buy so the individuals can have an easier time seeing what they have access too. I also liked how they encourage people to not use all their coupons at once in case of an emergency. I think that is very smart, especially if something happens during the week like a power outage and some food spoils.

5/5/11

Today in class Francie came in to talk about being a registered dietician at wellworks. She also works with counceling people on nutrition as well as working with people with eating disorders. She told us she worked with the basketball team and used food models to help create well-balanced meals for the athletes. The main focus was to increase their fruit and vegetable intake. I think that is a very useful tool especially when trying to design an intervention program. She also mentioned that she gets paid per session with a rate of $30 for the first initial hour, then 15 dollars for every half hour follow up, which is incredibly cheap compared to other people who charge for the same services.

5/3/11

Today the guest speaker came in and talked about Meijer groceries and the nuval program. I had never heard of nuval before today. I have mixed feelings about the program. On one hand I think it seems helpful to those people who aren't good at reading labels and picking out what really is bad for you, so it would be beneficial to them to go off of a higher score as healthy. I just feel that the overall point of it is compromised especially when comparing different foods, especially those that aren't nutrient rich. I did like how the website had a section that could make a grocery list for you as well as give you the recipes for each meal.

4/29

Today I went to good earth farm. The weather was pretty cold and the fields were still muddy from the rain which was a bummer. I helped to pick weeds away from the radishes. There wasn't really a whole lot going on at the farm. I did however get to see a sheep being sheared for the first time so I thought that was pretty cool. I thought at one point the sheep was going to attack, because it kept squirming while the lady was holding it, although I think it got cut in a bad area so I personally don't blame him. I give credit to whoever does that for a living because it definetely does not seem easy.

4/28

Today in class we finished going over our agency assignment. We each discussed an agency that we were given that was a food program. I had the commodity supplemental food program which was created based on the WIC program except it goes up to age 6 for children and includes the elderly population above the age of 60. It was pretty interesting to learn about all the different agencies and programs that have been created thus far to help address the poverty and food security situations.

4/26

Today Heidi came in to talk about working in a wellness center and in a community nutrition agency. She works at wellworks as a special events coordinator and talked about some of the different types of events they create to help spread the message of a healthier lifestyle. These events include things like walk-a-thons and fashion shows for mothers. They created a vegetable costume which was used in the fashion show. I thought it was a pretty creative way to get the idea across. The main thing she told us was to keep your options open and to take advantage of what you can, even if it isn't something you thought you would do.