Locavore Brunch

Today was the last day of class as well as our locavore lunch.  There was a great spread, all types of local (and some not so local) foods.  I definitely ate too much food, I was stuffed by the end, but it was all so good.  I also discovered how much I like kale, which I had in an awesome kale salad and kale chips.  Overall, this quarter in community nutrition was a great experience!

Dairy Farm Tour

Today we went to the dairy farm in Pomeroy. It was the Holter Holstein Farm, we also had a representative from the American Dairy Association take us on the tour.  The farmer and the American Dairy Association representative discussed that the farmers pay fifteen cents for every one hundred pounds of milk produced at their farm is paid to the American Dairy Association.  The farm is family owned and operated by family and local workers, many of which are local students.  The farm was surprisingly clean to what I would have expected from a farm with that many cows on it.  Even more surprising was that the smell was not bad at all.  I was surprised at how modern the facility was, I didn't realize they had it all mechanized and the cows wore radio tags to get the appropriate amounts of food.

Speaker: Karen Baker, RD, LD - Nutrition Affair Director for the Dairy Council

Agency: The Dairy Council

Program Type: The Dairy Council communicates scientific research on dairy related issues and advocate for dairy nutrition.

Funding: Funding comes completely from dairy farms. For every 100 pounds of dairy produced, the Dairy Council receives $0.15.

Mission: NDC disseminates nutrition programs, materials and research to support government recommendations for improved nutrition for Americans, including consumption of at least three servings of nutrient-rich low-fat or fat-free milk and milk products a day. 

Monitor/Evaluation: The federal government oversees the productivity and effectiveness of the Dairy Council.

Role of Nutrition Professionals: Nutrion professionals may work with local farmers to act as a liaison to the NDC.  Nutrion professionals also may oversee dairy distribution and consumption rates in schools to ensure all standards are being met.

5/22/2012

Today we just met with our group and completed a handout brochure on spinach.

Speaker: Paul Clever

Agency: Good Earth Farm

Type of program & Purpose: Good Earth Farm provides a place for education for people from the community about agriculture and livestock.  They also grow produce at the local garden and donate it to local food shelters.

Funding:They are mostly self funded but also receive donations from local sources.


Monitoring/Evaluation:They have no specific monitoring of production or efficiency rates, but they are inspected semi-annually to ensure safety of donated food.

Role of Nutrition Professional: A nutritional professional may have many roles in this typeof work, but mostly it would have to deal with monitoring of the producers and ensuring good quality food is being served.

Speaker: Melissa Alfano - Director of Athens/Perry County WIC

Agency: WIC

Type of program & Purpose: A supplemental food program for pregnant, breastfeeding and postpartum women, as well as infants and children.  Other criteria for the program also includes financial limits.

Funding: 100% federally funded.

Monitoring/Evaluation: Done on a federal level, as well as a survey done by the state dietitian every 2 years.

Role of Nutrition Professional:  Nutrition professionals provide nutrition education, breastfeeding classes and education, supplemental food distribution, coupon distribution and nutrition status assessments.

I think working as a nutrition profession in WIC would be very interesting and a good experience to have even if one was not going to deal exclusively with women, infants and children.

Name: Annie Laurie Cadmus - Director of Sustainability

Agency: Compost Facility/EcoHouse

Type of program & Purpose: To make Ohio university a more sustainable environment and to act as an example to those around.  The compost facility collects food and landscaping waste from campus and converts it through aerobic means into compost which may be used for fertilizer.  EcoHouse as a sustainable  project for students which allows them to live in the house off campus and live a sustainable lifestyle.

Funding: Sponsored by grants or through OU funds if needed.

Monitoring/Evaluation: The compost facility may be inspected by university officials to ensure safety and efficiency.  All evaluation done on either facility is internal.

Role of Nutrition Professional:  Nutrition professionals may be asked at a facility to develop or implement or maintain a composing system.