farmers market

I went to the farmers market recently. It was really great. I have gone many other times before this. I have not gone so close to the end of the school year before. They had so many cherries, strawberries and tomatoes. It was amazing! There was so much there. They also had meat, cheese and herbs and lettuces. There was so many products and fresh foods. It was really great. I think the Athens farmers market it pretty amazing. I have been to a few different ones in Cleveland, Dayton and some other places. Considering the size of Athens, the farmers market is pretty big. There is so much to choose from and one of my favorite farmers markets.

I would recommend so many people to go, especially clients. The food has great prices and is so fresh. It is also very decently priced. I think more people should shop locally. It is a great thing to do and it is often hard to beat the price. I just like to make people more aware of farmer's markets because they are a great thing. I try to shop at them as much as possible and also shop at grocery stores that buy local food as well.

I also got food there for our brunch for finals. I decided to make a tomato, basil and mozzarella salad. I got all of the ingredients at the farmers market. I got to different kinds of tomatoes to make it look even better. I am looking forward to making it and eating it. It will also be great to see what every one else is making!

class projects

On Tuesday, we went to the gardens so everyone could do their projects. I really enjoyed hearing about every ones projects and their garden intervention. Everyone did a great job and really thought about what there population needed. The class did a wide variety of age groups. The class planted a pretty good variety of plants and everyone garden looked really nice. A couple gardens had some big plants like broccoli and soy beans. The class did a great job. The interventions were really well thought out and well planned. The interventions were highly geared toward the population. I think the garden intervention is a great one. It really gets people involved with what they are eating. When people get involved with what they are eating they are more likely to eat it and like it. They may even teach others about it.

I think this was a great project. We learned alot about gardening and exactly what it takes. For alot of us it was the first time we ever gardened. I had always seen other people like my mom garden, but i had never done it myself. it was a really great experience. It even inspired me to garden at home in Dayton. We planted some more plants there like peppers and more tomatoes. We are also looking to plant some other items because we have so much room. I think the class next year will learn just as much as we did if not more. It was a great way to learn about gardening and how to do it.

class project

Thursday we met in the class room and worked on our project.  It is coming along really well.  We already have our kolrabi handout finished.  We have some research done and some other information finished.  It was good getting together.  We divided up the work and figured out when to meet to put the finishing touches on our project.  I think our project will turn out really great.  We divided up the work evenly between the group.  We are going to meet again on Monday and just put the finishing touches and make sure everything is done correctly.  I think our garden came out really well and it is somewhat unique with the edible flowers and kolrabi. Our group works really well together.  I am going to do the other nutrition handout and the other information that relates to it.  We are all doing parts of the power points that related to our part of  the project.  I think our project is going to turn out really well.  I really enjoyed this project and am looking forward to presenting it on tuesday!  I think our group is doing a good job!

Holzters dairy farm

I really enjoyed going to the dairy farm.  I have never been to a dairy farm before or any farm for that matter.  I was surprised to find out how much technology went into farming.  I had no idea that they had all of the monitoring to see how much milk was being produced and how much they were being fed.  It was also interesting, to see all the equipment they had.  I had no idea they needed that much.  It was very organized and definitely takes a lot of work to run a farm.  It was also interesting to hear the nutrition side of farming.  I did not know that each cow had a different diet that they were put on to optimize milk production and keep them from getting fat.  I was surprised that they had two dietitians on staff that figured out their feed formula.  It was also very interesting how strict the inspectors were that came to the farm.  I did not know the regulations were so tight.  I do not think I would really like doing animal nutrition.  I think it might get to repetitive and boring for me.  It was good to see that nutrition was very important to the farmers and for their cows.  I learned a lot about the dairy farm that I never knew before.  The technology surprised me the most.  I did not think there would be so much computers involved and so much tracking of the animals. I had no idea that they tracked each and every animal that came in.  They tracked them in every way possible which was surprising.  

I think dietitians should go to all types of food plants and farms to see how food is really made.  I think it is important for us to know where our food comes from.  It also would allow us to see what is locally made and how it is made.  This way if people ever asked we would know or at least we could refer them to somebody who would.  We would also be supporting sustainability and the local economy if we could go to all the local farms and food producers in the area.  It would have a huge impact on our practice and maybe allow to practice better and help our clients more.  

I think going to a place that like this allows people to see exactly what it takes to produce that food.  You see how much work and money goes into producing a food like that.  I do not think most people realize what it takes to produce the food and how much time and how many people. This was just a small farm, I can't imagine what a big farm would entail.  There is just so much that is involved with farming and making sure everything is safe. 

meeting with DH

Today we met with Dr.Holben to go over our projects. From the meeting I think our project is going pretty well. We are doing our project on pregnant adult women. I think our garden is meeting all the needs that we can do in our garden. Our garden is big on vitamins and minerals such as folate, iron, vitamin C, vitamin A, and calcium. We are planting a wide variety of vegetables and even some edible flowers. We wanted to do something a little different. It would be good for people to try new things. Our garden should meet the needs of our target population. We are going to do our information sheet probably on kohlrabi because no one else will have that in their garden. From our meeting it sounded like on garden is on the right track. I think we are focusing on the right minerals and vitamins for our population. Many of them are involved with reproduction of cells which is very important in early pregnancy. I am looking forward to working on our project next week and putting it together. I think our group is working well together. We all get along and we all work hard. I think our project is going to turn out really well along with our garden. This project is great and I will definitely take all the things I have learned from it and use it in the future. It is a wonderful thing that we are learning how to garden and that is something that we can use forever and pass on to others. I think this project has taught me so much already.

Arts West tree planting

Today we went again to plant trees. We planted many different kinds of trees at Arts West. We planted peach, gooseberry and current trees and bushes. As a class we probably planted 6 or so fruit trees or bushes. It went by much faster this time because we all knew what we were doing from the last time. I think this is a really great project to help people get their intake of fruit. I look forward to coming back next year and seeing how much they have grown. I hope this project really helps people increase their fruit intake. With the wide variety of fruits we are planting I think that there will be something for everyone. I hope everyone kept their map from the newspaper so they know where all of the trees are. I enjoyed planting the peach tree. Ashley and I dug the hole for the tree pretty fast and were ready to go. I feel like I definitely know how to plant a tree and protect it with the fence type stuff around it. I hope to use this in the future and plant some trees when I have a bigger yard. It was good to help with this process and hopefully help the city of Athens be a little healthier.

I think that our garden is coming along pretty well. Most of our plants are planted. But next week it is going to be hot so we have to make sure to water it a lot so our plants don't die. We are planting peppers, nasturtiums, kohlrabi,broccoli, spinach. I think that is everything. I hope our plants grow really well and we produce a lot. I think this is a great project. I plant on taking a picture next week to show the what our garden looks like. It will be interesting to see our plants once they start producing vegetables. I think next week will be out working on our garden and project frequently.

Dairy Counsel

Mike Sieminski RD, LD from the American Dairy Association who is a Nutrition Communications Coordinator came to speak to us about the Dairy Association.This is funded by 15 cents for 100 pounds of milk sold. The planning for the ideas come from the group of 12 or so people that work in the office. Basically one person brings it up and they discuss if they think it is a good idea and how to accomplish this idea. They have many programs such as refuel with chocolate milk, and three a day. The American Dairy Association goal is to improve the nutrition that is in the community and provide education, science backed nutrition information and try to improve the nutrition of the entire society. It is really hard to monitor and evaluate programs because there are so many people that process milk and milk products. They do try to look at milk sales and other dairy product sales to see if the programs are working. Overall, it is still a hard to feat to accomplish.

I thought it was really interesting what Mike did. I was surprised and how much communication was involved with his job. I can see how having his background in communication really work to his advantage as a dietitian. He does alot of tv spots and interviews for all sorts of reporters. It would be really hard to do that everyday and be on all the television shows. You really need to be careful about what you say to make sure their is scientific evidence behind it. I do not really think that I would doing his job. I do not like being in the spotlight. I much rather work behind the scenes. I don't think I would comfortable doing all those interviews with all those reporters. It was really nice him giving us all the tips for communication. I will definitely keep those in mind and they will be really great to use in the future. It was great to know that there are such a wide variety of nutrition related jobs out there. It is great that they design all those programs to increase the consumption of milk. I will definitely look to them for the latest projects and other events that are going on. I will also use their education materials.