Bryant Terry

I really enjoyed Bryant Terry coming in to discuss with our class. I thought his prospective on food was very interesting. I agree with the fact that dietitians need to get people more involved with their food in order to help them get what they need. I think having them make their food or grow it really gets them involved or excited about it and much more willing try it. When you put work into something, you are much more likely to like it and being willing to try it. I think at Ohio University in our program, we need to learn about what we cook and how to cook. We only take a few classes and most of the people hate it. I think it is essential to counseling or helping someone. I don't know how we can get people to eat something if they do not know how to cook it. If we can't help them with that it will be much harder. I think as dietitians we need to get much more involved in the kitchen and be hands on with our clients. I would eventually like to start a program where dietitans help someone cook according to their disease. I think giving someone cooking lessons can help them in multiple ways. This way they can know more about what they are eating and adjust something according to their likes. I also think going grocery shopping with someone and answering their questions really helps. It wouldn't take long before they did not need any help and then they could even teach other people.

I went to see Bryant Terry speak at OU that night. He told the story about he became a chef and a vegan. It was interesting to see how the people in his life influenced him. He talked about growing up and walking around his grandfathers and grandmothers garden. This made it normal for him to be eating fresh fruits and vegetables all the time. There was no grass in their garden at all. He always knew when his grandma was cooking because she would be singing in the kitchen. They canned everything that was left over from the garden. So he grew up loving vegetables and cooking. Then he heard a song about how beef was processed as a sophomore. This song changed his world and therefore he became a vegan. Then when he went to culinary school he realized how hard it was in certain communities to get the food they needed because they have only convenient stores and liquor stores instead of grocery stores and farmers market. So him and a few of his chef friends created a program to change this. They take trips to the grocery store and teach the people in the community to cook and speak out about what they want at the stores. That is how he got where is he is today. His talk was really inspiring to hear about he created the job he has now and how the programs helping one person has help multiple people and had a ripple effect.

Then he did a cooking demonstration and we got to eat it. It was really good. He made collard greens with raisins and garlic. I really enjoyed it and plan on getting his cookbook. I think the work he does is amazing and I hope I can help has many people as he has by creating the job I want to do!