COMMUNITY NUTRITION
THE FARMER'S MARKET
For two Saturdays, I conducted recipe demonstrations at the Farmer’s Market in Prattville, AL. The recipe demonstration featured foods available at the farmer’s market. Farmers sold peaches, plums, strawberries, blueberries, yellow squash, zucchini, red and green tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, onions, potatoes, peppers, lettuce, cabbage, herb (starter plants for mint, basil, thyme, oregano, rosemary), fresh eggs, honey, freshly ground cinnamon, green tea and pickled items. The goals of the recipe demonstrations were to encourage people to buy locally and encourage them to try recipes incorporating more fruits and vegetables in their diet.
My first Saturday featured an easy ratatouille with zucchini, squash and tomatoes. It was prepared and cooked outside for the farmers and customers to smell and taste. People would come up and tell me how they smelled the food from other side of the market. The recipe was a big hit. Many people took home the printed recipe. Even the children liked the recipe. One little boy asked for seconds. We discussed creative ways to spice-up the recipe and many people were excited to try the recipe at home. For the second Saturday, My recipe was grilled green beans and peaches. Once I told people the name of the recipe, I received some side-eyes and weird looks. However, no one who tried it disliked it. To their surprise, they enjoyed the pairing of peaches and green beans.
ALABAMA COOPERATIVE EDUCATION
Cooperative Extension is a federally funded sector used to engage and serve the community. Based on the needs of the surrounding community, Alabama Extension develops and implements programs to solve these issues. Cooperative Extension is further broken down into groups that target specific topics or groups. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program –Education (SNAP-Ed) is the branch of Extension responsible for health promotion efforts for individual who receive SNAP dollars (formerly known as food stamps).As a graduate research assistant is Alabama SNAP-Ed, I am the lead graduate student for the Quest for Healthy Schools. Quest for Healthy Schools is Alabama SNAP-Ed’s school wellness initiative whose goal is to influence the nutrition and physical activity policies, systems, and environments of Alabama schools. Within this initiative, Alabama SNAP-Ed partners with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation to provide the best resources and assistance to local Alabama schools.During my time with SNAP-Ed, I continued efforts to support school wellness promotion within our partnering schools. I attended community coalition meetings, bike rodeos, School Wellness Committee meetings and walk audits to support walking school buses.
CAMPUS KITCHENS
The Campus Kitchen Project is a national initiative used to reduce food waste and combat food insecurity. Auburn University has a Campus Kitchens location that picks up and delivers excess food. The volunteers of Campus Kitchens gather food from Golden Corral, dining halls on campus, and events with extra leftovers. The food is stored at the proper temperatures, repackaged and distributed throughout the community. Community Market, Salvation Army, Meal on Wheels (home delivery to the elderly), Head Start, churches and open family pick –ups are a few of the ways Campus Kitchens at AU distributes rescued food.
My grandmother was a stickler for not wasting food. She knew the struggles of food insecurity. Even after becoming a lawyer and landlord, she still saved and valued every crumb and corner of food. She was all I thought about this entire rotation. My grandmother actually started a food pantry in our church back home in Birmingham. The pantry is still alive today. Safe to say, I loved this rotation. I reminded me of the quality time after-school with my grandmother preparing food boxes for the community. She passed in 2017, however, I know she is so proud of my participation with AU Campus Kitchens.
My heart was always so full after distributing meals to people. The smiles on their faces were the highlight of the delivery.
I learned more about teamwork during this rotation. The reach for a healthy community is the responsibility of everyone. I firmly believe we are responsible for each other. We are responsible for our fellow brothers and sisters on this planet. Some people genuinely cannot do for themselves. Standing up for each other in a team effort. Therefore, volunteers and interns had to band together and communicate. One missed shift could mean someone would be hungry that week. Unfortunately, some team members may not share your vision. We must love them but keep moving to fight for our other brothers and sisters.
I plan to continue working with Campus Kitchens for the rest of my time in Auburn.
ASTHMA CAMP EAGLE
Asthma Camp Eagle is a 3-day summer program directed by Dr. Linda Gibson-Young. The program is specifically catered to children with asthma. The program includes sessions on teaching the children how to manage their asthma, nutrition and healthy eating, and physical activity. Dr. Gibson-Young gave a wonderful overview of why she created this camp. Her son Grayson as asthma. As a nurse, she encountered children with asthma and knew the struggles they faced. She briefed us on the lack of physical activity these children get due to fear of an asthma flare up. This results in overweight and obesity in these students. For the counselors without asthma, she had us participate in the straw breathing exercise to understand the stressful breathing people with asthma endure. My eyes were opened. Breathing through the straw was hard and frightening. I wasn’t receiving enough air and was gasping through the straw. Once I started to get scared, I put the straw out my mouth quickly and inhale deeply. It was then that I realized people with asthma do not have that luxury. My heart went out to them.
Ready to start the program, Bailey, Rae and I led the classes on nutrition and healthy eating .Our lessons centered around MyPlate, having 5 fruits and vegetables a day, energy in and energy out, and good/bad foods. We use the games like Slow, Go, Whoa to stress the concept of how the foods you eat determine how much exercise you need (energy in versus energy out). I truly enjoyed the Asthma Camp Eagle. The warm atmosphere and passion for inclusivity was amazing.
OUR HOUSE
My community rotation at the Our House Nutrition Camp was wonderful. I have not been in the classroom setting for nutrition education with children since 2016. I felt rusty initially. As the classes went on, I felt empowered. This was my first time ever working with K-2 children. Adapting the curriculum and activities was a learning experience. It forced me to step back into familiar territory and into an unknown one as well. With each day, Bailey and I made more adjustments to constantly become better. I learned the little ones found colors as the best way to relate and learn foods. The older children didn't care for the color technique. They needed interaction and discussion. We initially tried both techniques with each group and realized the separation was better.
The only barrier I found was a short time with the children. We were just really getting to know them by the end of the camp. I feel that a minimum of 2 weeks would allow more time for us to get to know them. However, It may not be possible due to the nature of the camp.
During this rotation, I feel that I was able to awaken the nutrition education side of me and dig deeper to work with smaller children. I wouldn't change anything about my rotation. The constant learning and adapting was a great experience.