Wrapping Up the Spring Semester

Last week was dead week on UK's campus. The end of the spring semester brings with it the end of our student outreach programs and events. With only a couple of events left before finals week, we began preparing for the next big phase with UK Dining.

---

Healthy Bites Sampling

Our very last produce of the month event was held last week. Also known as Healthy Bites Sampling, our produce this week was jicama and we passed out a Jicama Slaw at Fresh Food Company.

As you may remember from the handout I posted a while back, jicama is a root vegetable primarily grown in Mexico, lending it the nickname of "Mexican potato." Although it is a vegetable, jicama has an almost sweet taste to it, and is high in vitamin C like many fruits. Many taste testers likened the flavor of this tuber to a granny smith apple. 

Jicama is commonly eaten raw, dusted with chili powder and lime juice.

---

Sodium Exhibit

Our last tabling event took place at Bowman's Den during lunch. "Shake the Habit" was a display devoted to sodium education. I had the honor of creating the interactive game for this event. The game was simple, but effective, and required students to guess the sodium content of common dorm room foods.

Ramen was a dead giveaway, but the students were still shocked to discover 1 package contained nearly 80% of the recommended daily allowance for sodium (which is 2,300 mg, by the way). We had a lot of students stop by the table just because they saw some foods that they like, and were curious what we had to say about them. It was really fun to talk with the students about alternative foods that would be healthier but still easy to cook and store.

National Menu Labeling (NML) Law

Now that the semester is nearly over, our responsibilities at UK Dining are shifting from student outreach into preparing nutrition information for nine restaurants on UK's campus. This has been a particularly interesting challenge that has proven to teach me quite a lot.

Throughout my education, the topic of providing nutrition information on restaurant menus has been brought up in various lectures, however we never had the opportunity to learn exactly what the requirement entails. All of the details are described, to great extent, in the National Menu Labeling (NML) law and enforced by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Aramark must provide nutrition information for every product from every campus restaurant, and if they do not comply there is a massive penalty of $100,000.

No pressure though :)

Without going into too much detail, the NML law requires companies that have 20 or more locations to report certain nutrition information for standard menu items. Standard menu items are those that are offered at all times, and does not include limited time offers or specials. The nutrition label must include 11 nutrients, including calories, calories from fat, total fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, sodium, dietary fiber, total carbohydrates, sugar, and protein. These numbers must be rounded according to specific instructions, which are laid out within the legislation. Luckily, I enjoy dealing with numbers and have found it rather satisfying to calculate these totals. It feels good to finally be able to assess tangible fruits of my labor.

The numbers are the easy part, however, and collaborating with restaurant managers to obtain specific information about product recipes has been rather challenging thus far. Managers are oftentimes over-worked and do not always understand or appreciate the nature of our duties, let alone care about the severity of the consequences if this is not done well or in a timely manner. Attempting to find a sliver of time in their jam-packed workdays has been rough, and getting specific information about recipes has been somewhat synonymous of pulling teeth. From their perspective, a hamburger bun is a hamburger bun and it does not make a difference if it comes from Klosterman's or Sara Lee. We have been attempting to convey that nutrition is not the same just because the product looks the same across different brands. Not all buns are created equal!

Thus far, we have almost finished calculating the summer menu for Ovid's, and are beginning to move on to other restaurants. The spreadsheet we have started is filling up fast and it is satisfying to watch it grow.

---

Competencies:
CRD 1.1 Select indicators of program quality and/or customer service and measure achievement of objectives. (Tip:  Outcomes may include clinical, programmatic, quality, productivity, economic or other outcomes in wellness, management, sports, clinical settings, etc.)
CRD 1.4 Evaluate emerging research for application in dietetics practice.
CRD 2.1 Practice in compliance with current federal regulations and state statutes and rules, as applicable and in accordance with accreditation standards and the Scope of Dietetics Practice and Code of Ethics for the Profession of Dietetics.
CRD 2.2 Demonstrate professional writing skills in preparing professional communications. (Tip:  Examples include research manuscripts, project proposals, education materials, policies and procedures.)
CRD 2.5 Demonstrate active participation, teamwork and contributions in group settings.
CRD 2.8 Apply leadership principles to achieve desired outcomes.
CRD 2.10 Establish collaborative relationships with other health professionals and support personnel to deliver effective nutrition services. (Tip:  Other health professionals include physicians, nurses, pharmacists, diabetes educators, health educators, etc.)
CRD 2.11 Demonstrate professional attributes within various organizational cultures. (Tip:  Professional attributes include showing initiative and proactively developing solutions, advocacy, customer focus, risk taking, critical thinking, flexibility, time management, work prioritization and work ethic.)
CRD 2.13 Demonstrate negotiation skills.
CRD 4.6 Prepare and analyze quality, financial or productivity data and develops a plan for intervention.
CRD 4.7 Propose and use procedures as appropriate to the practice setting to reduce waste and protect the environment.
CRD 4.8 Conduct feasibility studies for products, programs or services with consideration of costs and benefits.