NFS @ UCA Blog

Anni Fuenmayor and Kayla Fuller

On August 5th Anni Fuenmayor, UCA Dietetic Intern, was awarded a Book Scholarship from the Arkansas Public Health Association (APHA) Nutrition Section.

According to Anni, “This Book Scholarship will help me tremendously with my book expenses as I am paying for my Dietetic Internship without any financial aid help. Getting this scholarship means that I can stress less about money and focus on my grades. I am so grateful to have been awarded this  scholarship.”

Anni and the entire FACS Department would like to say THANK YOU to Ms. Kayla Fuller and her team at APHA for helping dietetic interns as well as supporting our future.

Scholarships like this are tremendously valuable to our students and there are several within FACS that still need to be completely endowed. Check out our Scholarships page for more information.

Employees of the food service department at Conway Public Schools are required to have 10 hours of continuing education training each year and their director, Mrs. Sharon Burgess, hosts an annual conference for her employees in order to meet these requirements. This year the conference was organized by the UCA Dietetic Interns and featured an exposition of new products and equipment. During the day and a half conference, the interns presented on a wide variety of topics including civil rights, food safety, farm-to-school, smart snacks, and social media. Employees were also able to practice knife cutting skills while they learned how to cut a watermelon. By managing everything from the catering to compiling a booklet with over 45 handouts, the interns developed professionally and gained valuable experience. With the guidance of Mrs. Burgess, Conway Public Schools are unveiling a number of new services this upcoming school year such as flavor stations (where children can add no salt added seasonings to their food) and the ability to order cold sandwiches online at the high school. The interns are very grateful for the opportunity to host this conference and are looking forward to the many great things Mrs. Burgess has in store.

UCA dietetic interns (from left) Taylor Sherrill, Anni Fuenmayor, and Helena Van together collaborated with Conway Regional Health System’s (CRHS) Nutrition & Foodservice Director, Scott Whitehurst, in building raised beds for the hospital’s newly implemented garden. The vegetables and herbs grown in the garden will be used and served in the hospital’s cafeteria in order to provide fresh and locally grown produce to customers. In recognition for their dedicated work at CRHS where they spent six weeks of their foodservice rotation, Taylor, Anni, and Helena received CRHS’s Service of Excellence pin.

Taylor Sherrill, Helena Van, and Anni Fuenmayor

Scott Whitehurst, Taylor Sherrill, Anni Fuenmayor, and Helena Van

Recently, Dr. Landry presented her research in school nutrition at the Annual Nutrition Conference of the School Nutrition Association. Her presentation was titled “Determining Fruit and Vegetable Preparation Preferences of Students to Inform School Lunch Menu Development”. Dr. Landry is an Assistant Professor in FACS and continues her research agenda focusing on National School Lunch Programs and Farm to School. She is the College Section Chair for the School Nutrition Association and leads efforts to identify trends and conduct research to educate school nutrition professionals.

2016 School Nutrition Association, Annual Nutrition Conference

Matcha Lemon Cookies – Torria Brixey

Karla Venturas

Crumble Muffins with Muscadine Wine Glaze – Samantha Cole

Lemon Goat Cheese Cheesecake – Corrinne deOrbezego

Sorghum Bars and Marshmallows – Angela DiTullio

Chocolate Chip Crispy Rice Cookies – Lauren Kara

Tomato Jam – Raquel Gonzalez

Spicy Chicken – Tracie Herring

Guests Taste Testing

Guests Taste Testing

All semester long students enrolled in Experimental Foods learned about different food properties and how to develop recipes. The Expo was an opportunity for them to showcase a recipe they developed using local products. The students dedicated a lot of time and work into their new products and it resulted in a fantastic, tasty event!

Students in Mrs. Schichtl’s Community Nutrition class were asked to compare home cooked meals to fast food. One of the excellent assignments is posted here.

On Monday, May 23rd, we volunteered to present at a 4-H meeting in Faulkner County. The members of this group were preparing a vegetable garden to watch, nurture, and grow in the coming months. Our job was to give them a few ideas about what they can do when their vegetables are ready to eat! We prepared and cooked 4 healthy vegetable dishes and compared them to unhealthy dishes the members may have been more familiar with. They tasted each dish and each member said they enjoyed the food! Here in the south, we tend to eat a lot of fried and buttery food. With the recipes we prepared and taught them about, they will have healthier options when it comes to making dishes out of vegetables from their own garden.  – Holly Rega, Nutrition Major