NFS @ UCA Blog

This summer has been adventurous for UCA’s Dietetic Interns. From working in the garden at Arkansas Heart Hospital to presenting about food safety in Greer’s Ferry, visiting Sysco Foodservice, and much more….they have been BUSY!

The Annual Nutrition Conference of the School Nutrition Association was held this July in Las Vegas. Dr. Alicia Landry represented UCA by presenting 4 posters, leading a poster session, and leading a presentation. Dr. Landry was joined by Audrey Chandler MS, RD (Intern Class of 2017) who presented her thesis research and received the Kathleen Stitt Award for research. Sharon Burgess MS, RD also joined Dr. Landry for a presentation on employee training. The training was packed and attendees provided great feedback.  This research represents collaborations with Conway Public Schools, Arkansas Department of Education, No Kid Hungry, and many other research participants.

Also, Dr. Cleta Long from Dade County Schools in Georgia came by and we snapped a photo of three generations of UCA Family and Consumer Science Alums who work in School Nutrition!

Go Bears!

 

Several of the UCA Dietetic Interns got a great opportunity to work with the garden at Conway Regional Medical Center this summer. The CRMC “Team Talk” featured the garden in its June edition. The full Team Talk can be found here.

The Dietetic Interns were hosted by Wal-Mart Culinary Innovation Center – we toured the facility, learned all about product development of private labels, Wal-Mart’s effort to foster sustainability and local purchasing power. We also were able to visit WM Store 100 and take part in a real sensory evaluation! Thank you Mr. Jeff Eason for your hospitality!

Next, we saw Tyson Foods World Headquarters where we learned about Tyson brands, product development, and sensory evaluation. The Nutrition Team spent the whole afternoon with us and even let us do sensory evaluation on K-12 products. Thank you Dr. Moore and Ms. Shank for opening your office to us!

We were overwhelmed with the welcome from these worldwide companies! The innovation and commitment to Arkansas is fantastic!

The Nutrition students in Nutrition Services Administration hosted another successful theme meal at the Conway Senior Wellness and Activity Center! The theme was 50’s Fun and included a live Marilyn Monroe to take photos with, records and albums from the era, a menu with hamburgers, roasted potatoes and more!

We  would like to say THANK YOU very much to the Arkansas Geriatric Education Collaborative, which is funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Geriatric Workforce Enhancement Program, for helping us produce such a wonderful meal and serve seniors in our community.

Students from Rachel Schichtl’s NUTR 3350 Community Nutrition class recently spent a workday at Faulkner County Urban Farm to help plant fruit trees. A total of 8 fruit trees and a blueberry bush were planted with funds from a Service Learning Grant the class received. The Faulkner County Urban Farm ( located behind the Faulkner County Library) provides nutrition and garden education to school aged children up to adults. Here in a few years children and adults alike should be able to enjoy figs, apples, pears, peaches, blueberries and more ! Great job students!

​Time is almost up! Don’t forget to nominate a deserving individual for one of the alumni awards.

Please nominate them today using the online nomination form.

Please complete your nomination by March 9, 2018

 

Registration will open soon so make sure you’ve marked your calendar to attend the 31st Annual FACS Alumni and Student Recognition Luncheon.

Please save the date for the 31st Annual FACS Alumni and Student Recognition Luncheon.  The luncheon will be held on the  UCA campus on Friday, ​April 27, 2018.

NEW THIS YEAR! The FACS Department is focusing on giving back.  We would like to invite you to help at our luncheon by bringing items for the

UCA Food Pantry. For more information about the food pantry, please visit: https://uca.edu/foodbank/

Students were given 30 minutes to build a prairie house with directions, then 30 minutes to build a model showing at least elements & principles of design (With written summaries of course). They did a great job!