This week was a little different than most. I have achieved most of the requirements NACUFS has set for me. Therefore, I have been given the chance to choose what I else I would like to accomplish while here. I have been working to complete my Medical Dietetics foodservice and community rotations while here. The NACUFS internship has fulfilled most of the requirements for these rotations. However, there were a few loose ends I needed to tie up in my rotations. I have been working alongside the dietitian on staff here to complete these.
On Monday, I created some educational materials for the UND student and apartment communities. I made some handouts and also a presentation on superfoods. Superfoods are foods that have been proven to bring many health benefits additional to high amounts of vitamins and minerals. Also, on Monday, I updated the fall menu by replacing some dishes with others because the staff wanted them off of the menu. The FoodPro is very efficient in making changes and it really takes a few clicks to make a change. At the end of the day, I worked with the retail staff for a couple hours. The C-store is working to bring some new products into their inventory. Therefore, I gave them some ideas to w hat they could offer out for their store.
Tuesday was the hilight of my week. My supervisor, our Korean intern, and I drove to Bemidji, MN to the Indian Harvest regional office. The drive was about two hours, but it gave me time to study for an exam I had later that day (I got a B on it!). Once in Bemidji, we made a stop at the famous statue of Paul Bunyan and Babe the blue ox. The statues were 15 feet high and are a tourist attraction in Bemidji. It was really cool to see another part of the area and to see something special about it. After that, we went to Indian Harvest. Once there, the staff welcomed us and showed us around the office and warehouse. Indian Harvest is a whole grain supply company that started out selling wild rice, a Minnesota staple, thirty years ago. Now, the company has grown to selling all types of whole grains and sells to much of the western and central U.S. Check out their website: http://www.indianharvest.com/ After our tour, we met with the head chef of Indian Harvest. Chef Mike fed us many types of whole grains including quinoa, green wheat frrekah, and wild rice. He told us all about these grains including their properties, applications, and how to cook them. Most of all, they taste great! Not to mention they are a great source of healthy carbohydrates. Afterward, we made the long trip back to UND and called it a day.On Wednesday, I wrote a few recipes that I tested last week into FoodPro. Like I said, it is really easy to do anything in this system once you get the hang of it. Next, I met with a chef at one of the other dining centers on campus. Together we arranged the meals that will go in the specialty grab and go bags that will sell in the convenient stores. We sat down and examined the costs of the foods and ow to make this concept the most cost effective possible. I feel that the meals come up with will sell quite well and be cost effective too. For the rest of the day, I worked in the computer and made a spreadsheet on the grab and go bags. It helps me stay organized and share our ideas with others in a clear and consistent manner.
Thursday was another day in the office on the computer. I began inputting the recipes for the grab and go bags into FoodPro. It took alot of time because each food item needs to be inventoried in the locations we are selling hem out of. I spent alot of time working on that and am close to finishing. I also did a bit of nutritive analyses on the computer for the bags. For each bag to have an accurate nutritional label, each food item and its contents need to be put into FoodPro. It takes a bit of work ,but is worth it in the end. Also, the dietitian, another staff member and I sat down and discussed the wast management system UND uses. UND has implemented a program called Lean Path a year ago. It tracks all of the waste that comes out of the dining centers and assigns a dollar amount to it. During this talk we discussed the pros and cons to this system and how we could decrease the waste we go through. Finally, I sat in on an interview with my preceptor and the kitchen manager. By sitting in on these interviews, I have been getting a better sense on what employers are looking for in a prospective employee and the dos and don't of the interview process.
Friday the 13th was kind of a frustrating day. The university's computer service was down all day. Therefore, we did not have access to FoodPro all day. With our main computer program down, it was difficult to go through the day like normal. In the kitchen, the staff was not able to print out recipes for cooking the meals and they could not record the service records afterward. Dustin and I were unable to do any of our tasks in the office in FoodPro either. However, we were able to get some work done. I was able to help Dustin with planning for National Fruit and Vegetable-More Matters month in September. We found PDFs about unique fruits and vegetables online through the Fruit and Veggies More Matters website to post on the UND website. Also, Dustin had me write a letter to several fruit and vegetable vendors asking for donations of produce to hand out to the UND community during special events in September. I am confident that we will receive a good amount of donations for this cause. In the afternoon, I gave a presentation to the kitchen staff on reducing salt use in the kitchen. You can view my presentation here:
http://prezi.com/blzouoywvcv0/spice-up-your-life/
After the presentation, we fed the staff with some foods that were cooked without any salt whatsoever. We made a vegetable dip, marinated chicken, and pumpkin nutella cheesecake bites (the cheesecake bites were my favorite of the three). Also, I laid out an array of spices and herbs for the staff to make their own unique spice blend to take home in plastic baggies and try themselves. I feel that this presentation was a success!
At the end of the day, I researched products for a student who has special dietary needs. I looked through the products on a food distributor's website and made a list for appropriate foods that we can buy for the student to eat. I enjoyed learning about the decision process on how we bring new products in and how we justify the need for them.
Well, that's it for this week, I cannot believe I have one week left!
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