Understanding Food Production Helps Dietetic Interns Make Nutrition Real
Dietetic Interns with Dr. Reza Rafie and Dr. Theresa Nartea.
Registered dietitian Meghan Garrett was surprised when she first learned that asparagus grew upright out of the ground. She made the discovery during a visit to a farm while still a student in a dietetic internship program in New Hampshire.
The farm tour had a profound impact that helped her better understand how food is grown and processed and how it gets from farm to table. Often registered dietitians and interns are trained to understand how certain foods are a healthy part of a well-balanced diet, but many don’t actually get opportunities to visit a farm and learn about food production, she said.
Garrett, who coordinates the Dietetics Internship Program in the Department of Family and Consumer Science in the College of Agriculture at Virginia State University (VSU), is working to change that. At VSU, the Dietetic Internship Program integrates teaching, research and Cooperative Extension to give students a well-rounded understanding of the food production process, as well as nutrition education and how to address food insecurity in low-income communities.
Interns complete 1,048 supervised practice hours in a variety of nutrition-related settings, including schools, hospitals and private practice. Additionally, they spend 40 hours working with Cooperative Extension specialists who grow produce at VSU’s Randolph Farm. The interns also spend about nine weeks working on research with food scientists at the Agricultural Research Station at VSU.
Working on a farm is not a common practice in dietetic internship programs, Garrett said. Often interns can take additional classes to supplement their dietetic training, but agriculture isn’t generally among the choices offered. Understanding the process for getting food from the farm to the table is invaluable for dietetics interns, who will ultimately educate the public on healthy eating habits, she said.
Students at VSU work with horticulture Cooperative Extension specialist Dr. Reza Rafie to learn how to grow and harvest specialty crops like blueberries and with Dr. Theresa Nartea, marketing and agribusiness Cooperative Extension specialist, to learn how to market produce. As part of the internship program, interns choose a fruit or vegetable grown at the farm, develop a recipe and market their products.
Garrett recently added a rotation that includes 32 hours of learning about community nutrition using the USDA National Institute for Food and Agriculture’s (NIFA) Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). During the rotation, interns meet with EFNEP program assistants and shadow them during nutrition education classes. Working with EFNEP allows interns to gain a better understanding of food insecurity, the MyPlate eating plan and facilitation of nutrition education in a group setting. After graduation, students in the program are eligible to sit for the Registered Dietitian Examination.
Integrating teaching, research and extension opens eyes and opportunities for our students and enables them to better train their communities about making healthy food choices, Garrett said.