Justine Haney
WVU Graduate Student in
Nutrition & Food Science
as well as a Dietetic Intern
Community Nutrition Rotations
Meals on Wheels
Within part of my community rotation, I assisted the ladies at Meals on Wheels. Another intern and I created new recipes - since the current ones had not been changed for many, many years - and created some guides for clients with different nutrient needs. This consisted of creating recipes/guidelines specific for those who have diabetes, lactose intolerance, and renal dialysis & diabetes. The ladies just started a Weekend Program for the clients, so I also thought of some different kinds/brands of shelf-stable meals that they could offer. These meals were also low-sodium, which was a little tricky since salt is such a good additive for longer shelf stability.
These ladies are very sweet and they do so much for so many individuals who cannot cook on their own but want to have good wholesome meals. This rotation was interesting to see that!
For more information about Morgantown, WV's Meals on Wheel, click on the following link
PDF versions of some of the documets that were made and given to the ladies can be found below by clicking on the different titles -
Dietary Recommendations for Adults >50 With Non-Specific Diseases
Disher-Scoop Portion Size Guide
Tot Cal/CHO/Pro/Fat/Na+/K+ in Common Foods/Condiments
Become a C.H.E.F. with our Cooking Matters Classes
A fellow intern/grad student, an undergraduate, and I are hosting Cooking Matters Classes throughout the spring semester on Tuesday evenings. Anyone is eligible to participate. These classes are free of charge and our goal is to help participants become their own C.H.E.F. with Cheap, Healthy, Easy & Fast meals. Many people associate healthy meals with being too expensive, so we want to inspire individuals that this does not have to be the case. We will be providing goodie bags to all participants when they leave as well as some tips and demos throughout each class. With the launch of our class dates on 01.22.14, they were filled within JUST 3 hours! We are excited that so many people are as interested in our Cooking Matters Classes as we are!! It was also featured on wvutoday press release page --> found here.
The class dates along with the associated cuisine for that class are as follows -
01. 28 _ Italian
02.11 _ Thai
02.25 _ Cajun
03.18 _ Mexican
04.01 _ American
04.15 _ Indian
More about Cooking Matters - or to do the Cooking Matters Cirriculum within your community, check out their website HERE.
Love Your Heart Movement with WVU Extension Service
For more information about the Love Your Heart Movement with WVU Extension Service, click here or the image above.
Here are some other resources that Extension offers via internet to anyone that is interested in promoting this on their own -
In accordance with February being the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute's educational campaign, The Heart Truth®, WVU Extension Service's Elaine Bowen, Service Specialist - Health Promotion, really works hard to spread the word about heart disease. Heart disease IS the #1 killer in women and many unfortunately do not know this. Elaine engaged in incorporating many WVU departments, inlcuding our ISPP Dietetic Interns, to help women obtain the right resources to limit their risks of obtaining heart disease. This event took place at WVU's new Heart Institute located in the Suncrest Town Center in Morgantown, WV. Anyone was eligible to come and get a FREE health screening along with educational information to limit your risk for heart disease. It took place on a Saturday from 8 am until 1 pm, which gave those who work full-time the chance to stop by!
Two other interns and I maintained a station that was focusing on MyPlate for portion size control along with an "Eat This, Not That' theme. Participants had the opportunity to be interactive and, since fast food is such a common choice in today's society, compare two meal choices and look at the nutrition facts to really see which is the better chioce. One choice was comparing a "healthy" salad to a hamburger, and surprisingly enough, the hamburger was actually the better option when looking at saturated fat, total fat, and calories. Reason being that many salads are loaded down with so much additional fats, such as cheeses, bacon, and DRESSING! But people are going to potentially 'think' they are choosing the better option and eating healthy when the choose to grab a fast food SALAD. This is obviously not the case in many situations. It was enjoyable to see participants reactions to some of these options and to actually know that I am helping people realize some of these tricks that restaurants try to sneak passed you.
Overall, it was a great turnout, considering the frigid cold weather and snow that we have been having this winter. There was a total of 259 participants that we were able to spread the word about heart disease to and give them information on ways they could limit their own risks.
​This event was also on the news the following Monday morning! (We made the last couple seconds!)
Check it out HERE!
Sweet Child of Mine, Inc. Daycare ®
Sweet Child of Mine, Inc. Daycare® is a new daycare facility located in Morgantown, WV. I was excited to be provided with the opportunity to assess the nutrients on their monthly menu in order for them to provide the adequate amount of nutrients for children their age.
For more information about the new daycare, click on the following link Sweet Child of Mine, Inc. Daycare®
To start off, I was given a standard monthly menu. I utilized the SuperTracker on the USDA's website to physically type in each meal that was given and get the nutrients and food groups for the specific age of these children. I, then, averaged Monday-Friday's food items into a week's average so that it could easily be shown on a new menu what they are feeding the children on average in a week's time. Provided below is the USDA website that I used and find very helpful when you are wanting to track your own food, exercise, etc. as well as the new updated menu along with the nutrients and food groups sheet that I also made for them.
Dining with Diabetes - Extension Service
I had another opportunity to work with Extension Service. They offer a series of three classes to diabetics and their families. Classes include learning, cooking demos, and of course tasting this healthy food! With diabetes being such a common, serious and costly disease (especially in West Virginia), these classes are to help those struggling control their blood sugar by introducing healthy, cost-effective, great tasting foods that are appropriate choices for those with diabetes. Part of a diabetic friendly eating style is to reduce sugar, salt and fat in foods. So how can one do this and still have that mouth-watering, flavorful food? Go to Extension Service's Dining with Diabetes Program to find out!
What did I do to help these ladies out? They wanted to upgrade their recipes. Therefore, I designed a template for each recipe, worked in the computer lab on campus in order to produce Nutrition Facts Labels for each of the recipes that were provided along with adding tips to each recipe. Tips could include an easier, quicker strategy in the cooking process, why a recipe is healthy, and/or more cost-effective ways to buy ingredients in a recipe. The different types of foods include: breads, breakfast, desserts, entrees, starchy sides, vegetable sides, and even special occasion/holiday recipes!
They appreciated my work so much and even wrote me a letter of endorsement! Extension Service is always a pleasure to work with!
Click here to see the letter that Extension wrote to thank me for my work!