UMD dietetics program partners with blog to promote healthy eating

Jillian Mergruen, a senior Dietetics major, speaks at the Foodie on Campus event held in the McKeldin Special Events room on Friday, November 20, 2015.

The University of Maryland’s dietetics program partnered with Foodie on Campus, an online nutrition blog dedicated to making college students more aware of healthy food options, to host a food fair in McKeldin Library on Nov. 20.

The event was tied to nutrition course NFSC350: Foodservice Operations. Margaret Udahogora, the dietetics program director and course professor, said the event allowed students to interact with healthy products and enabled them to better meet individual consumers’ needs.

“I realized it was time to be creative — we needed innovation,” Udahogora said.

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Udahogora first met in September with Faye Mitchell, the editor-in-chief of Foodie on Campus and a 1982 university alumna, to begin planning the event. Each dietetics student in NFSC350 was given the task of researching a product to the point at which they would be able to sell it to students passing through the event, Udahogora said.

KIND snacks, California Dried Plums and Walnuts, Kura Nutrition, Barney Butter and Tiny but Mighty Popcorn were among the vendors that had tables at the event and provided free samples. In addition to presenting and supplying samples, Siggi’s yogurt and WeCook also made donations to help fund the event, Mitchell said.

“I love putting on events, and I felt this would be the perfect way to reach college students,” Mitchell said. “I thought about writing a book, but college students don’t always want to read. We needed to reach college students in a different way.”

Mitchell, who was in private practice in dietetics in Bethesda for 25 years and was a teacher’s assistant for NFSC350 while she was a university student, said she often spoke to college-bound students who had a desire to learn how to eat healthy in campus dining halls. She decided to start the blog to spread a message of moderation.

“We believe in eating real and healthy foods, but every so often, go ahead and have a cookie,” Mitchell said. With this event, “I wanted to give students that message of moderation.”

Udahogora said she wanted students attending the event to realize “food the natural way tastes good.”

“We aren’t trying to expand their taste buds,” Udahogora said. “You don’t need to add sugar and chemicals for things to taste good.”

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Senior dietetics major Jillian Mergruen, who is enrolled in the course and served as a volunteer, said the event should have a notable impact because students sometimes forget to eat healthy when they get to college.

“A lot of times, kids come to college and forget their bodies matter,” Mergruen said. “They focus on school and get stressed. I think it’s important to remind them there are ways to incorporate healthy foods in their lives.”

Senior psychology major Maureen Johnson said she felt the event was successful in advertising products rather than displaying a series of facts.

“On campus, there are so many fast-food options so it is easy not to eat healthy,” Johnson said. “I learned about some new ingredients that can be used to make meals. This is a great way to advertise healthy options.”

Udahogora said she teaches the class every fall, and next fall she will create a different topic for the event, such as pricing healthier food options. Moving forward, Mitchell said she hopes to bring the event to campuses across the country.

“I want this to be a template,” Mitchell said. “Nutrition communications is very different from clinical nutrition. … It’s a different way of presenting information. There is not a lot of room for that in the curriculum.”