Connecting with Food Industry to Promote Nutrition Education

Situation:
Feeling better today so we stay healthy for tomorrow is catching on! There is an increased interest in nutrition education and living a healthy lifestyle. The introduction of the new “2005 Dietary Guidelines” and the “MyPyramid” Food Guidance System has created numerous questions from the general public as well as the professional community.

Another issue that is affecting the professional community is the mandate that any school who receives USDA funding for school lunch program must develop a School Wellness Policy to be in place by Sept. 2006.

Response:
H&H Food distributing sponsored a Food Show in Dubuque and contacted ISU Extension to see if we would be willing to be a seminar presenter. Knowing who the audience was I said I would be willing only if I could decide on the subject matter. The two presentations that I chose were on the 2005 Dietary Guidelines and My Pyramid, and the School Wellness Policy. The audience was made up of food service workers from schools, day care centers, Senior Care facilities, Assisted Living Centers and restaurant owners.

Impact:
H&H provided their own evaluation which was basically asking if the seminar met their expectations, and how effective was the speaker etc. All evaluations came back Good to Excellent, but the impact for Extension was:

• I have already received 8 calls from schools wanting assistance with local school wellness policy.
• As we talked about food safety, I was able to mention that Extension provides ServSafe classes and promoted that program as well, with feedback from Illinois people who are willing to cross the river to come to our classes.

It was also very evident that the schools are looking to Iowa State for MyPyramid information and general support for nutrition programming.

Contact:
Fran Passmore
Nutrition and Health Specialist
21 Allamakee St.
Waukon, IA 52172
Phone 563/ 568-6345; Fax 563/ 568-6346
Email fpassmor@iastate.edu

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