During Community Nutrition, we had the opportunity to help out with the backpack program in Centre County, PA. We filled backpacks for children who don’t have food on the weekends. It was sad knowing that all of the backpacks that we packed only accounted for a few schools. It makes you think how many people are really in need throughout the country when just this one school district had so many children in need. You begin to realize how many people are included in what seems to be such a small national statistic of children in poverty. It was also great to see how many volunteers were there and how big of an impact you can make on people’s lives by doing something so simple. In addition, throughout the course we developed ideas for the backpack while keeping in mind the nutritional needs of the target audience. There were several obstacles that needed to be worked around including the budget of the program and the issue of whether or not the children’s households had heat, electric, or anywhere to store food (perishables).
Final Presentation: Backpack Project-pminb1
This menu was made to target a specific audience and theme. Through this project, I learned how to adequately describe what is being served, make reasonable prices, account for vegetarians, and make a menu that is healthier. I can apply this work to food service down the road whether it be in my dietetic rotation or in my career.
