A Day in the Life of GBFB’s Dietetic Intern

  This past fall, Bridgitte Carroll, a student studying to be a Registered Dietitian (R.D.) from Simmons College, interned at The Greater Boston Food Bank (GBFB). Learn more about Bridgitte’s experience as GBFB’s Dietetic Intern:   What is a Dietetic Intern, you ask? I’m in an 8-month program with Simmons College that places me at locations surrounding Boston to gain required experience in areas of nutrition such as clinical (hospital or outpatient care), food service, and community service (like GBFB!). Before this program, I completed an undergraduate degree in Dietetics at Miami University in Ohio. At the end of this internship, I will be able to take a registration exam to become a Registered Dietitian (R.D.). The Greater Boston Food Bank employs two R.D.’s to support their commitment to fostering healthy communities.   My role at GBFB has been to work with Lauren Casale, an R.D. and the Senior Nutrition Education Coordinator. Her daily duties are quite varied but include providing nutrition and food safety education to GBFB’s member agencies, holding nutrition seminars, and going out to member agencies and the community to provide nutrition education. She also works as the liaison between GBFB and various hunger networks, which I’ve had the honor of sitting in on and learning more about. As a Midwesterner, it’s given me a more “wordly” view and better sense of community here in Boston.   My most rewarding experience in my four weeks at GBFB has been creating short lessons consisting of “tip sheets” on a selected topic and preparing a healthy snack for GBFB’s School-Based Pantries. The snack I created each time was a BIG hit with all age groups and consisted of ingredients drawn from healthy food distributed by GBFB. Drum roll for… the Broccoli Apple Salad! You can find the recipe at the end of this post. We ventured to four School-Based Pantries, and each time we were asked if we were coming back soon. It was heart warming to know that they not only enjoyed having us there, but they also liked learning about nutrition and having a nutritious snack.     Nutrition education is extremely important in the community and because of this it is the focus of the Dietetic Internship at Simmons. At each location we visited, the knowledge of the children was varied, from an inability to identify basic fruits to knowledge of the MyPlate food model and application of it. Good nutrition starts at a young age and if we, as health professionals, community members and family, would like to change the health of our country, it needs to start with nutrition education at an early age. GBFB sees this need and is fulfilling it by providing plentiful produce as part of their distributions, as well as sending experts to do nutrition education in the community. It also empowers GBFB’s member agencies to provide basic nutrition education themselves, which is a sustainable method.   Now and again, ask yourself what you are doing to promote good health through nutrition. Do you serve as a role model to your children, family, friends or peers by choosing to eat healthy foods? Are you making changes in the way you eat, even small ones, such as adding in a fruit as a snack, switching to mostly whole grains or dining out less? Wholesome nutrition is basis to living healthier, longer lives – are you doing your part?   Broccoli Apple Salad Ingredients 4 cups fresh broccoli florets, (about 2 medium heads) ½ cup shredded carrots ¼ cup diced red onion 2 large apples, finely chopped (I used gala apples) ½ cup pecans, coarsely chopped ½ cup dried cranberries Creamy dressing ingredients: ½ cup lite mayonnaise ½ cup low fat greek yogurt 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 Tablespoon sugar ¼ teaspoon salt ⅛ teaspoon pepper   Instructions In a large bowl combine broccoli, carrots, red onion, apples, pecans, and dried cranberries. To make the dressing: Whisk together mayonnaise, greek yogurt, lemon juice, sugar, salt and pepper. Add the dressing to the salad and toss to coat. Chill until ready to serve.