Community Nutrition, also known as NUTR 430 is an upper level nutrition course offered to Nutritional Science majors who have already completed certain prerequisites within the major. I have learned a lot through this class, and most of it has not been text-book information, but real life application. One of our projects during the semester was to live for 5 days off of a budget that is similar to that of Food Stamps. During this uninterrupted 5 day period we were to try to maintain as healthy a diet as possible with only $16.40 to spend the entire 5 days on food. As part of the project, we were to keep a food journal that described what we ate, how we felt throughout the day and the nutritional requirements we either did or did not meet during the day. It was a really challenging project in that it forced me to gain understanding of the difficulties so many people have in meeting their nutritional needs, especially those on very restricted budgets. Not only was it difficult to eat enough food on such a small budget, but it was also challenging to eat healthy! It was so frustrating to go to the store and realize how expensive it is to buy many of the healthy foods offered. I also learned how much patience and effort it would take for someone on such a limited budget to really eat well with so little money. I had to plan my meals for the week and carry a calculator with me in the store to make sure I didn't go over my alloted budget. During the week I also found difficulty in adding variety to my meals, there were no spices to be added and I had very few options for changing up the rice and beans or oatmeal that I ate almost daily.
I think this class was really advantageous for my future career plans in that I not only was educated in how to work with people of lower socioeconomic status, but I was actually able to experience on some level the way in which they live and the boundaries they may come across in trying to eat healthily. I think this class and the projects that have been assigned in the class will prove very helpful to me in the future as I seek to help those with lesser means utilize wha means they do have in effort to live more healthy and enriching lives.
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Ashley, this class sounds so interesting! I really wish I could take it. This is something I want to make a difference in- I want to work with low income teenage moms and educate them on how to feed their children the healthiest foods that they can afford. But as you said, it's very difficult to eat healthy with such a restricted budget. I enjoyed reading this!
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