Meet our Intern!

I'd like to introduce Crave Health's newest intern from the undergraduate nutrition program at Bastyr University: Alyssa Rieser!

Alyssa will be with me through at least June 2011 and most likely through the end of her undergrad career :) She will be guest blogging in April as well so look for her upcoming posts!

I became interested in nutrition while working at an acupuncture clinic in Asheville, North Carolina, where practitioners achieved success by making a transition to a whole foods diet a standard part of all treatment plans. Inspired by the positive physical and psychological changes the clients experienced, it became my goal to be a registered dietitian and help others optimally nourish themselves. I moved to Washington in the summer of 2010 to pursue a MS in Nutrition from Bastyr University. In the past several years I have been involved in Slow Food, farm to school programs, and other branches of the food justice movement. Currently I am leading the Greenwood Community Kitchen and have a cooking blog: Figs and Fennel where I focus on seasonal, local food. I am passionate about sustainable food systems and have strong interests in community nutrition and public health policy.

Alyssa

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Elementary Nutrition

I spent the day on Wednesday at Woodin Elementary School on the Woodinville/Bothell border with my best friend and Woodin PE teacher, Jaclyn Rice. A part of the elementary PE curriculum now is nutrition focused, which is wonderful! They do a segment and test called "Mrs. Trimbles Muffins" where they learn about Carbohydrates, Proteins, Fats, Saturated Fat, Trans Fat, Fiber, Vitamin A and C, Iron, etc, etc.

During "Wildcat Wednesday" at Woodin I was able to spend about 25 minutes with each class (6 classes in one day contain the entire school!) 1st grade-6th grade. Here are some clips and photos from the day:

Kids understand science. I had drawings of molecules of saturated and trans fats up on the board and they totally got it. They were able to understand the word macronutrient vs. micronutrient and they walked away with a better understanding of why food is so important for their health.

Nutrition should be taught in school on a science level starting in kindergarten and repeated each year.

Kudos to Northshore School District, Woodin Elementary and most of all their PE teacher, Miss Jaclyn Rice for taking the time to utilize an RD to teach nutrition to her classes!

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