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UNCG Home > School of Health & Human Sciences

Nutrition Learning Labs a Huge Success

By Emily-Sarah Lineback

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Making better food choices, including sometimes choosing to eat less, and moving more were among the topics covered at the Nutrition Learning Laboratory Series held in June through UNCG's Center for Research Excellence in Bioactive Food Components (CBFC) in Kannapolis. The talks were not only well-attended, with over 200 registered for each session, audience members were also engaged -- a key ingredient for information to be more deeply processed and acted upon in real life.

Drs. Margaret Savoca, Martha Taylor, and Anne-Marie Scott led the talks, which were held free of charge to the general public. Segments were "Secrets of the Mediterranean Diet," "Reducing Disease Risk: Small Changes Can Make a Big Difference," "Your Kitchen is a Science Laboratory in Disguise" and "Hurry Up and Tell Me How to Eat Slow Food!" Kelly Elliott, the Department of Nutrition's administrative manager at CBFC, said the topics themselves helped draw a large number of participants. "[The sessions] not only provided timely health and nutrition information to the public, but also provided participants with a chance to get to know us a little better and to find out more about what we will be doing at the new Center for Research Excellence in Bioactive Food Components."

Savoca, an assistant professor in the Nutrition Department, presented details on people's diets in Mediterranean countries and how their eating lifestyles have been known to promote healthy hearts. Savoca talked about the region's food culture and culinary history, its cooking practices, foods, and meal patterns, along with the nutrition science behind the current and growing US trend in Mediterranean ingredients, foods, and restaurants.

Taylor, an associate professor in the Nutrition Department, has also been a Registered Dietitian for over 25 years. During "Reducing Disease Risk" she shared needed information about how making small changes in our lifestyles can lead to big differences in our health. When individuals make small and steady changes, they reduce their disease risk and enjoy healthier lives.

Scott, an academic professional assistant professor in the Nutrition Department, led two sessions. The first focused on simply getting back in the kitchen -- simple in theory but harder in reality when individuals' and families' busy (and often conflicting) schedules are added to the mix. In an entertaining and informative talk, Scott gave valuable insight about correcting common kitchen cooking errors.

Scott, who also currently leads the Piedmont Triad Slow Food Convivium, covered the growing Slow Food movement in the last session of the series. Being more mindful of how food gets to the table before ingesting it can serve to help people make more deliberate choices. Slow Food's mission is to educate people on how to eat good, clean and fair food; better nutritional health is a natural, secondary outcome to eating in this tradition.

This inaugural series of talks was even more successful than planners had anticipated. With the nation's need for health education, such free, public events will continue to provide a vital forum for information along with practical, real-world application of what is learned.

"The Learning Laboratory series was an important opportunity for community outreach and education," said Elliot, "and the Nutrition faculty did an excellent job of both." Next year's learning laboratory series is already informally in the works, with talks tentatively planned around the same time during the summer of 2009.

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