August 31, 2022 • 22 mins
In episode one of this series focused on nutrition, hear from Karla Shelnutt, associate professor in the Department of Family, Youth and Community Sciences at the University of Florida and Extension Nutrition Specialist. Shelnutt shares how she uses her role at the University of Florida and the land-grant model to research, educate, and communicate with communities to help reduce food insecurity and maximize overall nutrition.
Resources:
https://familynutritionprogram.org/
https://etnep.itas.ufl.edu/
Transcripts available here: https://piecenter.com/media/podcast/#transcript
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Ricky Telg (00:04):
This is Science by the Slice, a podcast from the
University of Florida'sInstitute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences Center forPublic Issues Education. In this
podcast, experts discuss thescience of issues affecting our
daily lives, reveal themotivations behind the decisions
people make, and ultimatelyprovide insight to solutions for
our lives.
Michaela Kandzer (00:43):
Hi, listeners! This is Michaela Kandzer,
Communications Specialist at thePIE Center. I want to welcome
you to our series focused onnutrition. In this series, we
will hear from two registereddietitians as they share with us
the role that food plays in ourbodies, in our communities, and
ultimately in our lives. To kickoff this series, we will hear
from Dr. Karla Shelnutt,Associate Professor in the
(01:04):
Department of Family, Youth andCommunity Sciences at the
University of Florida, andExtension Nutrition Specialist.
In this episode, Dr. Shelnutt isgoing to share with us how she
uses her role at the Universityof Florida and the land-grant
model to research, educate, andcommunicate with communities to
help reduce food insecurity andto maximize overall nutrition.
Keep listening.
(01:30):
So can you start by explainingthe role of food to individuals
and communities? So, I know thatkind of sounds like a simple
question, but, kind of, whatrole does food play in
communities?
Karla Shelnutt (01:40):
Sure, you know, people think of food, a lot of
people think it's just what I'mhaving for lunch or dinner
today. But food in general doesso much more than that, right?
It really brings communitiestogether. It builds
relationships, right? If youthink about the last time you
got together with friends, youwere likely around the dinner
table, or maybe you went out tolunch or something. So food
tends to be central tocommunication and relationships
(02:04):
and really forms bonds withfamilies and friends and
increases happiness, really.
Michaela Kandzer (02:12):
How did you become interested in studying
nutrition and learning moreabout nutrition?
Karla Shelnutt (02:16):
I have an aunt who's a registered dietitian. So
when I went to college, I hadseen what she did and was very
interested, so I went in thedirection of dietetics. And once
I started getting into theclasses, especially all of the
biochemistry and the physiologyand just, kind of, learning
about the basics of nutrition,that got me hooked, and the rest
(02:36):
is history.
Michaela Kandzer (02:37):
Yeah, and I think that's interesting, too.
Because whenever I think aboutnutrition, right, I just think
about the food that I eat everyday or think about the food
pyramid or think about makingsure I eat you know vegetables
and fruits and a full–a balancedmeal, per se. But really
underneath the surface, there'sso much more to nutrition,
right? So you are a registereddietitian, so can you tell us
what that means and about thework of registered dietitians?
Karla Shelnutt (03:00):
Sure, so registered dietitian
nutritionists, or RDNs, we arenutrition professionals and
we've completed certain academicand professional requirements
that basically make us expertsin this field and qualifies us
to provide nutritioncounseling–provide nutrition
information–that other peoplewho have not had this training
(03:20):
are not qualified to provide.
But RDNs work in a variety ofareas. So you have clinical
registered dietitiannutritionists who work in
hospitals. I do communitynutrition, so there are
dietitians that work out in thecommunity. There are dietitians
in industry, there aredietitians in sports. So, there
are dietitian lobbyists in D.C.
(03:43):
who work on policy relatedissues. So really, whatever it
is that you're interested inrelated to food and nutrition,
there's likely a dietitian thatworks in that area.
Michaela Kandzer (03:54):
Okay, so you said that you are a community
dietitian. So what does thatmean? What does that look like?
Karla Shelnutt (03:59):
Sure, so, the University of Florida is a
land-grant university. And ifyou're familiar with land-grant
universities, we have athreefold mission, which is
teaching, research, andExtension. And everybody knows
about teaching, right? Ourstudents take classes. Everybody
knows about research because weare at an R1 institution. We're
expected to get grants and doresearch, and that's what we
(04:20):
like to do. But a lot of peoplehaven't heard of that third
mission, which is Extension. Andwe like to call it the threefold
mission where it's the threelegged stool where each leg is
as important as the next, butExtension always seems to be
left out–the students don'tknow, faculty and staff don't
know. And in Extension, we arethe education arm of the
(04:41):
university, the outreach arm. Sowe take the science that happens
at the universities, theresearch, and we translate it
into educational programs forthe community. Those programs
are implemented by University ofFlorida faculty and staff out in
the communities. So FNP (FamilyNutrition Program) is in 40
counties, of Florida's 67counties, and EFNEP (Expanded
(05:03):
Food and Nutrition EducationProgram) is in four. So we
partner with people out in thecommunity to help reach our
audience and provide thatinformation, so we are out in
the community as an Extensionprogram.
Michaela Kandzer (05:14):
Yeah, I really appreciate you, though, sharing
that definition of Extension,because that really is, you
know, integral into what you doand your role as a community
dietitian. So, what doesnutrition look like throughout
society? How do things likeincome level or education or
other socio-demographicelements, how does that play
into nutrition?
Karla Shelnutt (05:32):
Great question.
And the issue aboutsocioeconomic status or income
level is important to me,because my research and
Extension programs focus on foodinsecurity and increasing food
access for families who have lowincome, who don't have the
resources necessary to buy theright kind of foods to live an
active and healthy life. So,people who are food insecure
(05:54):
tend to have a less healthy dietthan people who have higher SES,
or higher socioeconomic status,and are able to access that
really nutrient dense,nutritious food. And so families
who don't get that food and areeating more processed food
that's not as good for you tendto have an increased risk for
(06:16):
certain chronic diseases thanthose who do have access to
those foods. So income leveldefinitely plays a role in the
types of foods that people eat.
And then when we talk about age,right, in both of the nutrition
education programs that I workwith, we work with youth, as
well as adults, as well as olderadults. And so, depending on the
(06:38):
audience that we're talking to,will depend on what curriculum
we use, what messages we relay.
So with the little kids, right,the parents are still making
those decisions. So we teachthem about nutrition, but we
really have to reach thoseparents, because they're the
ones making the food choices forthe household. Then as the kids
get a little bit older, middleschool, high school, they're
like, making their owndecisions, choosing their own
(06:59):
foods. So we're really trying toget them when they're younger,
teach them about nutrition, helpchange the environments that
they're in so that it's easierto make the healthy choice. So
we make the healthy choice theeasy choice, is what we like to
say. So depending on what agesomeone is, is whether or not
they're able to make thosechanges themselves, or if we
have to connect with the rest ofthe family to support those
(07:23):
healthy habits.
Michaela Kandzer (07:25):
Yeah, and that makes a lot of sense. And you
use the term the "right kind offoods." So what is the right
kind of food? What is not theright kind of food?
Karla Shelnutt (07:33):
Sure, so, you know, we like to say, as
dietitians, that all foods fit,right. There is national
guidance–the dietary guidelinesare released every five years by
the USDA and Department ofHealth and Human Services. And
then the USDA also has the foodguidance system that we use to
help teach about nutrition inall of our programs. So if
(07:56):
you've seen the latest foodguidance system–it's been around
for a little while now–but it'sa plate. You mentioned the
pyramid before, but it is now aplate. And if you look at the
plate, one of the easiestmessages and what we teach
people is you want to make halfof your plate fruits and
vegetables, right. So we'retrying to get a variety of foods
within all of the food groups.
But in looking at the plate, youwant half of your plate fruits
(08:17):
and vegetables, and then we'vegot the grains group, protein
foods, and dairy. So when we'rethinking about grains, we're
really targeting those wholegrains. And with dairy foods, we
want, you know, the low fat andnonfat options to help decrease
the amount of saturated fatthat's consumed. We want the
lean protein options that makeup a majority of the diet.
Michaela Kandzer (08:40):
Okay, and how does that relate to being food
insecure?
Karla Shelnutt (08:44):
So people who don't have resources to
purchase, let's say, you know, amajority or half of their plate
to be fruits and vegetables.
Maybe they don't have access tothe fruits and vegetables that
they're interested in eating. Ormaybe, you know, they can only
afford food that is moreprocessed, that's easier to
access. You know, we talk aboutfood deserts, which are
communities where there isn't amarket that has these fresh
(09:07):
foods available within a mile ofwhere they live in an urban
setting. These families have aharder time being able to make
half of their plate fruits andvegetables because they don't
have access to those foods. Sothat definitely impacts the
quality of the food they consumeand what their plates look like.
Michaela Kandzer (09:24):
Yeah, and so, you said that food deserts–so
that's one of the ways that foodsecurity is impacted. But what
are some of those other factorsthat may cause families to be
food insecure?
Karla Shelnutt (09:33):
You know, if we think about what's happened in
the past with COVID, we've had alot of families who have lost
their jobs. We have a lot offamilies who have had to stand
in line at a food bank or a foodpantry for the very first time
in their lives because theyunexpectedly lost their job and
they no longer had the resourcesto feed their family. So of
course, employment is going tohave an issue, or is going to
(09:56):
contribute to the issue of foodsecurity and having those
resources to purchase the foodthat's needed. So COVID has
really made things harder for alot of our families. And so the
need for these Extensionprograms that support families
has increased for sure.
Michaela Kandzer (10:12):
Yeah, for sure. So can you tell me about
some of the research that youhave conducted related to
nutrition and to food?
Karla Shelnutt (10:18):
Sure. So the two programs–the Family Nutrition
Program (FNP) and the ExpandedFood and Nutrition Education
Program (EFNEP)–we work withfamilies and we teach about
nutrition. We also do fooddemonstrations, we do cooking
classes. But you know, preCOVID, when we were all getting
together and having theseclasses, it's difficult for some
(10:39):
of our families to actually makeit to a two hour cooking class,
right? If you think about someof the barriers: Time, right?
Maybe the family has a job ormore than one job, and it's hard
for them to leave their familyto come to a two hour nutrition
class or cooking class.
Transportation, do they have theability to get to our cooking
classes? Number three,childcare? Right? Maybe we have
(11:01):
a mother who's got several kids,and she's unable to find
childcare so she can get there.
So we were thinking about waysto help our families overcome
some of these barriers. And sowe thought, well, what about
food delivery or some kind ofmeal kit program. And so we came
up with the idea of testing ameal kit program for our
(11:23):
families, but finding a meal kitprogram or developing one that
is lower cost and moresustainable, right. So you have
these big national chains likeHelloFresh, where people can
have these boxes of fooddelivered to their homes, which
are great, right, I've done onefor several years, and they're
very convenient. But they can bevery expensive, so not
(11:43):
necessarily accessible for ourSNAP (Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program) eligiblefamilies. So we have been
testing a model, funded throughthe Walmart Foundation, where we
have partnered with local highschools, who have a culinary
arts program, and that arelocated in an area of low
income. And so the chef and thestudents purchase the food and
(12:03):
put the kits together for us.
And all the kits contain healthyrecipes, and enough ingredients
to prepare the recipe to feedfour people. And so we're
testing this model, instead offood delivery, the families come
to the school to pick up thekits. And we're feeding them for
six weeks. And we're collectingdata at baseline, post six
weeks, and then six months longterm follow up. And we're
(12:26):
looking at things likeanthropometrics, biometrics. We
want to look at fruit andvegetable intake, or dietary
quality. Stress, you know,perceived stress. We have this
neat instrument, it's called theVeggie Meter, which is an
objective measure of fruit andvegetable intake. It looks like
a pencil sharpener, and you putyour finger in it and there's a
light that measures thecarotenoids in your skin that's
(12:47):
correlated to your fruit andvegetable intake. So in addition
to people filling out a wholebunch of surveys for us and self
reporting their food intake, wecan actually look at their
numbers and see what changesover the six weeks and if their
dietary quality has improved. Sowe want to–we're doing this
research to provide access tohealthier foods, to introduce
(13:07):
new foods to families who maynot have, you know, tried
certain vegetarian meals before.
We're providing indirectnutrition education through
handouts that they get in thesemeals that they pick up once a
week. We're also helping toequip their kitchen to be able
to prepare these meals byproviding them with pots and
(13:27):
pans and other kitchen utensilsthat are required to make these
foods.
Michaela Kandzer (13:32):
That is really cool. That is really exciting
and really interesting. So thankyou for sharing that. I like the
Veggie Meter–is that what youcalled it?
Karla Shelnutt (13:39):
Uh huh. Yeah.
Michaela Kandzer (13:40):
Yeah, I love that. And that's really neat,
too, that you guys are able tocollect, like, real hard data
instead of having people selfreport. So that's really
exciting, that's interesting.
Karla Shelnutt (13:50):
Yeah, I'll have to take it to your office and
you can check your Veggie Meterscore.
Michaela Kandzer (13:53):
Yeah, I know.
Actually, I'm kind of curious.
[Laughter]. So, you mentionedthe SNAP program. So what is the
SNAP program? And how does thathelp families make healthier
choices when it comes to foodand nutrition?
Karla Shelnutt (14:07):
So SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program. That's thebenefits side, right. That's
where families qualify forbenefits based on income and
other factors, and they receivean EBT card that they use to
purchase food at the grocerystore. The UF/IFAS Extension
Family Nutrition Program is SNAPEducation (SNAP-Ed). So we are
(14:27):
the education arm of the SNAPprogram. And we are funded by
the USDA Food and NutritionService that goes to Florida
Department of Children andFamilies that comes to UF/IFAS
Extension. And so the purpose ofSNAP-Ed–or FNP is what we call
it, the Family NutritionProgram–is to provide nutrition
(14:47):
education to families who areeligible for SNAP benefits. And
so, EFNEP also serves the sameaudience, it's just funded a
little bit differently, but bothprograms teach families to make
better choices. We also teachfamilies to stretch their food
dollars on a limited budget,right. So we're teaching food
(15:07):
resource management skills,teaching them strategies at the
grocery store where they canmaximize their nutrient density
on a budget, which is important.
So we're addressing foodsecurity in that way. And also
increasing their nutritionknowledge and changing behaviors
is our goal, right? We want themto improve their dietary
quality, increase physicalactivity, and save money at the
(15:29):
grocery store. And so we do thatthrough nutrition education. But
we also get to do this reallyfun piece–it's called policy
systems and environmentalapproaches. And this is where we
change their environment, as Isaid before, to make the healthy
choice, the easy choice. Sowhether that's a policy change,
whether it's helping put in acommunity garden in a food
(15:50):
desert, a school garden at aneligible school, partnering with
a farmers market and farmers sothat they accept SNAP benefits
or even Double [Up Food] Bucksso that our families have access
to healthy foods near them. Ourfaculty and staff work on all of
those issues to support SNAPeligible families.
Michaela Kandzer (16:11):
Yeah, okay, that's really cool, and that
makes a lot of sense. And youtalked about, you know, these
programs and you guys at theUniversity of Florida, and
through the research effort youwere just talking about, you
guys are educating thesefamilies directly and
indirectly. So what are kind ofsome of those modes of education
that you guys use?
Yeah, thatmakes sense. And I feel like the
Karla Shelnutt (16:28):
Sure. So pre-COVID, everything was
face-to-face, group education,right? We partner with other
organizations, within ourcommunities that are already
PIE Center is seeing that insome of their research too about
reaching our audience. So that'sa strong component, is these
partnerships and workingtogether for collective impact.
And we would go to a site andteach a group or go to a school
(16:49):
and teach a class of kids. Andthen of course, COVID hit and
the world changed. And so we hadto pivot, as everyone is saying,
and learn how to delivernutrition education through a
different things about, youknow, that desire and that need
virtual platform. And so nowwe're at a place where we're
providing a mixture, right,we're able to reach different
audiences virtually that wedidn't have before. But we still
(17:09):
for hybrid education andoutreach opportunities.
have, you know, families andparticipants who prefer that
face-to-face interaction in agroup. So we provide through
group education in person, andwe're also doing virtual
education–both at the same time.
Everybody has a differentsituation, right?
(17:33):
Right, right.
Michaela Kandzer (17:35):
So, what does it look like to make healthier
choices? And does it lookdifferent for everyone based on
their current knowledge ofnutrition, or what their current
food choices are?
Karla Shelnutt (17:46):
It is going to be different for every person,
right? Because while there isnational guidance and
recommendations on what weshould eat, everyone is starting
at a different place. And thething about making changes to
your dietary intake is, youdon't want to make a bunch of
changes all at once because thatis going to overwhelm and is not
sustainable, right? We talkabout making smaller changes
(18:07):
that eventually lead up to somereally great health benefits.
And the newest dietaryguidelines that were released,
they have a tagline whichbasically says, "Make every bite
count," right? So if you'rewanting to make changes and
improve your nutrition, thinkabout your dietary pattern, so
everything that you eat in aday. And that every time you're
eating something or drinkingsomething or deciding what to
(18:29):
eat or drink, like, that's anopportunity to make that bite
count, right? So whether it'schoosing a whole grain over a
refined grain, or maybe insteadof drinking a sugar sweetened
beverage, you're gonna have acup of water instead. So at that
moment, how can I maximize thenutrition that I'm currently
(18:49):
consuming at that moment? Sosmall changes, thinking about
how those small changes lead tobigger health benefits in the
future.
Michaela Kandzer (18:58):
Yeah, I like that. What was that tagline
again? It was–make every bitecount?
Karla Shelnutt (19:01):
Make every bite count, mm-hmm.
Michaela Kandzer (19:02):
Yeah, I like that. I feel like I need to take
that home with me personally.
[Laughter].
Karla Shelnutt (19:06):
Yeah.
[Laughter]. I was hungry rightbefore this. And I was like,
there's a bowl of candy. But Iwent for the blueberries that
were just as sweet, I'm veryproud of myself. I made those
bites count by not eating theReese's that I really wanted.
Not that I'm saying that that'sa bad thing, because I probably
will have a Reese's later,but–[Laughter].
Michaela Kandzer (19:22):
Everything in moderation, right? [Laughter].
So why should our listeners careabout nutrition? Why is
nutrition important?
Karla Shelnutt (19:29):
Think about your health, right? Of all the things
that we can do to stay healthyand prevent future chronic
diseases, it's what we'reputting in our body now, right?
What does our intake look like?
How can we maximize ournutrition? And not just
nutrition, right? There's somany different things that
impact health, nutrition is onefactor, it's important. But
physical activity, right?
(19:50):
There's stress management.
There's so many differentfactors associated with health,
and nutrition is one importantfactor–that if we start making
every bite count and looking atour plate and eating more fruits
and vegetables–it really isgoing to help in the long run
with preventing differentchronic diseases and making you
an overall healthier personwho's happier and has a better
(20:11):
quality of life.
Michaela Kandzer (20:14):
Yeah, which is really important, right? We only
get one.
Karla Shelnutt (20:17):
Mm-hmm, we only get one. Let's make it a good
one. Exactly.
Michaela Kandzer (20:19):
Yeah. So, what part can our listeners play when
it comes to making healthierfood decisions? And how can they
help others do the same?
Karla Shelnutt (20:26):
You know, one of the things that I think your
listeners can do is if yourfamily members or friends are
trying to make better choices,providing that support, right?
Because it can be really hard tobe the only person in your
circle who wants to make thesechoices and it's not supported
by friends or family. So really,you know, paying attention to
(20:47):
friends or family who might betrying to make better choices
and supporting that, and maybechanging plans because you know
that it's going to be hard foryour friend or family member to
make better choices at a certainplace or something like that. So
really being that support toimplement that I think goes a
long way with friends andfamily.
Ricky Telg (21:10):
Science by the Slice is produced by the UF/IFAS
Center for Public IssuesEducation in Agriculture and
Natural Resources. Thanks forlistening to today's episode.
Subscribe to Science by theSlice on your favorite podcast
app and give us a rating orreview, as well. Have a question
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(21:33):
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We'd love to hear from you. Ifyou enjoyed today's episode,
consider sharing with a friendor colleague. Until next time,
thanks for listening to Scienceby the Slice.
This is Science by the Slice, a podcast from the
University of Florida'sInstitute of Food and
Agricultural Sciences Center forPublic Issues Education. In this
podcast, experts discuss thescience of issues affecting our
daily lives, reveal themotivations behind the decisions
people make, and ultimatelyprovide insight to solutions for
our lives.
Michaela Kandzer (00:43):
Hi, listeners! This is Michaela Kandzer,
Communications Specialist at thePIE Center. I want to welcome
you to our series focused onnutrition. In this series, we
will hear from two registereddietitians as they share with us
the role that food plays in ourbodies, in our communities, and
ultimately in our lives. To kickoff this series, we will hear
from Dr. Karla Shelnutt,Associate Professor in the
(01:04):
Department of Family, Youth andCommunity Sciences at the
University of Florida, andExtension Nutrition Specialist.
In this episode, Dr. Shelnutt isgoing to share with us how she
uses her role at the Universityof Florida and the land-grant
model to research, educate, andcommunicate with communities to
help reduce food insecurity andto maximize overall nutrition.
Keep listening.
(01:30):
So can you start by explainingthe role of food to individuals
and communities? So, I know thatkind of sounds like a simple
question, but, kind of, whatrole does food play in
communities?
Karla Shelnutt (01:40):
Sure, you know, people think of food, a lot of
people think it's just what I'mhaving for lunch or dinner
today. But food in general doesso much more than that, right?
It really brings communitiestogether. It builds
relationships, right? If youthink about the last time you
got together with friends, youwere likely around the dinner
table, or maybe you went out tolunch or something. So food
tends to be central tocommunication and relationships
(02:04):
and really forms bonds withfamilies and friends and
increases happiness, really.
Michaela Kandzer (02:12):
How did you become interested in studying
nutrition and learning moreabout nutrition?
Karla Shelnutt (02:16):
I have an aunt who's a registered dietitian. So
when I went to college, I hadseen what she did and was very
interested, so I went in thedirection of dietetics. And once
I started getting into theclasses, especially all of the
biochemistry and the physiologyand just, kind of, learning
about the basics of nutrition,that got me hooked, and the rest
(02:36):
is history.
Michaela Kandzer (02:37):
Yeah, and I think that's interesting, too.
Because whenever I think aboutnutrition, right, I just think
about the food that I eat everyday or think about the food
pyramid or think about makingsure I eat you know vegetables
and fruits and a full–a balancedmeal, per se. But really
underneath the surface, there'sso much more to nutrition,
right? So you are a registereddietitian, so can you tell us
what that means and about thework of registered dietitians?
Karla Shelnutt (03:00):
Sure, so registered dietitian
nutritionists, or RDNs, we arenutrition professionals and
we've completed certain academicand professional requirements
that basically make us expertsin this field and qualifies us
to provide nutritioncounseling–provide nutrition
information–that other peoplewho have not had this training
(03:20):
are not qualified to provide.
But RDNs work in a variety ofareas. So you have clinical
registered dietitiannutritionists who work in
hospitals. I do communitynutrition, so there are
dietitians that work out in thecommunity. There are dietitians
in industry, there aredietitians in sports. So, there
are dietitian lobbyists in D.C.
(03:43):
who work on policy relatedissues. So really, whatever it
is that you're interested inrelated to food and nutrition,
there's likely a dietitian thatworks in that area.
Michaela Kandzer (03:54):
Okay, so you said that you are a community
dietitian. So what does thatmean? What does that look like?
Karla Shelnutt (03:59):
Sure, so, the University of Florida is a
land-grant university. And ifyou're familiar with land-grant
universities, we have athreefold mission, which is
teaching, research, andExtension. And everybody knows
about teaching, right? Ourstudents take classes. Everybody
knows about research because weare at an R1 institution. We're
expected to get grants and doresearch, and that's what we
(04:20):
like to do. But a lot of peoplehaven't heard of that third
mission, which is Extension. Andwe like to call it the threefold
mission where it's the threelegged stool where each leg is
as important as the next, butExtension always seems to be
left out–the students don'tknow, faculty and staff don't
know. And in Extension, we arethe education arm of the
(04:41):
university, the outreach arm. Sowe take the science that happens
at the universities, theresearch, and we translate it
into educational programs forthe community. Those programs
are implemented by University ofFlorida faculty and staff out in
the communities. So FNP (FamilyNutrition Program) is in 40
counties, of Florida's 67counties, and EFNEP (Expanded
(05:03):
Food and Nutrition EducationProgram) is in four. So we
partner with people out in thecommunity to help reach our
audience and provide thatinformation, so we are out in
the community as an Extensionprogram.
Michaela Kandzer (05:14):
Yeah, I really appreciate you, though, sharing
that definition of Extension,because that really is, you
know, integral into what you doand your role as a community
dietitian. So, what doesnutrition look like throughout
society? How do things likeincome level or education or
other socio-demographicelements, how does that play
into nutrition?
Karla Shelnutt (05:32):
Great question.
And the issue aboutsocioeconomic status or income
level is important to me,because my research and
Extension programs focus on foodinsecurity and increasing food
access for families who have lowincome, who don't have the
resources necessary to buy theright kind of foods to live an
active and healthy life. So,people who are food insecure
(05:54):
tend to have a less healthy dietthan people who have higher SES,
or higher socioeconomic status,and are able to access that
really nutrient dense,nutritious food. And so families
who don't get that food and areeating more processed food
that's not as good for you tendto have an increased risk for
(06:16):
certain chronic diseases thanthose who do have access to
those foods. So income leveldefinitely plays a role in the
types of foods that people eat.
And then when we talk about age,right, in both of the nutrition
education programs that I workwith, we work with youth, as
well as adults, as well as olderadults. And so, depending on the
(06:38):
audience that we're talking to,will depend on what curriculum
we use, what messages we relay.
So with the little kids, right,the parents are still making
those decisions. So we teachthem about nutrition, but we
really have to reach thoseparents, because they're the
ones making the food choices forthe household. Then as the kids
get a little bit older, middleschool, high school, they're
like, making their owndecisions, choosing their own
(06:59):
foods. So we're really trying toget them when they're younger,
teach them about nutrition, helpchange the environments that
they're in so that it's easierto make the healthy choice. So
we make the healthy choice theeasy choice, is what we like to
say. So depending on what agesomeone is, is whether or not
they're able to make thosechanges themselves, or if we
have to connect with the rest ofthe family to support those
(07:23):
healthy habits.
Michaela Kandzer (07:25):
Yeah, and that makes a lot of sense. And you
use the term the "right kind offoods." So what is the right
kind of food? What is not theright kind of food?
Karla Shelnutt (07:33):
Sure, so, you know, we like to say, as
dietitians, that all foods fit,right. There is national
guidance–the dietary guidelinesare released every five years by
the USDA and Department ofHealth and Human Services. And
then the USDA also has the foodguidance system that we use to
help teach about nutrition inall of our programs. So if
(07:56):
you've seen the latest foodguidance system–it's been around
for a little while now–but it'sa plate. You mentioned the
pyramid before, but it is now aplate. And if you look at the
plate, one of the easiestmessages and what we teach
people is you want to make halfof your plate fruits and
vegetables, right. So we'retrying to get a variety of foods
within all of the food groups.
But in looking at the plate, youwant half of your plate fruits
(08:17):
and vegetables, and then we'vegot the grains group, protein
foods, and dairy. So when we'rethinking about grains, we're
really targeting those wholegrains. And with dairy foods, we
want, you know, the low fat andnonfat options to help decrease
the amount of saturated fatthat's consumed. We want the
lean protein options that makeup a majority of the diet.
Michaela Kandzer (08:40):
Okay, and how does that relate to being food
insecure?
Karla Shelnutt (08:44):
So people who don't have resources to
purchase, let's say, you know, amajority or half of their plate
to be fruits and vegetables.
Maybe they don't have access tothe fruits and vegetables that
they're interested in eating. Ormaybe, you know, they can only
afford food that is moreprocessed, that's easier to
access. You know, we talk aboutfood deserts, which are
communities where there isn't amarket that has these fresh
(09:07):
foods available within a mile ofwhere they live in an urban
setting. These families have aharder time being able to make
half of their plate fruits andvegetables because they don't
have access to those foods. Sothat definitely impacts the
quality of the food they consumeand what their plates look like.
Michaela Kandzer (09:24):
Yeah, and so, you said that food deserts–so
that's one of the ways that foodsecurity is impacted. But what
are some of those other factorsthat may cause families to be
food insecure?
Karla Shelnutt (09:33):
You know, if we think about what's happened in
the past with COVID, we've had alot of families who have lost
their jobs. We have a lot offamilies who have had to stand
in line at a food bank or a foodpantry for the very first time
in their lives because theyunexpectedly lost their job and
they no longer had the resourcesto feed their family. So of
course, employment is going tohave an issue, or is going to
(09:56):
contribute to the issue of foodsecurity and having those
resources to purchase the foodthat's needed. So COVID has
really made things harder for alot of our families. And so the
need for these Extensionprograms that support families
has increased for sure.
Michaela Kandzer (10:12):
Yeah, for sure. So can you tell me about
some of the research that youhave conducted related to
nutrition and to food?
Karla Shelnutt (10:18):
Sure. So the two programs–the Family Nutrition
Program (FNP) and the ExpandedFood and Nutrition Education
Program (EFNEP)–we work withfamilies and we teach about
nutrition. We also do fooddemonstrations, we do cooking
classes. But you know, preCOVID, when we were all getting
together and having theseclasses, it's difficult for some
(10:39):
of our families to actually makeit to a two hour cooking class,
right? If you think about someof the barriers: Time, right?
Maybe the family has a job ormore than one job, and it's hard
for them to leave their familyto come to a two hour nutrition
class or cooking class.
Transportation, do they have theability to get to our cooking
classes? Number three,childcare? Right? Maybe we have
(11:01):
a mother who's got several kids,and she's unable to find
childcare so she can get there.
So we were thinking about waysto help our families overcome
some of these barriers. And sowe thought, well, what about
food delivery or some kind ofmeal kit program. And so we came
up with the idea of testing ameal kit program for our
(11:23):
families, but finding a meal kitprogram or developing one that
is lower cost and moresustainable, right. So you have
these big national chains likeHelloFresh, where people can
have these boxes of fooddelivered to their homes, which
are great, right, I've done onefor several years, and they're
very convenient. But they can bevery expensive, so not
(11:43):
necessarily accessible for ourSNAP (Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program) eligiblefamilies. So we have been
testing a model, funded throughthe Walmart Foundation, where we
have partnered with local highschools, who have a culinary
arts program, and that arelocated in an area of low
income. And so the chef and thestudents purchase the food and
(12:03):
put the kits together for us.
And all the kits contain healthyrecipes, and enough ingredients
to prepare the recipe to feedfour people. And so we're
testing this model, instead offood delivery, the families come
to the school to pick up thekits. And we're feeding them for
six weeks. And we're collectingdata at baseline, post six
weeks, and then six months longterm follow up. And we're
(12:26):
looking at things likeanthropometrics, biometrics. We
want to look at fruit andvegetable intake, or dietary
quality. Stress, you know,perceived stress. We have this
neat instrument, it's called theVeggie Meter, which is an
objective measure of fruit andvegetable intake. It looks like
a pencil sharpener, and you putyour finger in it and there's a
light that measures thecarotenoids in your skin that's
(12:47):
correlated to your fruit andvegetable intake. So in addition
to people filling out a wholebunch of surveys for us and self
reporting their food intake, wecan actually look at their
numbers and see what changesover the six weeks and if their
dietary quality has improved. Sowe want to–we're doing this
research to provide access tohealthier foods, to introduce
(13:07):
new foods to families who maynot have, you know, tried
certain vegetarian meals before.
We're providing indirectnutrition education through
handouts that they get in thesemeals that they pick up once a
week. We're also helping toequip their kitchen to be able
to prepare these meals byproviding them with pots and
(13:27):
pans and other kitchen utensilsthat are required to make these
foods.
Michaela Kandzer (13:32):
That is really cool. That is really exciting
and really interesting. So thankyou for sharing that. I like the
Veggie Meter–is that what youcalled it?
Karla Shelnutt (13:39):
Uh huh. Yeah.
Michaela Kandzer (13:40):
Yeah, I love that. And that's really neat,
too, that you guys are able tocollect, like, real hard data
instead of having people selfreport. So that's really
exciting, that's interesting.
Karla Shelnutt (13:50):
Yeah, I'll have to take it to your office and
you can check your Veggie Meterscore.
Michaela Kandzer (13:53):
Yeah, I know.
Actually, I'm kind of curious.
[Laughter]. So, you mentionedthe SNAP program. So what is the
SNAP program? And how does thathelp families make healthier
choices when it comes to foodand nutrition?
Karla Shelnutt (14:07):
So SNAP is the Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program. That's thebenefits side, right. That's
where families qualify forbenefits based on income and
other factors, and they receivean EBT card that they use to
purchase food at the grocerystore. The UF/IFAS Extension
Family Nutrition Program is SNAPEducation (SNAP-Ed). So we are
(14:27):
the education arm of the SNAPprogram. And we are funded by
the USDA Food and NutritionService that goes to Florida
Department of Children andFamilies that comes to UF/IFAS
Extension. And so the purpose ofSNAP-Ed–or FNP is what we call
it, the Family NutritionProgram–is to provide nutrition
(14:47):
education to families who areeligible for SNAP benefits. And
so, EFNEP also serves the sameaudience, it's just funded a
little bit differently, but bothprograms teach families to make
better choices. We also teachfamilies to stretch their food
dollars on a limited budget,right. So we're teaching food
(15:07):
resource management skills,teaching them strategies at the
grocery store where they canmaximize their nutrient density
on a budget, which is important.
So we're addressing foodsecurity in that way. And also
increasing their nutritionknowledge and changing behaviors
is our goal, right? We want themto improve their dietary
quality, increase physicalactivity, and save money at the
(15:29):
grocery store. And so we do thatthrough nutrition education. But
we also get to do this reallyfun piece–it's called policy
systems and environmentalapproaches. And this is where we
change their environment, as Isaid before, to make the healthy
choice, the easy choice. Sowhether that's a policy change,
whether it's helping put in acommunity garden in a food
(15:50):
desert, a school garden at aneligible school, partnering with
a farmers market and farmers sothat they accept SNAP benefits
or even Double [Up Food] Bucksso that our families have access
to healthy foods near them. Ourfaculty and staff work on all of
those issues to support SNAPeligible families.
Michaela Kandzer (16:11):
Yeah, okay, that's really cool, and that
makes a lot of sense. And youtalked about, you know, these
programs and you guys at theUniversity of Florida, and
through the research effort youwere just talking about, you
guys are educating thesefamilies directly and
indirectly. So what are kind ofsome of those modes of education
that you guys use?
Yeah, thatmakes sense. And I feel like the
Karla Shelnutt (16:28):
Sure. So pre-COVID, everything was
face-to-face, group education,right? We partner with other
organizations, within ourcommunities that are already
PIE Center is seeing that insome of their research too about
reaching our audience. So that'sa strong component, is these
partnerships and workingtogether for collective impact.
And we would go to a site andteach a group or go to a school
(16:49):
and teach a class of kids. Andthen of course, COVID hit and
the world changed. And so we hadto pivot, as everyone is saying,
and learn how to delivernutrition education through a
different things about, youknow, that desire and that need
virtual platform. And so nowwe're at a place where we're
providing a mixture, right,we're able to reach different
audiences virtually that wedidn't have before. But we still
(17:09):
for hybrid education andoutreach opportunities.
have, you know, families andparticipants who prefer that
face-to-face interaction in agroup. So we provide through
group education in person, andwe're also doing virtual
education–both at the same time.
Everybody has a differentsituation, right?
(17:33):
Right, right.
Michaela Kandzer (17:35):
So, what does it look like to make healthier
choices? And does it lookdifferent for everyone based on
their current knowledge ofnutrition, or what their current
food choices are?
Karla Shelnutt (17:46):
It is going to be different for every person,
right? Because while there isnational guidance and
recommendations on what weshould eat, everyone is starting
at a different place. And thething about making changes to
your dietary intake is, youdon't want to make a bunch of
changes all at once because thatis going to overwhelm and is not
sustainable, right? We talkabout making smaller changes
(18:07):
that eventually lead up to somereally great health benefits.
And the newest dietaryguidelines that were released,
they have a tagline whichbasically says, "Make every bite
count," right? So if you'rewanting to make changes and
improve your nutrition, thinkabout your dietary pattern, so
everything that you eat in aday. And that every time you're
eating something or drinkingsomething or deciding what to
(18:29):
eat or drink, like, that's anopportunity to make that bite
count, right? So whether it'schoosing a whole grain over a
refined grain, or maybe insteadof drinking a sugar sweetened
beverage, you're gonna have acup of water instead. So at that
moment, how can I maximize thenutrition that I'm currently
(18:49):
consuming at that moment? Sosmall changes, thinking about
how those small changes lead tobigger health benefits in the
future.
Michaela Kandzer (18:58):
Yeah, I like that. What was that tagline
again? It was–make every bitecount?
Karla Shelnutt (19:01):
Make every bite count, mm-hmm.
Michaela Kandzer (19:02):
Yeah, I like that. I feel like I need to take
that home with me personally.
[Laughter].
Karla Shelnutt (19:06):
Yeah.
[Laughter]. I was hungry rightbefore this. And I was like,
there's a bowl of candy. But Iwent for the blueberries that
were just as sweet, I'm veryproud of myself. I made those
bites count by not eating theReese's that I really wanted.
Not that I'm saying that that'sa bad thing, because I probably
will have a Reese's later,but–[Laughter].
Michaela Kandzer (19:22):
Everything in moderation, right? [Laughter].
So why should our listeners careabout nutrition? Why is
nutrition important?
Karla Shelnutt (19:29):
Think about your health, right? Of all the things
that we can do to stay healthyand prevent future chronic
diseases, it's what we'reputting in our body now, right?
What does our intake look like?
How can we maximize ournutrition? And not just
nutrition, right? There's somany different things that
impact health, nutrition is onefactor, it's important. But
physical activity, right?
(19:50):
There's stress management.
There's so many differentfactors associated with health,
and nutrition is one importantfactor–that if we start making
every bite count and looking atour plate and eating more fruits
and vegetables–it really isgoing to help in the long run
with preventing differentchronic diseases and making you
an overall healthier personwho's happier and has a better
(20:11):
quality of life.
Michaela Kandzer (20:14):
Yeah, which is really important, right? We only
get one.
Karla Shelnutt (20:17):
Mm-hmm, we only get one. Let's make it a good
one. Exactly.
Michaela Kandzer (20:19):
Yeah. So, what part can our listeners play when
it comes to making healthierfood decisions? And how can they
help others do the same?
Karla Shelnutt (20:26):
You know, one of the things that I think your
listeners can do is if yourfamily members or friends are
trying to make better choices,providing that support, right?
Because it can be really hard tobe the only person in your
circle who wants to make thesechoices and it's not supported
by friends or family. So really,you know, paying attention to
(20:47):
friends or family who might betrying to make better choices
and supporting that, and maybechanging plans because you know
that it's going to be hard foryour friend or family member to
make better choices at a certainplace or something like that. So
really being that support toimplement that I think goes a
long way with friends andfamily.
Ricky Telg (21:10):
Science by the Slice is produced by the UF/IFAS
Center for Public IssuesEducation in Agriculture and
Natural Resources. Thanks forlistening to today's episode.
Subscribe to Science by theSlice on your favorite podcast
app and give us a rating orreview, as well. Have a question
or comment? Send us an email topiecenter@ifas.ufl.edu. That's
(21:33):
"piecenter," all one word, atifas, I-F-A-S, dot ufl dot edu.
We'd love to hear from you. Ifyou enjoyed today's episode,
consider sharing with a friendor colleague. Until next time,
thanks for listening to Scienceby the Slice.
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