Note that for the next two semesters, we hope to continue a focus on nutrition choices that we’ve begun this spring, with intern Kimberly Braun. Kimberly (along with two marketing research courses) has been doing research about nutrition knowledge, and the way that nutrition shapes our dining choices.

You don’t need to be an expert on nutrition to apply (thoughwe wouldn’t turn you away if you were!).

Choices at the Table

A Dining Service Internship on food and choice

The Kitchen Cabinet invites applications for Choices at the Table-semester-long internships exploring consumer choices, community, and food in the Gustavus Dining Service. Interns will identify an issue addressing food choice making, and will design and execute projects that focus on it. Topic areas may include health and nutrition, the environment, community justice, and taste and aesthetics. Gustavus students may apply for one of two fifteen hour per week internships. Note that for the 2009-10 academic year, the focus will be on health and nutrition.

The Internship

Choices at the Table is an academic internship for two Gustavus students to educate Gustavus community members about the significance of their food choices, specifically in the Dining Service.    The interns will develop and execute a plan for exploring a health/nutrition, environmental, social justice, or aesthetic issue with the Gustavus community. Successful plans will focus on illuminating consumer and institutional choices, and identifying the information needed to make these decisions.  The interns will combine the following activities in a mix appropriate to the particular focus of their projects:

Investigation: In addition to an examination of the literature and the experience of other institutions, the interns will do surveys and/or other research to explore the Gustavus situation.

Recommendation: Based on the relevant environmental, social, and economic factors, the interns may recommend new approaches for Dining Services.

Communication and outreach: The interns will prepare educational and outreach materials and programming related to the internship topic.

The focus of the internships will be to encourage and enable thoughtful Dining Service choices by campus consumers in regard to health, sustainability, justice and/or aesthetics.

In addition to working with the faculty sponsors and the Director of Dining Service (who serves as the internship supervisor), the interns will be expected to keep the Kitchen Cabinet informed of their efforts as well as to collaborate with each other to the extent possible.  Interns will write a summary report at the end of their term; this report will be available to the Gustavus community.

Qualifications: Junior or senior status; demonstrated interest in food, sustainability, justice and/or health issues; ability to work independently while being accountable to supervision; flexible and open to constructive suggestions; good academic standing.

Compensation: Each intern will be awarded a $1500 stipend for the semester internship.

How to Apply: Interested students should submit a one to two-page pre-proposal and a one-page summary of qualifications to the Kitchen Cabinet Chair Lisa Heldke (heldke@gustavus.edu).  The pre-proposal should outline the applicant’s plan for exploring the topic of food, nutrition, health and choice. Possibilities may include research on nutritional knowledge or effective nutrition education programs, or designing and conducting educational events about nutrition, health (physical, mental, emotional) and food.

The pre-proposal should articulate the issue and the choices associated with it, including an outline of possible education and outreach activities.

The brief summary of qualifications should include:

1. A short statement explaining the applicant’s interest in the internship.
2. A summary of relevant academic and work experience.
3. The names of two people (at least one of whom must be from the Gustavus faculty) who can be contacted for a reference.

The pre-proposal and summary of qualifications are due by May 1 (for fall internships) and December 1 (for spring internships).

The Kitchen Cabinet will invite selected applicants to develop more detailed proposals for the Choices at the Table internship.  The selected interns will work with the Internship Director to ensure approval of the internship for academic credit.

For more information about the internship, including guidance on how to approach the topic or finding a faculty advisor, contact Lisa Heldke (heldke@gustavus.edu), Steve Kjellgren (skjellgr@gustavus.edu), Cindy Johnson Groh (cjgroh@gac.edu), or James Dontje (jdontje@gustavus.edu).

The Kitchen Cabinet

The Gustavus Kitchen Cabinet is an advisory committee composed of staff, students, and faculty who address the ways in which our food and dining choices intersect with commitments to health, social justice, the environment, and the cultivation of taste.  The Kitchen Cabinet:

• consults with the Director of Dining Service, at his/her request, on matters that involve ethical, socio-political, dietary, or pedagogical uses of the Dining Service;
• examines the role of the Dining Service in the College’s mission, and makes recommendations about that role;
• supports the Dining Service in its work for the mission of the institution, by educating the community, both formally and informally, about that work.

The Kitchen Cabinet sponsors the Choices internship as one way to expand its educational outreach mission. The internship focuses on the role of diners’ choices.

Dr. Heldke’s earlier post warned diners to be wary of the Portion Creep! This warning is not to be taken lightly….the Creep’s been spotted all over the MarketPlace this week – leaving a nasty trail of Big Eyes, Small Stomachs, and partially eaten meals.

Throughout the Spring Semester, please watch for Nutrition Awareness research, programs, and campaigns on Campus. The Kitchen Cabinet’s ‘Choices at the Table’ Intern – Kim Braun, A student Marketing Research group, and The Gustavus Health Service Dietician will all be actively working on behalf of Gustie’s nutritional health education and promoting good dining practices and healthy choices. Stay tuned….

On behalf of the Dining Service Staff and Kitchen Cabinet, Welcome to Spring Semester 2009, and as always – send recipe or menu requests/comments to chef_jake@gustavus.edu !

To do list

Big and small things that we’ve identified, along with people who promised to do them

• Check in with Lisa and/or Steve about your continued involvement with KC: everyone
• Check in with Barb Larson Taylor re: sustainability document: [unassigned]
• Develop a “purchasing priorities” document that defines, among other things, “local”: Lisa will start. Joiners welcome.

Reports

• Dining Service Director
  • Steve opened the meeting by showing the Gustieware video produced by a student in Communication Studies last term. It’s a very effective piece of advertising for the return system. Ideas for its use:
    • Put it on the DS homepage.
    • Use it during first year orientation
    • Show it on GAC T.V. (before movies, e.g.)
  • He also reported that the new budgeting structure worked well, with only a few students even asking questions at the end of the term. It helped a lot that he’d gone to Senate to ask them for suggestions about how to explain the system, and that DS is very “up front” about the way dollars are spent.
• Sustainability meeting with president
  • The president sought to assure representatives at the meeting that sustainability “is in there” in the strategic planning documents.
  • The document this group produced was to be distributed to the chairs of all G150 groups, who can disseminate it to their groups as they see fit.
  • Next step: consult with Barb Larson Taylor to see what next steps are.

New Business

• Joe floated the idea of a KCab blog, which would be syndicated (Lisa’s new computer word for the meeting) on the GAC network. It would be a place for commentary, and also for things like the video. After some discussion, the group decided that a freestanding blog (not one within the DS website) would be a way to go.
  • All KC members are eligible to post to the blog; this can be a place to try out a theory, post a news item, or invite comments from the community. Items may migrate out of this blog to other places on the GAC website. It can be a useful way to get the word out about items of importance.
• Next semester: no intern has materialized. [Lisa’s note: this picture has changed since the meeting and we may actually end up with someone.] With or without an intern, what should be the priority of the group for the spring?
  • Communication. Educating students about the impact of their choices, e.g. on the environment, their health, their wallets.
  • Nutrition.
    • Bruce Johnson’s advanced students will be working with DS on a research project related to nutrition in the DS. DS will be a kind of “client” for this class. Talk with Bruce and/or Steve for further details, and watch for reports as the project unfolds.
    • Given this priority, make it a priority to invite Health Service, and ensure that a member of that staff is able to attend our meetings and get involved.
• The recipe project: PA Sam Grace came to tell the group about his project for the spring semester, to gather recipes for dishes that students concoct in the DS. He presented samples of recipes he’s already collected, and discussed his ideas for an index-card “cookbook” students could take with them when they go to dinner. Steve noted that the practice of creating your own dishes is entirely acceptable; billing is sometimes tricky, but this can be negotiated/developed. Sam is exploring the idea of a recipe contest.