Field Trip to the Farmer's Market

The third week of classes has flown by and I gave my first introductory speech in my public speaking class! I should have taken this class my sophomore year but I was never able to fit it into my schedule and now I am finally taking it as a senior. Public speaking can be pretty nerve-wracking but practice makes perfect! My speech was about my goals and what aspires me to become a dietitian. Many people were surprised to have nutrition major in a public speaking class because majority of the people who enroll in this class are business majors.

This past week, for my nutrition food and culture class, we had another field trip and this time it was to the farmers market. Luckily it was located on the Syracuse University quad so we did not have to find transportation in order to get there. As I browsed through each table I noticed that each table had completely different products. I went back to the first table and began to ask questions about whether they used synthetic fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides or other chemicals, where does all the food come from, for livestock, do they use antibiotics, steroids or growth hormones, and whether or not they take steps to reduce soil erosion. By the end of the visit I discovered that the majority of the local farmers in central New York are not organic certified. Mainly because most of them are small family run businesses and they explained that they cannot afford to pay thousands of dollars each year for the organic label seal. However, they do follow the same procedures for organic farming and sell locally to restaurants and farmers markets.

              In addition to the farmers market this week my group began writing our lab report following the nutrition care process guidelines. Since it was our first time writing our lab report, it actually took us a very long time to make sure everything was correct. However, our professors told us that by the end of the semester we will become really good at it and when we do get the dietetic internships we will probably be able to do up to seven per day. I really looking forward for that day to come!

By: Mavis Ren