Ana Pelcastre

Naomi Shadwell

Nutrition 404

Fall 2013

Course Reflection

The name of my instructor for this class was Naomi Shadwell, a Registered Dietitian that works as a school nutrition manager in one of the Nutrition Department at the San Diego School District. This made it easier for us to understand better how the nutrition food system works because she brought with her all of her knowledge and first hand professional experience in this nutrition area. Some of the things I liked the most in this class was the guest speakers because it helped me broaden my perspective on the different areas of Dietetic, in particular school nutrition. Before this class, I had never thought of how the school food system worked or how the food system in larger organizations works in general. I thought it was something very interesting and sparked in me, curiosity and interest in learning more on this field.

Also, one important aspect of this class was the creation of a business plan that helped promote healthier behaviors. Therefore, my team and I came up with the idea of entering in the food truck industry with the revolutionary idea of promoting healthier drinks such as smoothies, juices and fruit cups. We thought that was something our community is still in need of since most of the food trucks in San Diego only provide services for the conventional low nutritious type of food. As you can see, this project helped me learn how businesses work, how to create a plan and how to be creative in order to promote healthier eating. I also liked the shark tank activity; I thought it was interesting to see how other classmates came up with business ideas and their creativity to gain their investors invest in them.

In summary, all of these activities were new to me and learning about them gave me more ideas on what it is that I would like to do after graduation.