For our educational needs assessments we are focusing on students’  knowledge of medications and the expectations of regarding this knowledge upon entering internship. Medications and their uses can often be a point of stress for students entering internship so the goal of our session is to help introduce students to a few main types of medications. Examples of these include, prokinetics, antiemetics, diabetes medications, fluid and hypertension medications and those used for bowel protocol. Although we are not going to focus on specific medications, our group thinks that it is important for students to gain a broad understanding of common types of medications that will be part of dietetic practice. After receiving feedback from the students about their interests on this topic we have created our needs assessment and program plan.

Please find attached our Educational Needs Assessment Worksheet and Educational Program Plan

Educational Program Plan EducationalNeedsAssessmentWorksheet

I’m getting to the point where I’m really ready to start eating the way I normally do. How lucky, being able to choose to go back to a plentiful, healthy diet. I’ve become quite apathetic about meal time and I don’t look forward to it. As a foodie and a dietitian student, this is extremely unlike me. I live and breathe food.

Today I’m thinking about food security. When we think about food security, we often think about a country, far far away from us. We think about those television commercials we all saw as children. We think of a place that isn’t Canada. How could it be? We’re a safe, resource-rich country, a developed Western nation.What if I told you that 1.6 million homes in Canada experience some sort of food insecurity? What if I told you that British Columbia has the highest poverty rate in the entire country? 1.6 million, that’s 4.4% of our population. That’s 1 in 8 households.  That’s huge, when it could be zero.

There are many definitions of the term Food Security, I’d like to cite one definition from The World Health Organization:

Food security is having access to sufficient quantities of food, having sufficient resources with which to obtain foods for a nutritious diet and appropriate use of food based on knowledge of basic nutrition and care…  Food security exists when all people at all times have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life. http://www.who.int/trade/glossary/story028/en/

All people. That’s the part that sticks with me. To be food secure, all people must have access to food. Healthy food, at that. Something I have noticed over this past week is my intense and insatiable cravings for fat and sugar. Fat, mostly. This makes sense from an evolutionary perspective. Our bodies are still programmed to prepare for the next moment when food is scarce. For many of us, food is not scarce. For a lot of us -1.6 million to be exact- food is still a scarce commodity. So, if you are chronically hungry, and you need cheap foods that satisfy those cravings, what would you reach for. Me? I would reach for foods high in sugar, fat and salt, because my body wants them. It needs them for fuel. Of course, since money is extremely limited, can I indulge in “healthy” fats or rich foods that are fatty but also nutrient dense? Of course not, those are far too expensive. So there it is, the foods I would eat (I cannot consciously call them food choices because really, where is the choice?) are not nutrient dense. Calorie dense, but not nutrient dense. Foods that have been linked to illness and disease. What if, long term, these are the only foods I am able to eat? Are welfare recipients food secure? Absolutely not. If a welfare recipient cannot consistently afford foods that are part of a nutritious diet, how can this person be expected to thrive? What if you’re a child, in the most crucial stages of development. What then?

So, back to the all people part. We are living in a country that is not food secure, and something must be done. Even if you are food secure, your country is not. Can you really live with that? $610 a month. $21 for food. This amount of money says, we don’t care if some of you have to eat food that could make you sick. Good, healthy, nutritious food is too expensive for you. Food is not a human right, it’s a privilege. I disagree. Food is a basic human right; let’s change this mind set.  It was Mahatma Ghandi who said, “The measure of a civilization is how it treats its weakest members.” I think we need to carefully consider those words and, as a country, step up. We have the power to change the rates of food insecurity in Canada. Let’s do it. Let’s raise the rates of Welfare.

Today was a difficult day for Kaleigh and me. We started out with a pretty decent breakfast; eggs, toast, beans and the remainder of the sautéed mushrooms and onions I saved when cooking the chili. Lunch was not so great. We accidentally burned our toast, but since we are running low, needed to salvage it. We scrapped off the burned bits and ate it anyway. We had the toast with plain tuna and half a carrot each. It was dry. Very dry. Dinner started out ok, but we quickly realized our chili had gone bad, so it had to be thrown out. Having only oatmeal and two servings of rice and beans left we decided to have oats and peanut butter for dinner, we will save the beans and rice for tomorrow. It would be a lie to say that I’m not counting down the hours until I can eat well again. I have the choice, 1.6 million people in this country do not.

I encourage you to visit this website to learn more about a Food Secure Canada: http://foodsecurecanada.org

As always, I encourage you to sign the petition: https://www.change.org/p/christy-clark-raise-social-assistance-rates-in-bc

Share my blog to all your social media cites!

Today I am thinking about poverty and social isolation. As I sit here, thinking about the week so far, my mind wanders to the first day of the challenge. When I shopped for my $21 of food, I was in the grocery store for quite some time. Even though I was the only person who knew I had a limited amount of money with which to buy food, I felt weird, out of place. I felt embarrassed. I felt awkward. People came and went in the aisles of the grocery store, grabbing packages here and there without much hesitation, and there I stood, meticulously rifling through each and every bag of pasta or rice, figuring out which would be the most frugally responsible purchase but still give me adequate energy and nutrition. I wandered through the bread aisle, back and forth, deciding which would be the best purchase. I came across the sale shelf. 50% off for a loaf of old bread. It was a nice, dense looking rye bread. I knew I wouldn’t be able to afford this bread at regular price, so I grabbed it off the shelf. I was going to have to be careful to freeze it quickly so it wouldn’t go mouldy. What if I didn’t have a fridge? Which bread would be the best to buy? When Kaleigh went to get her groceries later, the discount rye bread was gone. She had to settle for 50% white french bread.

I knew I wanted some vegetables, so I wandered the aisles looking for any that might be on sale. I found an old pack of mushrooms that were 50% off, just starting to slime. I knew I could sauté them with the onion I bought and they would be fine. What if I didn’t know that? What if I didn’t have a stove top or a frying pan? The onion and mushrooms would have to be the only vegetables, everything else was just too expensive. I moved on to fruit. Bananas are a cheap, filling and nutrient dense fruit, so I decided to buy a few.

When I arrived at the till and the cashier rang through each item, I stared at the computer, watching the price add up. Quickly, the price was halfway there, then almost there. Then it reached $21, then it went past. I was at $23.78. I would have to put some things back. Imagine that, standing at a till in the grocery store, a line up behind you, having to quickly decide what food to return because you can’t afford to buy it all, to buy the absolute bare minimum. I thought quickly because I didn’t want to make the people behind me wait. I decided on the milk. Nutritious? Yes. High in calories? Not as much. It wouldn’t be as filling, so it had to go. Looking around quickly I decided to put back some of the bananas, since I had 6. I decided on 4, since I knew I wanted some fruit on the days I have school. I was finally back down to $21. I quickly packed up my food and left, hoping that people weren’t too frustrated that they had to wait. What if that was my life everyday? What if I didn’t have a warm house to go home to, and money to spend on hygiene products or new clothes? Would that experience have been more embarrassing? Probably. Is food poverty socially isolating? I think so.

Being hungry and living in poverty must be very socially isolating. It’s the weekend but I have no spending money, no energy, and I am in no mood to face the outside world. My stomach hasn’t been full for five days, and it’s exhausting and depressing. I miss being full. Even if there were social situations I could attend that didn’t cost money, would I want to go on an empty stomach? What if I had experiences like the one at the grocery store on a daily basis? Would I slowly stop reaching out to people? Would I want to stay inside? $21 per week gives me money for food, but what about activities that are good for my mental health? That make me happy? Social isolation and mental health are so intimately intertwined, and hunger hangs over them both, exacerbating the feelings of depression, anxiety and apathy, which present social barriers and lead to isolation. There is evidence that social integration can improve mental health status and even decrease mortality risks. If $610 per month is so little that a person cannot eat properly, feels apathetic, and in the longterm becomes socially isolated, is this not a significant health and safety risk? Do we care? We should. We absolutely must.

Today I had plain oats and yogurt again for breakfast. My last banana is getting quite ripe and I can’t stop staring at it. I’m determined to save it for Monday though, I have a long day of meetings and class to get though, so I’m saving it for then. Today I was hungry almost immediately after breakfast, which was very challenging, since today I am doing school work. My mind wanders every few minutes, and often  I get distracted by the growling of my stomach or pangs of hunger. I was able to wait until 1:30pm to have eggs and toast and hot water. Dinner tonight was the last of the fish and rice. We didn’t cook the rice in brith because we’re saving it for tomorrow. Later we will eat another scoop of Kaleigh’s peanut butter, which is something to look forward to. It’s already half gone so we’re going to have to be careful these next few days. For me, I have two more days left of this diet. For 4% of people living in British Columbia, this is life everyday. Let’s change that. Let’s Raise the Rates of Welfare in B.C.

Want to sign the petition to ask Christy Clark to raise welfare rates in B.C.? Click here: https://www.change.org/p/christy-clark-raise-social-assistance-rates-in-bc

Visit http://raisetherates.org and http://welfarefoodchallenge.org to read more about Welfare Rates in B.C. and the Welfare Food Challenge.

As always, share my blog and post on social media about this issue. It’s a big one, but we can make change.

Being hungry is tiring. It’s exhausting. I am only really able to concentrate on school work for small amounts of time because my mind is always moving to thoughts of food. I’m also less able to think rationally about things and I am finding emotions affect me more intensely when my brain and body are not being adequately fuelled. This experience has made me think about how hunger affects mental health. How do people who are chronically hungry face every day challenges and annoyances? If you suffer from mental health issues, how does hunger exacerbate them? Chances are, if you’re suffering from chronic hunger, you have challenges that far exceed any I have ever experienced. But still, in my comfortable home and my fortunate life, small things are affecting me much more intensely than they otherwise would. I am not in a good mood lately. How could I be? My brain is hungry and my body is begging for more nutrition. Irritability, restlessness and a short temper are what plague me today. Other than for a few hours this morning, I haven’t left the house all day. Mental health is a very real concern for many people, many of whom are also under-nourished. If I were already struggling with mental health issues, this insatiable hunger would only exacerbate my feelings and mood.

I am feeling apathetic and can’t figure out what to do with myself today. My brain is hungry, so my ability to make decisions is impaired. For me this is just a week. What happens when your ability to make decisions is chronically impaired, because you’re never really fed? Hungry people can be difficult to deal with; we’ve all heard the term “hangry”, used to describe someone who is angry and quick to irritate when hungry. When you are hungry you cannot act rationally and “socially appropriately”, because your body is focusing on just keeping the brain going. With this comes a cyclical issue: You’re hungry, so you’re not always great to be around. Will you be the person that gets the job? Will you get treated well by strangers? If not, would that isolate you more? It makes me stop to think about people I have encountered in my life, people who have acted strangely or aggressively on the street, at school or in a shop. Are they just hungry? Proteins are the building blocks of your body, including neurotransmitters in the brain. Dopamine and serotonin are important neurotransmitters that regulate mood. If I were chronically malnourished eventually the levels of mood regulators in my brain would fall, leading to low mood and irritability. And that’s just one example of one macronutrient, and one part of your body.

So here I find myself, creating a list of issues that plague people who are chronically hungry. Are they living in a safe, comfortable and warm environment? Do they have a kitchen at all? How many people do they share a kitchen with? Do they have cooking utensils? Kitchen equipment? What if someone receiving welfare is struggling with mental health issues, as many of us do? The list goes on and on. $610 per month tells someone that they don’t matter. Their physical health doesn’t matter. Their mental health doesn’t matter. It’s quite the statement, wouldn’t you say? We need to stand up and say that everyone matters. The health and happiness of our communities matter. People need to be able to afford to eat. Period.

Today I had oats and yogurt for breakfast around 8:30am. I was happy to be able to sleep in a bit so that my day wouldn’t be as long. Long days make me hungrier. By the time I got home around noon I was quite hungry. I waited an hour and a half to eat more chili and rice with Kaleigh. It’s been a cold day so we boiled some hot water to have with our lunch. My budget doesn’t allow for luxuries like coffee, tea or hot chocolate. We tried our best to keep ourselves busy between lunch and dinner. I did some school work and Kaleigh knit. After a while we watched a movie and then made dinner. Our conversations today have been about the timing of our food, which is getting more difficult. We’re trying to space out the ‘big’ meals as much as we can so that we have things like chili and fish for the last few days. Today we ate pasta with tuna for dinner. That’s it for the pasta.

Even though I have been careful not to expend too much energy, my pants are starting to get loose. I’m really looking forward to a scoop of peanut butter tonight.

Today I’m tired. I woke up with hunger pangs, more than usual. At 6:30am I had quite a big breakfast since I had such a big day of school ahead of me. Two fried eggs, two pieces of toast and oats with yogurt and banana. I only have one banana left after today but since it’s almost the weekend I thought I would eat my last bananas on Monday. I want to eat high energy fruit on school days. I will go without fruit over the weekend. It was hard to figure out what to pack for lunches and snacks as I was uninspired by everything I have. I’m growing tired of the chili since it’s quite bland, but I packed it for lunch because it was ready and I was in a hurry. My breakfast kept me satisfied through class, but I was worried about how to plan my snacks. I could only take chickpeas and one carrot for snack since they are both are running out and I want to eat at least one vegetable a day for the rest of the week. I was able to wait until noon to have my chickpeas and carrot. By then I was very hungry.

I was able to wait until just around 2pm before eating my lunch. I wanted to hold off as long as I could so that I wouldn’t get too hungry before dinner. I’ve been trying to have my dinners closer to bed time so that I’m not too hungry throughout the night. Lunch today has been the lowest point so far. It was an emotional experience, sitting at a desk at school, eating my chili and thinking about how much planning had gone into the timing of my meals so that I would not end the day uncomfortably hungry. It was only 2pm and up until that point the only thing that had been on my mind was what to eat, how to eat it and when. The fear of being hungry is all consuming, and I can only imagine, a debilitating concern. It should not be this way for anyone.

I haven’t been biking to school as I normally do since I am concerned about expending too much energy. My bike ride to school is about 45 minutes, which is a lot considering I’m not even getting my baseline calorie, macronutrient and micronutrient needs. This is a noticeable and unwelcome change in my lifestyle, since biking is my exercise and the fresh air is my escape from the busy day.

My roommate Kaleigh is taking the challenge with me, so it was nice to get home tonight and eat dinner together, and chat about the week so far. We made breaded perch (breaded with the stale bread we bought), plain brown rice and half a carrot each.  Collectively, between the two of us, we have $3 left. We are going to look for some peanut butter tonight. The sweetness, protein and fat will be a nice change.

Sign the petition to raise the welfare rates: https://www.change.org/p/christy-clark-raise-social-assistance-rates-in-bc

Today I have been thinking about a lot of things related to food and food preparation. I am participating in this challenge, but it is just that for me, a challenge to eat $21 worth of food in a week. At $610 per month for welfare, $21 per week is left for food. Once food and housing have been paid for, there is essentially no budget left for hygiene, clothes, transport; all needed for job hunting and living in dignity. Although rent for socialized housing is, on average, lower than the majority of rent in B.C., it is still costly. Renting a room does not mean conditions are clean, healthy, safe or equipped well.

I only have $21 to spend on food, but I have a comfortable home in which to store my food; I have a fridge, cooking utensils, equipment and time. My 5 years of nutrition education have equipped me with the knowledge of foods to buy that will best nourish  me on a limited budget. While every welfare recipient comes from a different background and situation, many do not have these luxuries for food preparation. How would I have purchased groceries differently had I not had a kitchen or cold storage in my home? What foods would I buy each week if I had no time or knowledge of food? These are all things that have crossed my mind today. While this is a challenging experience, mine is completely different than someone on welfare, and this is important to note.

I’m feeling more nourished today than I did yesterday; I have eaten more calories. I ate fried eggs with plain toast in the morning, and chili with rice for lunch. My snack was roasted chickpeas and a carrot and dinner was plain pasta with sauce. I hd a small amount of yogurt in the evening but I have to be careful. There isn’t much left and I want it to last me until the end of the week. Not much variety from the day before, but I have some fish to look forward to later in the week. My craving today is for sweetness.

Lunch today: rice with chili (mixed beans, plum tomatoes, carrots, onion and mushrooms)

Sign the petition at: https://www.change.org/p/christy-clark-raise-social-assistance-rates-in-bc

This marks the first day of the Welfare Food Challenge. I’m tired and hungry, and my head aches from little food and no coffee. It’s been an overwhelming day, knowing that this is one snippet in time for me and that many people – too many people – across British Columbia live this life daily. I am feeling more grateful today than ever, for having been raised in a situation of plenty, having never had to go hungry. I am irritable, but feel guilty for being so, since it has been less than 24 hours that I have been eating a limited diet. British Columbia has the highest poverty rate in Canada, a title it has held for many years. I feel sad and frustrated that more is not being done. Every person in this Province deserves the best chance possible to thrive, and adequate nourishment is the first step.

Below are my meals for the day and the macronutrient and calorie breakdown. By the end of the day I was quite lacking in many nutrients and calorie count, a reality that many people are facing everyday.

Breakfast: 1 cup of plain oats cooked in water, 1/2 cup of plain yogurt and 1 medium sized banana

Protein – 8g

Fat – 5g

Carbohydrates – 36g

kcal – 215

Snack: 1 hard boiled egg

Protein – 7g

Fat – 5g

Carbohydrates – 0g

kcal – 80

Lunch: 3/4 c of cooked brown rice, 1 cup of chili with mushrooms, onions, plum tomatoes, carrots, mixed beans (black, kidney, chickpeas) and 1 slice of rye bread

Protein – 10g

Fat – 1g

Carbohydrate – 36g

kcal – ~205

Snack: 1 large carrot and 1/2 cup of roasted chick peas

Protein – 10g

Fat- 2g

Carbohydrates – 30g

kcal – 148

Dinner: 1c of white spaghetti noodles with 1/2 cup No Name zesty pasta sauce with 1 slice of rye bread

Protein – 11g

Fat – 1g

Carbohydrates – 59g

kcal – 310

Total Macronutrient Intake for Day 1:

Protein – 35g

Fat – 12g

Carbohydrates – 116

kcal – 958

This is less than half the required amount of calories I should be consuming per day. I was afraid to eat too much for first day for fear of running out before the week is through. Imagine that life, wondering if you’ll have enough food to sustain you from day to day. This is the reality for many people living in poverty in B.C. if they even qualify for social assistance.

How can you support #raisetherates?

Sign the petition – https://www.change.org/p/christy-clark-raise-social-assistance-rates-in-bc and ask Christy Clark to raise the Welfare Rates in B.C.

Like, share, Tweet, Facebook my blogs and posts, and talk to each other about raising the rates in British Columbia. Get involved at http://raisetherates.org/take-action/ and take action, in whatever way works for you.

Introduction to the Welfare Food Challenge:

This year I am participating in the Welfare Food Challenge in order to help raise awareness for the low rates of welfare in BC. Once all other expenses are accounted for, the average welfare recipient has only $21 to spend on food for an entire week.

As a nutrition student I am attuned to the health consequences that people face when they do not have enough healthy, nutrient dense food to eat. Surviving on $21 per week it can be very difficult for people to meet daily requirements for calories, macronutrients and micronutrients, which can lead to long lasting health issues.

This past three weeks have been extremely educational. I have had the opportunity to shadow a dietitian, write a consumer piece, counsel a volunteer client, teach in an elementary school and lead a class education session. I have spent the last few months learning a lot of important theory, so this class was a wonderful opportunity to focus on active learning. Getting out into the community and networking with each other and with dietitians across Vancouver is the best way for us to learn and become confident in our new skills. The professional practice courses are fundamental in our training, and I feel like I am much farther ahead in my knowledge than I was three weeks ago.

Attached is a self reflection of the course and all its components.

Reflective Self Evaluation Assignment, May, 2015

Hi! I am Laurel Burton and September, 2014 marks a new and exciting year for me. This is my first year in the UBC Dietetic’s program, as well as my debut as a blogger. I am so excited to start the next three years of my nutrition education. Stay tuned for more posts as I gain knowledge and experience in the field of Dietetics!