Members and advisers of the SC State Nutrition Association outside Staley Hall.
Cooking classes, wellness videos among planned outreach activities
ORANGEBURG, S.C. — From weekly wellness videos to planned cooking classes and fresh fruit offerings,
members of the SC State Nutrition Association are finding ways to make healthy eating
more accessible to students and the surrounding community.
Wellness Wednesday and Fresh Fruit Friday are among the activities that members of
the SC State Nutrition Association have developed to create healthier food environments
and promote nutrition education on campus and in the surrounding community.
Making nutrition education fun and accessible
“My vision really is to bring all the nutrition majors together and impact the community
by informing everyone on nutrition and other things,” said Donovan Mitchell, the association’s
president.
Mitchell, 22, a senior nutrition major from Orangeburg, South Carolina, said the goal
is simple.
“We want to bring everybody together and have fun while we learn and network and communicate.
We plan on getting involved in the community like going to schools and educating the
student-athletes on nutrition,” he said.
The association plans several activities to educate students and raise awareness about
nutrition.
“Every Wednesday we do Wellness Wednesday, where we have a member talk about something
related to nutrition and wellness to bring awareness to the people. We post that on
our Instagram so people can see it and bring attention to the Nutrition Association,”
Mitchell said.
From fresh fruit to cooking classes
The association also plans to implement Fresh Fruit Friday, when members will sell
fresh fruit to students, and Taco Tuesday, when they will sell two tacos each Tuesday.
Mark Henry, 20, a junior nutrition major from Dallas, Texas, is the association’s
vice president.
Henry said the association wants to educate students about healthy eating, nutritious
alternatives and food recalls.
Henry said the association also plans to teach students how to read food labels.
“A lot of times people think they’re picking up something healthy, but they don’t
know how to read the back of a label. So that is what we plan to talk about with our
Wellness Wednesday,” he said.
The association also plans to hold a Wellness Wednesday event at a Walmart or local
grocery store to educate shoppers about choosing healthy foods.
Henry said Fresh Fruit Friday will introduce students to less familiar fruits.
“We will have a station set up around campus and have people come to try sample-size
fruits, something new to expand people’s palate,” he said.
The association has approximately 13 members and meets at 3 p.m. Thursdays in Room
113 of Staley Hall. It recruits new members throughout the year.
Henry said members are planning additional activities, including a cooking class.
“We do plan to host a cooking class. The final details aren’t worked out yet, but
our advisor, Ms. Carmen Thompson, will be in attendance. We talked about having international
foods and talking about different cultures,” Henry said.
Thompson, one of two association advisers, is a registered dietitian and assistant
professor at SC State.
Mitchell said the cooking classes will give students hands-on experience preparing
nutritious meals.
“They can actually see things they can substitute as a healthier option to incorporate
in their meals every day, those that have fewer calories and sodium and will be healthier
and still taste good,” he said.
Students embrace healthier living
Myliondi Bess, 21, a senior nutrition major from Hartsville, South Carolina, said
the association serves an important role in raising awareness about nutrition.
“I feel like a lot of students don’t know about nutrition, they don’t think about
what they’re eating or how it affects their bodies. So I think it’s just a good way
to spread that nutrition is important and to show people that you can make nutrition
fun and healthy and it still be really good,” she said.
The Nutrition Association also works with students involved in SC State’s Family and
Consumer Sciences student unit.
Skylar Williams, 20, a junior majoring in family and consumer sciences and multidisciplinary
studies from Augusta, Georgia, serves as president of SC State’s Family and Consumer
Sciences student unit.
“One of the aspects in family and consumer science is food and nutrition. Even though
I’m a multidisciplinary major, I just felt it doesn’t matter what your major is when
it comes to learning new information and getting yourself educated about health,”
Williams said.
Joining the nutrition association has helped Williams learn how to maintain her health
and help others do the same.
“I feel like joining the SC State Nutrition Association allowed me insight into how
to stay healthy and help other people get healthy,” she said.
Henry said the Family and Consumer Sciences student unit will work with the nutrition
association to promote its mission.
He said he initially wanted to become a travel nurse but found a sense of purpose
through the university’s food and nutrition program.
“I did not notice until I talked to Ms. Thompson that I can be a sports nutritionist.
That kind of hits home for me because I am an athlete at heart. I’ve played multiple
sports throughout my whole life, but I did have a lot of concussions which caused
me to stop playing sports. I feel like this gives me the opportunity to stay close
to sports,” Henry said.
Mitchell said he wants to involve students from all academic majors in the association
to help ensure its efforts continue.
For more information about the SC State Nutrition Association or how to join, contact
Henry at mhenry9@scsu.edu or Mitchell at djohn122@scsu.edu. The association also can be reached on Instagram at @scsu.nutrition.
