Bhumika worked to improve the nutrition of UAB graduate students who shopped at the campus food pantry, Blazer Kitchen. To accomplish this, she conducted cooking demonstrations using My Plate Recipes, videos and other resources; provided workshops on nutritional content of food items, food product dating, and how to interpret nutritional labels along with its applications in grocery shopping. She also taught weekly meal planning so participants could prepare a whole week’s menu using food pantry supplies and supplemental foods, and provided virtual grocery store tours so they could locate healthy foods when shopping. All the participants attended ten, two-hour virtual classes where they learned to make healthy food choices through My Plate resources and basics of nutrition and cooking skills they could apply at home. By the end, all participants demonstrated what they learned by preparing a healthy meal and sharing recipes.

As a result of the program, among the 15 participants:

• All 15 self-reported learning more about a balanced diet and interpretation of nutritional labels
• All 15 demonstrated making healthy lifestyle changes via planning meals weekly & cooking at least one meal on weekends
• In addition, the Blazer Kitchen food pantry is better equipped to help all students make healthier food choices by sharing My Plate resources and videos Bhumika created through their website

Blazer Kitchen has posted short videos on how to choose healthy food and has made other diet and nutrition resources available for every Blazer Kitchen shopper on the Student Outreach website, which will help sustain the “Healthy Eating With MyPlate” program.

“My time as a Fellow has been a period of growth and learning. Being an Albert Schweitzer Fellow served as a constant reminder of “The purpose of human life is to serve, to show compassion and the will to help others”. Healthy eating is very crucial for overall good health. All the participants’ active participation and enthusiasm by preparing at least one meal and sharing the pictures, taking quizzes etc. inspired me to develop new lesson plans that were both enjoyable and very impactful.”