Final Weeks 7 and 8 at UND

These last two weeks were jam packed. My final days at UND comprised of finishing up projects and getting in as much shadowing and final questions as possible before saying farewell.

Finishing projects:

Wellness meals

I worked on creating meals that satisfy requirements set by the Partnership for a Healthier America program. These meals will be offered out of Dakota Home style in the Wilkerson Dining Hall

UCLC menus

UND dining provides meals for child care centers on campus. These meals have to meet certain requirements for each age group which I reviewed.

Customer service surveys

Earlier in the summer Emily and I drafted questions which rate customer service in the dining halls. These last weeks Dustin Chuck and I edited the survey and administered it to diners.

Recipe testing for Persian and Indian cuisine

I continued to cook with Aman and Akram. We shared the creations with other staff and I sent the recipes off to Chef Greg to scale up for the the dining hall.

Presented Indian cuisine in the dining hall open for students and staff to try

I am so happy with how the food turned out and how it was presented in the dining hall. See pictures below:

Here are all of the foods we prepared and served on two plates

I wasn't the only one taking pictures :)

Shadowing:

Nutrition Research Facility

For more info visit: https://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=30-62-05-00)
I got to spend two days at the USDA, Agricultural Research Service's Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center. This is separate from UND so I was lucky to get to explore this gem. Bonnie Hoverson took me under her wing and taught me about the research that goes on here. Let me show you around:

Here is Dr. Casperson in the metabolic chamber. This is a room that measures how much energy a person is burning while inside.


Sometimes research participants stay at the research facility. Here is part of participant living quarters.

This is where all kinds of physical tests can be done. Some things that are measured here are body composition and endurance.

Here I am wearing an apparatus from the metabolic cart. This can measure how much energy a person expends while moving about. Other equipment is used to measure resting metabolism.

Management

I learned about hiring, training, inspections, keeping track of food waste and more from Jason Gallagher.

Human Resources and Budget

I learned about hiring in a university system and how budgets are tracked.

Warehouse Receiving

Every weekday morning dining services receives groceries! Here are a few pictures of unloading and counting of goods.

Catering

UND has a great and hardworking catering department. Earlier in the summer I helped with a catered wedding. This last week I met with Andrea Green to learn about how they plan and staff all of the events.

Last Day Celebration