Center of Excellence - Events
The Center of Excellence for Nutrition, Health, Wellness and Quality of Life participated in Scotlandville’s Kids fest on June 11, 2022. Families from all over Baton Rouge came out and participated in a day full of activities with food and fun. At our booth, children were able to demonstrate how to properly plant sunflowers and identify the different parts of the plant. We also connected with members of the community about several programs that we are offering this summer. Funding was provided by the Walmart Foundation Center for Racial Equity and the 1890 Universities Foundation.
Photos from this event are available here.
On March 21, 2023, day 2 of Ag Week, the Southern University Agricultural Research and Extension Center met with 9th grade students at the ASPIRE Career fair. SUAREC showed students the dangers of smoking, introduced them to healthier lifestyles and gave them nutritious treats.
Photos from the event are available here.
On January 31, 2023, we partnered with the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) to host the first of a series of listening sessions hosted by USDA’s Agricultural Science Center of Excellence for Nutrition and Diet for Better Health (ASCEND for Better Health). The session gathered a diverse audience of local community members, partners, and leaders, where they were able to discuss how the community at large deals with food, the misinformation about it, and the lack of access to healthy choices. It was a well-attended event of power-packed information and a great continued effort at bridging the gap between diet, nutrition, and health issues in the community and what can be accomplished through a collective effort between USDA and the Southern University Ag Center.
Photos from the event are available here.
This spring semester, the Walmart Health Disparity Scholars at N.C. A&T worked collaboratively with the NCAT Pathway 2 Human Lactation Training Program and clinic on creating informational videos to educate nursing mothers as they complete their intake forms. The videos addressed the following topics:
- Key Vitamins and Minerals for Breastfeeding
- Breastfeeding Benefits for Babies
- Breastfeeding Benefits for Mothers
- Nutritional Considerations for Breastfeeding Mothers
- Nutrition during pregnancy
The videos have been submitted for further review and should be updated on nursing mothers’ intake forms sometime during the summer. Meanwhile, the group prepared educational flyers that focused on nutrition for nursing mothers. The scholars also toured the clinic and gained insight into its operation.
Additionally, the scholars met with the director of the Greensboro Urban Ministry Partnership Village, a transitional housing community for individuals and families rebuilding self-sufficiency after experiencing homelessness (www.greensborourbanministry.org), to develop ways in which the team can promote healthy eating patterns in their residents. The scholars led a presentation that gave an overview of functional foods and their benefits to the village residents on the day that they received food from the distribution center. Nursing students from Elon University were also there to provide blood pressure and blood sugar checks for the residents, coordinating with the scholars so more residents were reached.
Photos from the event are available here.
Our Center of Excellence participated in the Live Well Baton Rouge Health Fair. This event was sponsored by Mary Bird Perkins Cancer Center. They provided FREE CANCER SCREENINGS for breast, colorectal, prostate and skin. Our Center provided nutrition ed handouts and allowed participants to customize their own parfaits.
Photos from the event are available here.
Our Center of Excellence participated in the Adjusting Our Lenses 2023 host by Spirit of Truth International Ministries, Humana & State Rep. C. Denise Marcelle. The healthfair was geared towards students having a safe and healthy summer. The event had various vendors that were able to interact and elaborate about their programs with families in the communities.
Photos from the event are available here.
On May 24th The Center of Excellence participated in the Know your number: Blood Pressure Awareness health fair in Lafayette, La. The health fair provided free blood pressure checks and community resources. Our Center provided resources on various ways to reduce waste, tips for dining out, and gave out MyPlate incentives to participants.
Photos from the event are available here.