Dietetics program brings nutrition education to lawmakers

dietetics students faculty at legislative breakfast — Front, left to right: Amanda Robbins (dietetics graduate student and intern); Eileen Molloy (Food Science and Human Nutrition faculty and MAND president); Mona Therrien (Food Science and Human Nutrition faculty and MAND board member); and Michele Chenard, Reanna Plourde, Lauren Hebert, and Katelyn Deraps (All dietetics graduate students and interns). Back, left to right: Jacob Rich, Angela Czup, Katie Davenport, and Lubett Taquet (All dietetics graduate students and interns).

March 15, 2019 College News, Graduate students, School of Food and Agriculture

Graduate students in the University of Maine’s Food Science and Human Nutrition Program and Dietetic Internship took their expertise to Augusta this winter to help Maine’s legislators make informed decisions regarding nutrition policy.

Nine students from the program culminated the communication effort by helping to host the Maine Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Legislative Breakfast in Augusta on March 7.

Maine’s dieticians prevent and treat malnutrition, food insecurity, and obesity — all problems that impact the health and well-being of Mainers.

The UMaine Dietetic Internship serves Maine’s need as the only program in the state accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). Graduates are prepared to become Registered Dietitian Nutritionists and are eligible to sit for the National Registration Examination. UMaine graduates have a high passage rate for the National Registration Exam and are employed readily within the field of dietetics.