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College of Human Sciences honor students’ team up with ROTC for healthy cooking demonstration

Nods of approval and remarks of “wow this is good,” could be seen and heard throughout one of the culinary laboratories inside the Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center one evening this spring — thanks to a unique collaboration formed between the College of Human Sciences Hospitality Honor Society Eta Sigma Delta, the Department of Nutritional Sciences and Auburn’s ROTC programs.

Although the culinary labs inside the Tony and Libba Rane Culinary Science Center are typically reserved for College of Human Sciences students in the Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management, students in Auburn’s ROTC programs received hands-on help and learned how simple it can be to make easy and nutritious meals using sustainable ingredients as the students participated in an inaugural healthy cooking demonstration.

A group photo with all participants in the healthy cooking demonstration

Using rotisserie chicken as a staple ingredient, pairs of Auburn ROTC students followed two recipes to cook chicken with tomato sauce and a chicken, beans and rice power bowl — with help and guidance from Eta Sigma Delta honor students to answer questions along the way.

As for the idea of starting a healthy cooking demonstration, a nutrition team who works with the ROTC programs to deliver nutrition education consisting of Dr. Kelsey Rushing, director of the Dietetic Internship Program, Mick Harris, athletic trainer for ROTC and Wesley Tompkins, strength coach for ROTC, were connected with Dr. Yee Ming Lee, the faculty advisor for Eta Sigma Delta.

As for the idea of starting a healthy cooking demonstration, a nutrition team who works with the ROTC programs to deliver nutrition education consisting of Dr. Kelsey Rushing, director of the Dietetic Internship Program, Mick Harris, athletic trainer for ROTC and Wesley Tompkins, strength coach for ROTC, were connected with Dr. Yee Ming Lee, the faculty advisor for Eta Sigma Delta.

Grace Heery, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in nutrition dietetics this May, finishes her dish

From there, the collaboration was formed between the nutrition team, ROTC and the honor society. The overall purpose is to provide high quality nutrition education related to performance — since the cadets and midshipmen have similar dietary needs as athletes. In relation to this, the topic of food security was brought up as a potential issue and the purpose evolved into not only providing nutrition education for performance, but also for food security — as evidence shows the two are very interconnected.

“The idea is to do low-cost, very healthy meals so the students can take home knowledge and learn to cook in their dorm rooms or apartment,” said Harris. “One of my big things is reaching out to other departments like kinesiology, dietetics and now hospitality management. Auburn is all about family so having the capabilities and letting the culinary students teach other students who maybe aren’t as knowledgeable with cooking it gives them a leg up when they go out in the job market. We are going to set them apart from their peers so when they commission into the military, they can cook nutritious meals and not rely on fast food.”

“It’s been interesting to see the difference between cooking skills,” added Rushing. “One table just knew how long to cook the pasta by eyeballing it, but another was unsure about draining the corn before putting it in the skillet so just being able to help students no matter their skill level has been great.”

From a student perspective, Grace Heery, who graduated with a bachelor's degree in nutrition dietetics this May, offered a unique viewpoint having a background in nutrition as well as a nutrition team student for ROTC. After graduating from Auburn, Heery will pursue a master’s degree in nutrition from the Army-Baylor graduate program.

“As a nutrition student, I’m around food all the time so the thought was to be able to give this population access to a state-of-the-art kitchen and give them the instruction because a lot of times college students aren’t cooking because they don’t have the experience or knowledge."

Grace Heery, a senior who graduated with a bachelor's degree in nutrition dietetics this May

“The thought was we have a lot of students who have minimal access to food or are genuinely just not sure how to do certain things cooking,” said Heery. “As a nutrition student, I’m around food all the time so the thought was to be able to give this population access to a state-of-the-art kitchen and give them the instruction because a lot of times college students aren’t cooking because they don’t have the experience or knowledge. The goal is to progress it and hopefully host more events like this in the future.”

Moving forward, the hope is that more healthy cooking demonstrations will be planned but more importantly, more nutrition education will be shared within the groups. According to Rushing, graduate-level dietetic interns will continue to work with the various branches of ROTC, hopefully allowing cadets and midshipmen to gain further insight and knowledge on healthy cooking.

For more information on The Horst Schulze School of Hospitality Management, click below.

HOSP

For more information on Auburn's ROTC programs, click below.

ROTC