April 11, 2022
How recent graduates play an important role in US child nutrition policy
Posted in: Alumni, Health, Science and Technology, University
A graduate of Montclair State University, Isabella PazBaldrich ’19, a Bachelor of Science in Nutrition and Food Science, immerses himself in the heart of policy activities, including legal language designed to address food insecurity in American children. , Spent months at Capitol Hill.
The 24-year-old nutritionist concludes his nine-month graduate fellowship with the Hispanic Institute for Hispanics (CHCI) in May. As a CHCI PepsiCo Graduate School of Nutrition and Health, she works with the US House of Representatives Education and Labor Commission, which oversees children’s nutrition programs. The Commission has jurisdiction over national school lunch programs, school breakfast programs, child and adult care food programs, and more, Passbaldrich explains. After five months of intensive interviews and a selection process, she was one of only 10 CHCI graduates from around the country and delved into the Child Nutrition Reauthorization (CNR) Act, which expired in 2015. ..
“It should happen every five years, but there have been unsuccessful attempts, so we’re trying to do this this year, mainly because the Senate will pivot to work on the agricultural bill next year. “Pas Boldrich says. “This is the only window of opportunity we can do this.”
In her role as a Fellow, Paz Baldrich has gathered views from children’s nutrition advocacy groups and other stakeholders to help strengthen CNR law. “We are trying to modernize and extend the guidelines so that more children can qualify,” she says. “It is also one of our priorities to strengthen nutritional standards in line with dietary guidelines.”
Paz Baldrich is passionate about food fairness, especially with regard to children and their development. She is particularly interested in expanding special supplemental nutrition programs (more commonly known as WIC) for women, toddlers and children. It helps the child until the age of five.
“A 5-year-old kid isn’t in kindergarten and isn’t part of the school lunch program, so I’m trying to extend it until I’m 6 years old or until the first day of kindergarten, to fill that gap,” she explains. increase.
She is also interested in expanding the school’s free lunch program. “Thanks to COVID, every child in school is eligible for a free meal. But before COVID, it wasn’t. I paid either the full price, a discounted price, or a free meal. So one of the biggest things we’re trying to do is to qualify more children for free meals, which is as close as we can reach universal school feeding. And that’s the ideal situation. “
Paz Baldrich recently joined a four-day CHCI Capitol Hill Policy Briefing Series in 2022 on Health and Nutrition on “The Impact of Food Anxiety on Child Development: Focusing on Hispanic and Latin Children Living in the United States.” Moderated a panel of experts.
She was introduced by US Congressman Robert Scott, D-VA, who chairs the House Committee on Education and Labor and sponsors the Reapproval Act.
“Isabella has played an important role in supporting this reapproval bill, and we will continue to do so,” says Scott. “Our committee was very fortunate to have Isabella bring her perspective, not only as a CHCI graduate student, but also as a registered dietitian nutritionist. Through Isabella’s research as a major, she began to understand the complexity of the government’s role in the fight against food fairness and food insecurity. “
All of Passoldrich’s childhood experiences and nutritional studies in the free lunch program are “absolutely valuable in the legislature she manages,” says Scott.
Nutritionist goes to Washington
Shortly after arriving in Washington, DC, Pas Baldrich thanked her former professor Lauren Dinour for her fellowship. “She is the reason she is here,” says a graduate of Montclair.
“I was very excited to hear that she got this fellowship. She was putting her education into practice,” says Dinour, an associate professor of nutrition and food research. Dinour. “I wanted to hear more.” So she invited Paz Baldrich to speak on campus.
Dinour recalls that Paz Baldrich has won the best grades and several scholarships. But “What impressed me most about Isabella was her active use of her bilingual skills,” Dinour adds. “She was one of two students who volunteered to work at the Center of Excellence for Latin American Health, which is part of the Clara Mars Medical Center. They are a nutrition education work in Spanish. The shop was developed and offered in Spanish, which was very impressive considering that we do not teach nutrition courses in Spanish. “
Dinour’s classes touch on food insecurity and nutritional programs, including special nutritional supplement programs for women, toddlers and children. Most of her nutritional students tend to focus on helping people one-on-one or in small groups. “They feed without thinking about policy … and understand the role that policy plays in much of our daily lives,” says Dinour. “So, part of what I’m trying to convey in this course is not only about the role and importance of policy, but also about our policy as a U.S. citizen, future expert, and advocate. It’s an ability. “
For some tasks, the state legislature or parliament needs to analyze the current bill and write its letter. Dinour says he encourages students to send answers, even if it often takes a long time to receive them.
“Patients and clients can be affected, so as a resident or someone who cares deeply about these issues, we need to let them know how you feel,” Dinour said. say.
The first thing that stimulated Path Baldrich’s interest in public policy was his mission to write the letter. It wasn’t the only one she wrote to her representative. After graduating from the Clara Maass Medical Center in RWJ Barnabas Health and doing a diet internship, Paz Baldrich earned a master’s degree in science and nutrition from St. Elizabeth University.
She interviewed to work with individual parliamentary leaders, but she chose to work for the House of Representatives because of her nutritional background.
Paz Baldrich returned to the campus this spring to talk to students in the Community Nutrition Class at Dinour about the need for a nutritionist at Capitol Hill.
“I tell you here that we need to increase the number of nutritionists and nutrition specialists who make nutrition policies, because those who make these policies are not nutrition specialists,” Paz Baldrich told the engagement class. rice field.
Her speech to Dinour’s class was a roundabout moment for Paz Baldrich, who taught two classes, including the Community Nutrition course, in the spring of 2019.
Food was her future
Born in Cali, Colombia and raised in Budd Lake, New Jersey, Pasboldrich recalls having a free lunch at an elementary school. She doesn’t remember the stigma that sometimes affects young children in the program, but she remembers that she experienced some sort of cultural conflict. She grew up on a diet rich in foods that are hard to find in the school cafeteria, such as beans and lentils.
“If you don’t have or forget your lunch, you’ll get a peanut butter and jelly sandwich,” she says, shaking her head to her memories. “Because I’m Latina, I didn’t like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, so I didn’t like it. I was really disappointed because I couldn’t really eat it.”
Growing up with a daily look at the Food Network, it’s no wonder Paz Baldrich is pursuing nutrition as a carrier. She enjoyed cooking with her grandparents or on her own, cooked according to her recipes, and at some point aimed to be a chef.
“My dream was to go to the Culinary Institute of America because I wanted to be an executive chef,” she recalls with a laugh. “Then I realized that I didn’t like to cook to make a living, because I like to cook for myself.”
“I think it’s worth it for Alum to share their experiences and hopefully inspire new classes of dietitians in the future. Also, students will learn about their experiences, their whereabouts, their journeys and their journeys. It’s great to hear from nearby colleagues about how they used it to find their place. “
It’s important to know what you don’t want
Despite the success of Pass Boldrich at Capitol Hill, she hopes to eventually find a job in a non-profit organization that can focus on nutrition education, especially among Latin communities.
“We’ve seen the gaps our community is facing,” she says. “Nutritionists often don’t really understand the different cultural foods we have, so I’m more focused on cultural foods and more focused on tailoring nutrition education to the population. I want to. It’s a completely different world. For example, I’m not going to understand Japanese culture as much as I understand my culture, right? It’s not their fault, it’s not the knowledge they have. . “
A story by staff writer Sylvia A. Martinez. Photo courtesy of Amaris Benavidez, Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute, Jessica Karasik
