To kick off our tour through MFLN’s concentration areas and how each one can contribute to disaster preparedness, this week’s Friday Field Notes will focus on Nutrition and Wellness. The Nutrition & Wellness team at OneOp mainly focuses on applying research with education and counseling to meet the needs of military families concerning preventive and medical nutrition.
When it comes to disasters, the food we consume can be impacted in a major way. Every now and again, there are food emergencies (natural or manmade) that are called into question warranting public warnings or a halt in distribution and sale of certain items. Nutrition and Wellness’s blog post, “Make Food Safe: Minimizing Your Risk of Foodborne Illness”, offers readers some practical strategies for protecting themselves and their families from foodborne illnesses whether they are preparing food, shopping in their commissary, or if they have lost power in their home due to a disaster. As service providers, staying on top of the resources available in your community at the local, state, and nationwide level can greatly increase the ease of service delivered to the military families in your area, allowing them to maintain nutritional wellness in the wake of a disaster.
Be sure to peruse some additional resources related to disaster preparedness and nutrition that are linked below:
- United States Department of Agriculture: The USDA has programs specifically for promoting food safety such as the National Integrated Food Safety Initiative, the AFRI Food Safety Challenge Area, and the AFRI Foundational and Applied Science Program to name a few. Additionally, this handy brochure about the USDA’s Disaster Nutrition Programs offers information about programs for children in public schools who have experienced a disaster as well as information for families utilizing Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). Guides to specific state information are also provided with each program.
- Extension Disaster Education Network: Explore EDEN’s resource dashboard for relevant material by clicking on “Hazard” and then “Food Safety” at the right of the page.
- The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is a worldwide organization for food and nutrition professionals. Their website offers educational articles and videos from professionals in the field specifically for food safety. Regarding disasters, articles are available with considerations for shopping before a disaster strikes as well as food safety concerns after a disaster. Feel free to reference this emergency preparedness tip sheet as well.
Additional resources from Nutrition & Wellness
For more information about serving military families by addressing preventive and medical nutrition, check out more resources from the OneOp Nutrition & Wellness team like blog posts and webinars. Follow them on Twitter as well!
