Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the nourish scholarship program…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.** the nourish scholarship program is a combined MSP and SEL 4 year project. Codes: F, N and O-food systems. The nourish addresses two challenges in the healthcare field. (1) addressing malnutrition through increased access to healthy and sustainable diets is nuanced and complex. Nutrition, health and other fanh professionals are well-positioned to provide guidance to individuals and in food systems policy initiatives; however, health professionals, including registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNS), receive minimal education in their professional curriculum on agriculture and food systems. In this project, we provide experiential learning in agriculture and food systems to nutritional sciences students who intend to pursue dietetics or other fanh professions. (2) access to graduate and professional school preparation and mentoring. The BS degree in nutritional sciences provides students with a strong foundation of academic coursework; however, no formal food systems education or experience is required in the curriculum and there are no formal peer mentoring programs. In this project, nourish scholars receive ongoing culturally responsive mentoring each semester, attend four leadership workshops, actively participate in professional organizations, and complete eight units of experiential learning curriculum focused on food systems, the role of extension, and food science and safety. The nourish scholars program is an innovative educational model addressing the two identified challenges by employing culturally responsive approaches to teaching, mentoring, and training, and implementing experiential learning interventions that address minority college students' barriers of awareness, opportunity, and achievement (AOA).