1 May 2012 ~ Meijer Dietitians

Janine Faber, a dietitian working with Meijer stores, informed us on the exciting life of working in the business side of dietetics. Specifically with the Healthy Living branch of Meijer stores(an educational,marketing as well as business program), it is her responsibility to: inform customers of healthy choices/options when shopping at their store, organize events which inform/raise customer interest in Healthy Living, answering questions, providing reading material and recipes for healthier nutrition planning and coordinating with other dietitians in order to brainstorm ways to become more successful. Funded primarily by businesses looking to get more publicity for their healthy products, the program's mission statement is to : "...to increase sales and promote customer loyalty by creating and communicating health solutions and product knowledge to shoppers." All in all, it was interesting to be provided a chance to see what the path of dietetics could lead to: working with more of a media and marketing side of food is an option out there for our major. I could see myself creating educational tools and magazine booklets for patients or customers due to my interest in the creativity involved, however it seems kind of overwhelming to have to deal with the media and pressure of organizing so many events all the time! Suck it Trebek.