Penn State 2014! Blog 8

Another week at Penn State has flown by! We started off the week touring the Berkey creamery, which was incredible.  Being an ice cream fanatic and working at an ice cream shop myself, I thought it was an amazing opportunity.  Any given week about 8,000 gallons of ice cream are produced to supply the creamery, all the dining commons, commonwealth campuses, and any other special orders.  In addition, they also produce a variety of cheeses, milk, yogurt, juices, and sour cream.  On the day we toured, they were in the process of making chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, which we got to sample right off the line!  It was so good! I also learned a little fun fact that Ben and Jerry learned to make their ice cream at Penn State.

Milk pasteurization process from the Penn State cows

Interns rocking the hair net style

Selfies in the -45°F freezer

Enough ice cream to supply Penn State for two weeks

Later in the week, we got to meet with Matt Wenzel to discuss the operations of the convenient stores, otherwise known on Penn State campus as C stores.  We learned how they order food, take inventory, and price all their items.  It was interesting to hear how the convenient stores are becoming more and more essential on Penn State campus for students on the go who don't have time to sit down and eat a meal at the dining commons.

For our focus group session we met with the SNA's, student nutrition assistants.  These are students at Penn State who are nutrition majors.  They have a wide variety of responsibility, but one major task is developing menus for any students eating at the dining commons with a food allergy.  To do this, they go through every menu item for every day and highlight what is safe to eat and what is unsafe to eat.  This is an extremely tedious process that includes looking up recipe information on FoodPro and even contacting manufacturers.  In addition, they have the opportunity to work on programs that are implemented throughout the semester in the dining commons.  For instance, one program was called "Skinny Dipping", which showed students healthier alternatives for veggie and fruit dips.  Another campaign they work on is RHEAL, Residential Healthy Living and Eating.  This is used to distinguish healthy eating options on campus for students

RHEAL campaign symbol

We decided to take advantage of our time off this week and went to a Spikes baseball game, a minor league affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals.  Thankfully, the rain held off and it was perfect night for some baseball.  We also found the most adorable puppies at the Amish flea market that Chef Bill brought us to during the week.  I wish I could have taken them home with me!  All in all, another exciting and successful week at Penn State!

Me, Jess, and Brittany at the Spikes game

Cutest puppy at the Amish Flea Market