For the last two years and nine months, Chelmsford resident and Director of Nutrition Kendra Bird, plays a vital role helping the Greater Boston Food Bank distribute healthy meals in eastern Massachusetts. Working at the GBFB, the largest hunger-relief organization in New England and one of the largest in the nation since November of 2009, Bird’s responsibility’s at the organization stretch from evaluating and ranking the food, to creating monthly education materials in conjunction with a monthly health observance for those participating in GBFB programs.
With resources pooled from industry donations, food drives and financial contributions, the GBFB is equipped to provide high nutrient quality food out of their Yawkey Distribution Center, a state-of-the art, 117,000 square-foot distribution facility employing 14,000 volunteers annually. The food bank seeks to accumulate, store, organize and distribute food through local food pantries, community meal programs, homeless and residential shelters, youth programs, senior centers and day-care centers, since its incorporation in 1981.
Calling Arlington her hometown, Bird earned her bachelors of Science with a concentration in nutrition and dietetics from Framingham State University in 2006, where she also achieved her masters of science in food and nutrition in 2009. Bird first became a nutritionist at a private social service and welfare organization, North Suburban WIC Program in Malden, from January 2007 through November 2009. Now married with a 15-month year-old, and living in Chelmsford, Bird eventually found herself in Boston at the GBFB.
What is involved in overseeing the quality and safe handling of nearly 40 million pounds of food distributed by the GBFB each year?
My role at GBFB is essentially split between nutrition and food safety. We work hard to acquire nutritious products and have internal metrics, which dictate that at least 75 percent of our inventory must be composed of nutritious food items. In order to monitor the quality of our inventory, myself and Adriene Worthington, RD, LDN, GBFB nutrition manager, conduct nutrition analysis on all products, which cross our doors. To date we are operating with a nutrition measurement of 82 percent.
The nutrition department at GBFB is also responsible for writing specifications for all purchased foods, which ensures products we acquire are nutritious and meet our high standards.
Food safety takes up the majority of the rest of my time. Given that we serve a high-risk population, food safety is of the utmost importance. I am responsible for training and certifying all GBFB staff involved in food handling as well as all of our 500+ GBFB member agencies (food pantries, soup kitchens, transitional shelters). In addition to food safety training, it is my responsibility to ensure the safety of all food products by ensuring that our building meets the guidelines of all regulatory authorities (ie: board of health, city of Boston, AIB – third party food safety auditing company).
What is involved in the nutrition workshops and material you create for both children and adults who benefit from GBFB’s Kid’s Cafes, Brown Bag, Backpack and Mobile Food Market Programs?
GBFB Registered Dietitians are responsible for conducting nutrition education workshops at our Kids Cafe sites on an annual basis. Each Kids Cafe receives at least a six-week nutrition education course which covers basic cooking skills, the importance of color and variety in the diet, how to “build” a healthy meal using the USDA MyPlate tool, etc. At the conclusion of each class, all student participants head home with some fun giveaways, nutrition activities and a letter for their caregiver which details all the material covered in class and examples of how the caregiver can continue the conversation at home.
Nutrition education for the Brown Bag and Backpack programs consists of an educational flier, which is added to each of the bags on a monthly basis. For seniors, the handout typically consists of nutrition messaging tied to a monthly health observance (ie: cardiovascular health in February for American Heart Association’s Heart Month, etc), one or two simple recipes, and an activity such as a cross-word, word jumble, etc, all written in large font for aging eyes! For children, the Backpack flier is designed to be fun and educational for the younger audience, with some great recipes and information for the caregiver to use as well.
Nutrition education at our Mobile Food Market sites is still new and growing. Our ultimate goal is to bring educational fliers and hopefully sampling to the participants in order to help clients become exposed to new and different food items.
What do your duties involve on both the Massachusetts Nutrition Board and the Boston Food Policy Council?
GBFB joins the MNB as a community member and essentially acts as a liaison between the world of hunger relief and other dietitians working in clinical dietetics, foodservice management, academia, and the research world.
The Mayor’s Food Policy Council is a wonderful, diverse group of individuals all of whom work with food, sustainability, health, hunger relief, or research in some capacity. GBFB joins the meeting in order to bring information about the growing need for food assistance in our community and also to identify partnerships and ways in which we can expand our work.
If you could have only one meal for a week, what would it be?
Roasted summer vegetables over whole grain pasta with Parmesan cheese.
What inspired you to pursue this particular career path?
All registered dietitians must complete an intensive (one year, plus) internship program prior to being eligible for the national board examination to become an RD. The internship program allows all future RD’s the opportunity to experience many aspects of nutrition and dietetics from clinical work in hospitals, to foodservice management, to community and outreach work. It was clear to me during my education and subsequently during the internship component that I was a community based person who excelled at sharing my knowledge with the community as a whole, especially those in a low-income population. I enjoy working directly with clients in need and making small differences in their every day lives.