In the Beginning, There Were Introductions

Welcome to the University of Northern Iowa’s intern blog! I’m your host, Riley Larson. I’m quite excited to begin detailing my experiences as the NACUFS intern at UNI for the next eight weeks! Before I continue writing and you continue reading, I’ll talk a little bit about me.

In professional settings, I keep myself clean-shaven.

People usually ask someone they’ve just met where they’re from in situations like these; I hate this question. I usually sigh and explain that I was born in Denver, Colorado, grew up in Houston, Texas, attended high school in Owasso, Oklahoma, and just graduated from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater. This explanation is usually accompanied by vague hand waving and the summary, “So, I guess I’m from the Midwest.”

Once that’s out of the way, the meet-and-greet flows along smoothly. I’ve worked in foodservice all my life and have experience as a cook, server, and catering employee for my university and private companies. I have a passion for great service and good food; my interest in foodservice management and the NACUFS internship is thus explained.

I earned my B.S. in Nutritional Sciences, Dietetics as well as a minor in Psychology. Not surprisingly, my main hobbies include thinking about and eating food. Specifically, I like thinking about aspects of food that everyone connects with, namely weight management. I’ve been accepted into the University of Minnesota’s Dietetic Internship program for the fall, the only program in the nation with an emphasis in eating disorder dietetics. I hope to provide nutritional guidance and support to these individuals in whatever capacity possible, be it counseling them directly or managing the kitchens in which inpatient meals are prepared.

In the course of this internship, I am actually really excited to learn about forecasting and inventory management. In my experience as a foodservice employee, food is either always magically in the freezer when you need it, or you’re scrambling around trying to find a substitute for whatever it is you’ve run out of. Knowing how managers decide what and how much to order would help me understand foodservice management on a more holistic level. Plus, it’ll be interesting to see some of the tricks to the cost comparison and company negotiation trade. I’m sure I’ll have much more to be excited about after my orientation meeting tomorrow! I’ll be sure to keep you all posted!