Dept. Chairperson Asst. Prof. Sagum and Ms. Mejos
In celebration of the College of Education’s 90th Foundation Anniversary, the academic departments held a series of colloquies that tackle trends, problems and issues in teacher education, food technology, and nutrition and dietetics. The Nutrition and Dietetics (ND) Department, headed by Asst. Prof. Cristina Sagum, conducted their colloquy on food security on April 26, 2016 at the Special Education Room of the Albertus Magnus Bldg. The activity was attended by 150 faculty members of the department and juniors of the ND program. Invited as speaker was Ms. Karen Kay Mejos, a data analyst of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Integrated Food Security Classification Phase (IPC) – Philippines Chronic Analysis. Mejos is also a part-time faculty member of Philippine Women’s University – School of Nutrition.
In her talk entitled, “Integrated Approach on Food and Nutrition Security”, Mejos recounted her work as a data analyst in assessing and understanding food insecurity situations in the country to properly inform nutrition and food security decisions. She expounded comprehensively on the multidimensional nature of food security and proposed measures to undertake in order to improve access to sufficient, affordable and nutritious foods. Her presentation was followed by reactions and insights from three ND professionals: Mr. Miko Balisi of the World Health Organization – Department of Health; Assoc. Prof. Eleanor Sibug of the UST Department of Nutrition and Dietetics; and Ms. Mary Rose del Rio – auditor of the student organization called the Philippine Association of Nutrition– Omega Chapter (PAN-OC). Balisi conveyed his thoughts from the perspective of a researcher, while Sibug emphasized the importance of food security and how this is incorporated and taught in the ND curriculum. Finally, del Rio reported some of the co-curricular and community development activities of the PAN-OC geared toward the nutritional aspects of food security.
The colloquy concluded with an open forum. Mejos openly expressed her passion for organic gardening. She challenged the students to become more pro-active on pressing societal issues like hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. Assoc. Prof. Zenaida Velasco provided the synthesis of Mejos’ talk.
