FOOD FOR THOUGHT

Informed consumers make healthier choices eating in or dining out.

Understanding the nutritional content of food is important, says Lauren Mitchell, a senior in dietetics. She summarized current research as part of her “Fast Food Findings” presentation in a food science and human nutrition communications class.

Mitchell found that about half of fast food restaurants provide customers with nutritional information, but not on the menu. She found that customers don’t look at the nutritional information if it’s not on the menu.

In fact, the studies she reviewed showed that only six people out of 4,311 actually read the information posted on walls or the counter before ordering. Her solution—post the calorie content beside each menu item.

“I think people will still eat out even if the calories are posted, but they may choose smaller serving sizes,” Mitchell says.

The articles she reviewed indicated that most families choose fast food because it’s convenient, inexpensive and they like the taste of the food. She also found that 25 percent of Americans eat out every day and spent 49 percent of their food budget outside the home in 2006.

The key to eating nutritional meals, Mitchell says, is planning. If you do eat out, she suggests choosing healthier options, smaller portions and reading the nutritional information. Although she eats fast food on occasion, she prefers to cook her meals. She believes there’s a general misconception in today’s culture that it’s difficult to cook.

“If you can read a recipe, you can cook,” Mitchell says.

She attributes her love for food to her large family and nine years of cooking and exhibiting food projects through 4-H. She’s also a proponent of taking time to eat three meals a day.

“Eating is more than nourishing your body,” Mitchell says. “When people talk about their favorite memories, most of those are tied to food.”

Since she transferred from Iowa Central Community College she’s visited a Meredith test kitchen and volunteered at the Food and Wine Expo in Des Moines. She also became one of the first peer mentors in the food science and human nutrition department’s transfer student learning community.

This year, Mitchell is excited to work as a teaching assistant for the Pasta Pasta Cooking Workshop. She’s also been involved in Collegiate 4-H, the Student Dietetic Association and the culinary science club.

Mitchell says she’s undecided about her plans after she completes her internship next year. She has an interest in serving as a community-based dietician, which means she would be working to change eating behaviors at the community level or helping people understand the nutritional information on labels and in restaurants.

Click here for Mitchell’s Italian cream cake recipe

AT THE HELM

Dakota Hoben is a recognized leader on campus. And it’s not just because he was elected president of the Government of the Student Body. With four majors, the senior in agricultural business, international agriculture, economics and political science says he seeks out leadership opportunities to serve others.

“If you want to see things change for the better you need to be involved and be in a position of influence,” Hoben says. “In any leadership position it’s about giving back and as GSB president it’s about working for the students.”

The GSB position was something he pursued after a two-year stint as a GSB senator. He’s lightened his student load this year to meet those duties and engage his fellow students. His campaign goals include improving access to funds for student organizations, establishing financial literacy programs and improving dead week policies to reflect the purpose of the week, which is to prepare for final exams.

Getting involved and taking charge is something Hoben learned in high school and through his 4-H and FFA activities. His school was fairly small, which meant students could be involved in several activities.

Hoben says sometimes leading involves being in the right place at the right time. In 2007 he received the Governor’s Meritorious Life Saving Award along with 11 other Grandview high school students for their quick response after a tornado hit their hometown. As soon as it passed the boys began checking homes to see if anyone needed help. They found a 91-yearold woman who was trapped and was rescued by Hoben and four other boys.

“We happened to be where we were needed,” he says.

That sense of caring and service to others has continued throughout his college career. Hoben served on the search committee to select a new Iowa State University president and was one of 12 students nationwide to be selected for the International Collegiate Agricultural Leadership Program to study international trade and marketing in Panama and Columbia. He also is an active ambassador for the college helping recruit high school students. Hoben served as the alumni chair and says he enjoyed networking and interacting with alums.

Other leadership opportunities have taken him around the world. Hoben worked as a summer intern in 2010 at the Iowa Agribusiness Export Partnership in Des Moines. He helped plan and lead a group of agricultural entrepreneurs to China to explore business opportunities.

“You hear about the growing middle class market in China and businesses think they can go to China and start making money,” Hoben says. “But that’s not the case. The businesses making money now were there 20 years ago. It takes a long time to grow a business in China.”

As far as the future, there are no limits for Hoben. He’s especially interested in international agriculture and helping the industry navigate through global change.

Click here for Hoben’s brownie recipe

UNEARTHING ADVENTURES

Nate Looker was on his way to his research station in the cloud forest above Guatemala City when the rainy season arrived early. The excess rains washed away the road forcing the VW pickup carrying Looker and two fellow researchers toward a ravine of mud. Fortunately they saved themselves and the vehicle, but the only road to his data station was left impassable.

Undeterred, Looker, a senior in global resource systems, returned to Guatemala City to remap his research strategy.

Last spring Looker spent the semester studying the ecohydrology of Guatemala. He can talk for hours about the discoveries he made during his internship experience. Along with a rich understanding of the culture and ecosystems, he unearthed a few adventures.

Looker came to Guatemala to measure the water intake of tree species in two different ecosystems in the Sierra de las Minas mountain range. The range stretches 100 miles along southeastern Guatemala and supplies water to 10 percent of the country.

The native Iowan found the mountainous ecosystems fascinating. The mountain ridges support an elfin forest of windblown vegetation averaging three feet tall. The cloud forest, a contradiction in terms, forms just below the mountain ridge. Covered by fog most of the time, the water-rich ecosystem has little sunlight creating stunted vegetation and epiphytic growth, which means many plants, like moss, grow on top of other plants.

“The cloud forest ecosystem, which is rare to begin with, is particularly vulnerable to changes in climate and land use,” Looker says. “It’s important to understand how these changes impact ecosystem services, such as water output.”

The lower elevations support a pine and oak forest, which is where Looker moved his sensors after losing access to the cloud forest. He built 32 sap-flow sensors to monitor the water intake in trees. The research is part of a World Wildlife Foundation project that is monitoring hydrological patterns throughout Mesoamerica.

“The sensor is a device you stab into a tree. It establishes a heat pulse to measure changes in sap flux,” Looker says. “The idea is to understand how water use relates to species and climatic conditions.”

This year Looker was the first Iowa State student to be named both a Udall Scholar and a Goldwater Scholar. The Udall Foundation awards scholarships to students who study environmental and American Indian issues and show promise of making significant contributions through scientific advances, service or community action. Goldwater is the nation’s premier undergraduate scholarship in mathematics, natural sciences and engineering.

Despite setbacks and a shortage of materials for the sensors, Looker described his internship as an awesome experience. He plans to pursue a doctorate in landscape ecology and a career doing research for a university or an international research institution.

He says he’s mesmerized by the forests and pointed out that Guatemala means “the place of trees.” For Looker this adventure included a glimpse of what those trees, ecosystems and mountains mean to Guatemala.

Click here for Looker’s Indian rice pudding recipe

CRACKING THE POTENTIAL OF EGGS

Breaking egg protein molecules into smaller structures isn’t as simple as separating the yolk from the whites.

Himali Samaraweera, a doctoral student in meat science, is studying the characteristics of phosphopeptides, smallersegments of protein, which are taken from the phosvitin, a main protein in egg yolk.

“I’m researching methods to break down phosvitin to produce phosphopeptides for use as supplements, nutraceuticals and antioxidants materials,” Samaraweera says.

The goal of the research is to add value to protein separated from eggs. Dong Ahn, Iowa State University animal science professor, is overseeing the research. His group developed methods to separate the phosvitin from eggs on a larger scale for industrial use.

Since Iowa is the top producer of eggs in the United States, Ahn says finding ways to separate and breakdown phosvitin could add value to eggs and benefit producers. Phosvitin costs $1 a milligram and there are 200 milligrams in an egg.

“If we can find ways to break phosvitin down to small pieces using organic agents we would increase the value of eggs,” Ahn says.

A phosvitin molecule is difficult to separate without using solvents or chemicals, which can’t be used in products used for human consumption. Samaraweera is testing and analyzing methods to crack the phosvitin structure using organic materials with some pre-treatments.

“I’m using six different enzymes to break the protein down into small peptides for various functions,” Samaraweera says.

One function would be to use those elements as binding agents in iron and calcium supplements.

“This supplementing agent would allow 90 percent of the iron and calcium absorption in humans as opposed to the 10 to 20 percent that we see now,” Ahn says.

Samaraweera came to Iowa State from Sri Lanka in 2008 after hearing about the meat science department’s excellent reputation. Professors at the University of Peradeniya, where she will join the faculty after she graduates next year, also recommended it.

Along with research and lab work, Samaraweera currently works as a teacher’s assistant in two labs and has moderated meat science short courses. She says she enjoys overseeing the labs and looks forward to teaching after she graduates.

She’s also been involved in club activities, serving as treasurer for the meat science club and helping with club fundraisers. Samaraweera also is a member of the Sri Lanka Association and helped bring Buddhists monks to Ames as guest lecturers.

Click here for Samaraweera’s recipe for rice milk cake