My name is Jovan Duvall and I am graduating from the Oregon State University dietetics
program. I was first interested in nutrition and dietetics back in high school, I actually
wrote my senior thesis then on nutrition, and it kind of just grown from there. I have
always really loved food and I have grown up cooking since I was like 5. So when I found
out that I could major in food, and nutrition and how it affects the body I kind of just
ran into it and went for it. I actually got involved with the Food Hero campaign volunteering
over the past two years. I volunteered in the recipe testing, which is where we take
recipes that people submit and make them by recipe first to make sure they are solid recipes
that actually taste good and then we also evaluate them for certain nutritional qualities
so certain amounts of fat or sodium. So I volunteered for two years and I knew that
the position was opening so I stepped in and it was a great experience. I think it is important
to study nutrition right now, because we are having a lot of issues with obesity in the
United States and a lot of other chronic diseases that can be avoided with nutrition, so coming
into the field I feel that I am hitting it at the perfect time, and I will really be
able to make a difference in a lot of people’s lives.
