Today, National Nutrition Month is being celebrated with a “Step Up to Nutrition and Health Fair” at CRCE from 4-7 p.m. This fair’s theme is to teach people about the new food pyramid and how nutrition and physical activity work together.

There will also be a food drive to collect food for the Eastern Illinois Foodbank.

The fair is a collaborative project, put on by both students and staff. It’s a large part of the Food Science and Human Nutrition class, Communications Nutrition. Students are responsible for working in groups to set up booths and tables for the fair.

Having students work on the fair for class credit was good because it gives student real life practice and experience, said Lisa Burgoon, a SportWell coordinator and sport nutritionist.

Of the 10 booths that will be at the event, most will attempt to educate people about the different categories of the food pyramid. The booths will show people how to apply the new food pyramid. There will also be three fitness booths.

Burgoon said the new food pyramid is much better than before.

“It’s much more user friendly,” she said.

While Burgoon thinks the new food pyramid is an improvement, she does say it works in generalities. If you want more detailed information, see a nutritionist or a dietician.

Burgoon said college students can benefit from learning more about nutrition because students tend not to have healthy eating habits. Most college students do not eat enough fruits and vegetables, and they don’t have enough variety in their diet.

Don’t just eat apples as your fruit because then you don’t get enough variety of vitamins, Burgoon said. Different fruits have different vitamins, she said.

Burgoon also suggests students buy frozen fruits and vegetables because they can be better for you and they don’t go to waste.

Because frozen foods are preserved by flash freezing very few nutrients are lost, unlike fresh fruits and vegetables, which lose nutrients after being exposed to light and air.

Burgoon said the nutrition fair is a good way to learn more about eating healthy and the students running the fair worked to make it interesting and interactive.

“They’re pretty creative with things. I think it’s gonna be pretty fun,” she said.

Burgoon said she also feels students should try and educate themselves because many know a lot less than they think.

“I’m always amazed when I talk to college students at how little they really know,” she said.

Popular information many times is misinformation, she said.

“I’m hoping the fair will provide factual and accurate information and help them (students) apply it,” she said.

Burgoon said much of the misinformation comes from popular literature. Many times people pick out one piece of information and fixate on that, she said. I don’t know if we can ever change that, but we can try, she said.

Melissa Bosslet, junior in ACES, is working at the vegetable table at the fair. She said the fair will be useful for students because they can get advice from their peers.

“You can learn a lot about ways to eat healthier,” she said.

Brienne Gulley, senior in ACES, who is working on the food drive, agreed with Burgoon.

“A lot of the information out there can be false or misleading, and those who don’t know a lot tend to buy into that,” she said.

She also said there is no magical food or pill despite what others say – it’s just about being healthy.

Burgoon discouraged diet fads and popular trends. Just because a doctor wrote it, doesn’t make it good for you, she said.

Burgoon is glad to say that the low-carb diet trend is down.

“There aren’t really any new trends and I’m ok with that,” she said. “People love carbs and it was too hard to stay away. I think people realized it was unrealistic.”

Stick with a long lasting nutrition guideline, she said. Balance, variety and moderation are key; this applies for physical activity too, she said.