World We Dare to Imagine Pitch - Kaitlyn Francel

The YOUtrition Project

Hi my name is Katie and I am the founder of the YOUtrition Project. The YOUtrition project aims to solve the problem of obesity by teaching people healthy food habits, while providing them access to healthy produce.

I came up with this idea because I am passionate about studying health and I am minoring in healthcare studies. I have read that obesity is currently the number one cause of heart disease. Heart disease is a devastating disease that kills 1 in 4 people! My mission is to decrease this number by teaching people how to lead a healthier lifestyle. 

With the YOUtrition project, we want to create an atmosphere in which people go through an education program that teaches them how to read nutrition labels, how to create a meal plan, and how to balance a healthy diet. Thus, teaching them the skills to take care of their bodies. After that, we provide these individuals access to the YOUtrition garden, where we grow healthy, organic produce. The garden working in a where where if you give, you receive. The participants are asked to contribute 30 minutes of work per piece of produce they want to take out. They contribute by planting seeds, watering, or harvesting. Essentially, the idea is to teach people healthy eating habits while showing them how to grow their own healthy food, and providing them access to otherwise expensive produce items. 

Anima Mundi Development Partners should support my organization so that we can work to help people lead healthier lives by educating them on nutrition and providing them access to healthy produce. We need to work together to help people live longer, happier lives. By creating healthy habits we can reduce the problem of worldwide obesity, and support YOUtrition!

World We Dare To Imagine 1 - Kaitlyn Francel

Obesity Conquered by Education and Nutrition - The YOUtrition Project

The first thing that comes to my mind when making the world a better place, is solving the problem of obesity. Obesity is one of the leading causes of heart disease, and heart disease is responsible for 1 in 4 deaths. Since I am taking two health care classes, this topic is constantly brought up. It is devastating not only to the individuals, but also to the healthcare systems, to friends, and to families. I have read that preventative care and education is a key in changing this obesity trend. So I want to try and come up with a solution to this major problem!

I would like to propose a nutrition education program for people that are at-risk for obesity or are diagnosed as obese. This program would have multiple components. It would have workshops that talk about eating healthy. These workshops would teach people how to create meal plans and stick to them. It would also educate them on reading nutrition labels, understanding good and bad fats, and how eating certain things can affect the body. It would also have an exercise program that builds a tailored exercise plan for the people attending.

A key problem I have noticed is that a lot of people don’t eat healthy because they don’t have access to healthy food, as unhealthy food is often far cheaper. As a solution to this, I would like to create a healthy food shelter, where people could come to get healthy food resources. I would keep this shelter exclusive to the people that have already taken the workshops, to keep people on track with their healthy program. Essentially, my idea is that people would work a shift a week and when they come in to “work,” they would plant some seeds/water a plant/pick the produce from a shared greenhouse. Then, once they put in their “work” for the week, they would have access to the resources being grown in the greenhouse for that week. With their help, we would be able to maintain the healthy food surplus for people to use, while allowing them access to healthy food.

Education + provided resources = better nutrition and lowered obesity rates!

Random Blog Post #2 - Katie Francel

APRIL FOOLS!

The history and traditions behind this comical holiday!

In 1582 France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar. However, it took time for the news to reach everyone, and some people didn’t observe the new year in January. Instead, they observed the new year on the first of April, and they were made fun of on that date. Typically, people taped a fish on their backs because it was a symbol that they were “an easy fish to catch” meaning that they were gullible.

In Rome, there were festivals where people dressed up in funny costumes at the end of March. Also, it was said that the vernal equinox, or the first day of spring, typically observed around the end of March, brought unpredictable weather. Thus, they said that Mother Nature was fooling them on the first days of spring.

In Britain during the 18th century, a two-day tradition started. The first day consisted of “hunting the gowk,” where people ran random funny errands. A gowk is another word for a cuckoo bird. The second day was Tailie day, where people played pranks on each other involving their butts. Essentially, they pinned fake tails or “kick me” signs on their butts.

As of current, many people still participate in these fun events, which are now held on April 1, April Fools Day. These people often go to all lengths to play a good prank. Here are some examples of excellent pranks that various people perform on April Fools Day:

-News Stations: A BBC station reported that Swiss farmers had had a record spaghetti crop. They explained that the farmers grew spaghetti on trees. Millions of viewers believed what they heard!

-World War Pilot: In 1915 a French World War pilot flew over Germany and dropped what looked like a bomb. But, the bomb never exploded and everyone was very confused. Upon inspection, people realized that the pilot dropped a football with a note on it that said “April Fools!”

-Adolescents: Ah, the fake pregnancy gag. There are many videos on YouTube and Instagram of girls telling their boyfriends that they are “pregnant.” And the results are priceless! This prank is almost predictable at this point because it is used so often.

-Children: My little brother is a prime example of this. Today, he decided to fill the entire pantry with all the balls he could find in the house. Then, when my dad opened it, they all fell open on him. He also tuned all the picture frames in the house upside down! Ah, to be a ten-year-old again!

-Food Chains: Taco Bell announced that it was buying Pennsylvania’s Liberty burger in 1996, and said they would be renaming themselves Taco Liberty Bell. People were not so happy about this one!

References:

https://www.history.com/topics/holidays/april-fools-day

https://www.funny-jokes-quotes-sayings.com/april-fool-pranks.html