Janet K. Little, MPH, RD, LDN
Nutrition Consultant
Allentown, PA
Over the past year, I became a solo practitioner. I develop menus for the Berks County (Reading)
Senior Citizens Council. I work with a wonderful group of people including a caterer to develop menus that senior citizens with a PA Dutch background will accept. Sauerkraut and German Potato Salad are offered at least once during a menu cycle. Also, I develop menus for delicious meals prepared at La Casa de la Amistad, a senior center in Reading attended by senior citizens from Puerto Rica and several South American countries. Rice and pinto beans with olive oil are offered often. Goat Fricassee is a delicacy but PA Dutch favorites appear as well. Once a year, the Berks County Area Agency on Aging submits a representative sample of both menus to the State Department of Aging for approval.
Another client is Mary Ellen Convalescent Home in Hellertown, near Bethlehem. It is a long-term care facility operated by a nurse and her family living across the street on a farm that raises goats, deer and buffalo. I perform nutrition assessments on new residents, residents scheduled for resident care conference and high-risk residents. Twice a year, we introduce a new menu, either the spring/summer or fall/winter menu. This involves writing “extensions”, menus based on the regular menu adhering to specific diet criteria for texturized diets (Mechanical Soft, Puree and Finger Foods) and therapeutic diets (Low Concentrated Sweets, Low Fat/Low Cholesterol, the Renal Diet and No Added Sodium.) These documents guide the production manager toward alternate food products to order and how to prepare them to maximize the nutritional status of the residents.
I decided to become a registered dietitian when I was in high school because I loved food and was interested in health and physical fitness. I used to cook for my family when my parents were both out working. My sport was swimming but I started jogging--before it was cool! I wanted to help people by making their food better. I didn't like to see hungry people without knowing how to help them. I also liked to try a lot of different things and the nutrition field is full of such opportunities. So, I went to Penn State University to earn a Bachelors of Science in Community Nutrition.
Like many Yankees in the late seventies, I moved to the Sun Belt. My first job was to start a nutrition program for senior citizens in two counties just north of Houston, Texas. While the Lone Star State was regarded as the land of milk and honey, plenty of senior citizens needed a daily meal and companionship. A local business bought a house for the program and we applied for grant money to purchase commercial kitchen equipment for the house and a large van to park in the garage. Within a year, we had seven senior centers to which van transportation was provided for the lunch we cooked in and distributed from the central kitchen. Then, I worked for Emory University setting up nutrition education programs in twenty public school systems in the state of Georgia. This was at the height of the CB craze. I loved talking on my CB radio as I traveled all over the state. I wouldn’t recommend doing this today! Later, I got homesick and I headed back north and worked as an outpatient and clinical dietitian at a community hospital in New Jersey. I also taught nutrition classes to English and Spanish-speaking adults in Allentown, PA. It was rewarding to help a patient change his or her eating habits and reduce or even stop medication.
If you like to help people wherever you go, dietetics is for you! Please contact me if you have any questions. Jan Little <jklrd@fast.net>
If you have any questions, please click on my name below!
Jan Little
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