Nutrinews

MEALS ON WINGS
CHEF MEGHAN NIEMCZYK
Interviewers: Julianna Gilbert and Kaley Morrissey
P h o t o g r a p h y : M a r y E l i z a b e t h H a y e s
H o w m a n y y e a r s h a v e
y o u b e e n i n t h e f i e l d o f
n u t r t i o n ?
My background is actually as a chef. I did undergrad at
UF and then I went to culinary school in New York. I
worked in restaurants for many years and then came back
to UNF and started working in research. This was when I
started thinking about furthering my education. I knew I
wanted to focus on nutrition and dietetics, but I still had to
work, so I got a master's in public health. Dr. Wright and
Dr. Ross were the ones that started the Meals on Wings
program, and I joined them as the
chef educator for MOW. I am currently finishing my
doctorate in public health with a focus on food insecurity.
W h a t b r o u g h t y o u h e r e
t o U N F ?
I was a chef for many years, and I had my own catering
business but had small children at the time. It was hard to
balance since both were demanding because of this I
decided to take a break from the culinary world and come
work at UNF. I ended up at the Brooks College of Health
in the PT department on a research grant. From there I
switched over to nursing and remained there for 15 years
and got to work with the CRA students. After that I came
to work in the nutrition program.
W h a t i s y o u r f a v o r i t e p a r t
a b o u t w o r k i n g a t U N F a n d
r u n n i n g M e a l s o n W i n g s ?
I love the student engagement. The students are always
passionate, and I enjoy watching them build their
leadership skills. At first many of them start out shy, but
slowly develop into these fantastic leaders that know how
to use their voices to lead a group.
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