Team to examine nutrition at Club

  • Published
  • By Megan Just
  • 452 AMW Public Affairs
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  A team of food and nutrition specialists began setting the groundwork for an extensive project that will research and make recommendations about the nutrition of the food served to Airmen at the Hap Arnold Club. The team will study troop feeding during unit training assemblies at the conference center and BackStreet Café.

Col. Karl McGregor, 452nd Air Mobility Wing commander, directed the formation of the team to ensure the club is serving food that supports the levels of fitness the Air Force's new Fit-to-Fight program demands.

"Nutrition is a component of overall fitness and it is our responsibility to make sure the food we offer at this base supports our fitness goals," he said.

Colonel McGregor appointed Col. Mary Lussier to lead the nutrition team. Colonel Lussier holds a bachelor's degree in nutrition and a master's degree in public health with a focus on nutrition. In her 26 years in the Air Force Reserve, she has worked in  fields of nutritional medicine and public health. She stepped down from her position as commander of the 752nd Medical Squadron and was asked to pursue this project.

"I strongly believe in the importance of nutrition to fitness. This hasn't been an emphasis at March and this is an opportunity to support our members' total fitness," she said. "This project is exciting and I believe it's going to have real, lasting results."

In her civilian career, Colonel Lussier has spent more than 23 years working on school nutrition for the California Department of Education.

"There are a lot of things we tried out there that can work here," she said.

The team will also look to other Air Force bases, government organizations and private companies as models. On Oct. 28, the team visited the food service operation at the Esri headquarters in Redlands, Calif. Esri is a geographic information system software company with 2,000 people employed at the headquarters campus. Esri Café employee Michele Cole said the café features culturally diverse menu themes, visiting chefs and monthly "Eat Local" days and a variety of educational programs.

"We don't need to reinvent the wheel," Colonel Lussier said. "We want to take best practices from other places. There are a lot of good things that can be done but we need to see, objectively, what's going on here first."

Helping Colonel Lussier establish the "as-is" baseline are Senior Master Sgt. Raul Martir and Senior Airman Celia Castello of the 452nd Aeromedical Medical Squadron. Airman Castello, a nutritional medicine technician, will be assisting with the nutrient analysis of the existing menus at the club. Sergeant Martir, who has more than 30 years of corporate experience as a chef and a director of food services, will be focusing on the operational side of the project. In addition, nutritional medicine technicians Staff Sgt. Ryan Garcia and Airman First Class Guillermina Hernandez of the 752nd Medical Squadron will assist.

Also working closely with the team are Cary Kerr, 452nd Force Support Squadron sustainment flight chief, and Henry Frye, Hap Arnold Club manager.

"We're all working together on this to assess where we are and to look at where we need to go," Colonel Lussier said. "It's critical the Backstreet Café and troop feeding folks are involved in this."

Colonel McGregor, Colonel Lussier, Kerr, Frye, 452 FSS Director Maj. Maureen McAllen and 452 FSS Deputy Director Iris Alexander gathered for an initial project meeting Sept. 15. During the meeting, Colonel McGregor made it clear the nutrition project is not an attempt to force dietary changes, rather it is intended to educate members on what they are currently eating and offer them healthier choices.

"This doesn't mean we're going to stop serving cheeseburgers," Col. McGregor said. "We're not going to change eating habits by only serving salads, our members will just eat somewhere else. We are, however, going to make sure that we know what we're eating. My hope is that we offer some alternatives to the cheeseburger that taste just as good and that we bring those who are already nutritionally savvy back to eating on base."

The colonel said he doesn't expect Team March members will be resistant to the project. "Who can argue with living longer and better, especially if it only involves small dietary changes?" he asked.

During the meeting, the group discussed a variety of possibilities for the club, including hiring a professional chef, establishing a garden on base, changing portion size, buying produce from local farms, displaying the nutritional content and switching to organic products. However, Colonel Lussier stresses the importance of not jumping to recommendations before the team has established the "as-is" baseline, along with a review of the club's budget and Air Force Services contractual obligations.

"We want to go into this with no prejudgment. We want to assess it the way it is and make no assumptions," said Colonel Lussier. "We want to be objective and then come up with our recommendations as a team."

She expects the assessment phase will last approximately four months, at which point she will present the nutrition team's recommendations to Colonel McGregor, who will decide which recommendations to implement.

"Colonel McGregor is so supportive. I know this is going to result in some really good changes for March," Colonel Lussier said. "And when we determine what the changes are going to be, we're going to educate the base on what those changes are and provide nutritional guidance to help our members make healthy choices to fuel their fitness."

Cary Kerr hopes the project's findings will help draw more people to the club.

"We don't have the constant traffic that you would on an active duty base," he said. "We've already made a lot of changes at the club in the last year and we're ready to take the next steps. Bigger steps," he said.

Colonel McGregor also hopes the project will help revive the tradition of the Hap Arnold Club as the go-to gathering place on base, especially during unit training assembly weekends.

"My Cactus riders have no transportation," he said. "I hope to see them walking over and eating at the club. I want them to look forward to a great meal at the club. I want this to become part of their normal routine."

Although the nutrition study may have some positive effects on the club, the heart of the project remains simple.

"The goal of this project is to support our members' nutrition to support their fitness," Colonel Lussier said. "Our aim is to serve food that is nutritious, appealing and tastes good. What we serve here will be good examples of what people should eat, not just while they're on base, but when they're at home. If we can achieve that, I think we'll be very successful."

The project's findings are still a long way from completion, but in the meantime, Colonel Lussier is always happy to offer nutritional advice.

"Be conscious of what you're eating," she said. "Don't just fill your plate and eat it all because you've always done it that way. Think about portion size and how many fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods you're eating."

As part of the nutrition project, Sergeant Martir is collecting suggestions from Team March members. 

Linda Welz contributed to this story.