Celebrating 60th National Nutrition Day, Faculty of Medicine, Public Health, and Nursing officially launched Dietetic and Culinary Laboratory Facility, also Nutrition Consultation Clinic. This facility is expected to be able to educate society to consume good and healthy food ingredients.
The official announcement was marked by a ribbon-cutting by the Vice Dean of Academic Affairs and Scholarship, Prof. dr. Gandes Rahayu, M.Med.Ed., Ph.D., accompanied by the Head of Health Nutrition Department FK-KMK, Dr. Toto Sudargo, SKM., M.Kes. After the official announcement, the event continued with laboratory observation and at a time got around to the food bazaars, demonstrations on healthy food cooking, displays of UGM nutrition lecturer innovations also display of entrepreneurial student products and displays of alumni products.
Gandes Retno Rahayu was grateful for this laboratory official announcement because the desire of having a dietetic and culinary laboratory was long enough dreamed up. He said this laboratory is expected to give insights into the world of education, especially nutrition and health to understand or deepen theories more substantial.
“Because it needs more than only lecturing, in the laboratory it can be more real, they can be hands-on, they can do any practical trials, there is discovery learning there,” he said, at the Department of Nutrition and Health, FKKMK UGM Thursday (30/1).
Thus, the Department of Nutrition and Health UGM FKKMK will not only stop by having a laboratory, but they must also be able to take advantage of opportunities that exist in the faculty. UGM FKKMK has at least 500 lecturers, 500 education staff and 4,500 students.
If this potential is used as an opportunity, it can be explored more deeply. In addition to being a discovery learning arena for students, the Dietetic and Culinary Laboratory can also be used for entrepreneurship.
“I saw some foods were suitable for 50 years generations and older. I think it can be offered for any meetings event because in my generations we will have a lot of meetings. It can be offered on a small scale, maybe tens to medium hundreds, and the meeting almost happens every day,” he said.
For Gandes, the existence of this laboratory can be a challenge. The Dietetic and Culinary Laboratory can be a choice for students to eat.
“We know that there are choices of student canteens everywhere and I think this could be a choice. I saw that some foods were quite student-friendly, if it was packaged properly, it could be given on a motorcycle rickshaw or where you left it so people would know,” he added.
Toto Sudargo added that the FKKMK UGM Dietetic and Culinary Laboratory becomes number one in UGM campus because it is managed by a graduate manager from Taipei Medical University who is very concerned with foodservice issues.
He said the general public could access the dietetic and culinary laboratory by coordinating and registering online at the Department of Nutrition and Health, FKKMK UGM. By fulfilling the existing requirements the community can determine the time and be able to order any food models.
“For example, I will cook for the diabetes mellitus group and I will do the procedures. Then before I cook for autistic children, for example, they must order first,” he said.
The FKKMK UGM Dietetic and Culinary Laboratory is currently able to accommodate 50 students in 1 school, hence, it will be more effective compared to the previous arrangement which was only able to accommodate 20 students. The laboratory will also be equipped with a product development laboratory so that the nutrition academics can use it for research purposes of product development and training for the wider community.
“In the future, this laboratory will also be equipped with an organoleptic test laboratory for testing the sensor of food acceptability so that it is expected that this laboratory will be capable to produce lecturers and students’ innovations through the development of diet menus for various diseases and according to the needs of the community,” he added.
Reporter: Agung
Translator: Sasa