Last updated: 21st June 2004

COLUMBIA, MO (May 25, 2004)- Melinda Hemmelgarn, dietitian, nutrition educator and columnist, was recently selected as a recipient of the Food and Society Policy fellowship. She received her M.S. in Human Nutrition, Foods and Food Systems Management at the University of Missouri.

With primary support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, this national program of professional fellowships allows food and agriculture experts to improve communications about food, diet, and health issues pertaining to youth.

Hemmelgarn currently serves as Communications Director for the Robert Wood Johnson Active Living by Design Grant project in Columbia. Also, she is a Project Specialist for the Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services. In addition, she writes a weekly column for the Columbia Daily Tribune, titled, "Food Sleuth." She is a member of the American Dietetic Association, the Alliance for a Media Literate America, and the AMLA's public health caucus group.

Fellowship recipients were selected from all across the country. Eight fellows were chosen from 150 applicants in this highly competitive program. Each will serve for one year. During this time, the fellows will work on issues such as youth obesity and diet, school nutrition, and the overall connection between the way food is produced and the health and diet of America's youth.

The fellowship program is being administered by the Thomas Jefferson Institute of Columbia, MO, in partnership with the Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy of Minneapolis, MN.