I was overjoyed to receive a scholarship from Consumer Business Professionals of San Francisco (CBP of SF) to attend the
2011 ADA Food & Nutrition Conference & Expo (FNCE). It was held at the San Diego Convention Center this year from September 24-27, jam packed with educational workshop sessions, the Research and Cultural symposiums, the Expo showcasing over 300 food and nutrition exhibitors, and plenty of networking opportunities and events! Attending FNCE helped me rekindle my passion for dietetics (trust me, try applying to DIs 2x and tell me how you're doing then, just kidding!), gain up-to-date knowledge on important nutrition topics, find out what areas of dietetics I have interests in, network with fellow nutrition classmates, DI directors and MIG/DPGs, sample such a wide variety of foods and getting free books from the Expo, ... oh boy, it went by so fast and it was so worth it! It was a Dietetics Disneyland adventure!
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| Love the entrance! The convention center was so huge; I felt like I was speedwalking a mile to go from point A to B to C to... you get the drift! |
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| Nice downtown right across from the convention center; we walked into the farmer's market and got some fresh corn cakes for lunch! :) |
I was also invited to Ashley Koff's "Taste of Organic" FNCE cocktail party at Hotel Solamar on Monday night. The menu featured barramundi, pesto penne and plenty of nibbles, including bread and dips (think hummus, Greek yogurt and kalamata olive tapenade) and fresh fruits.
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| Mingling around cushions, warmers, food and drinks |
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| Cozy in the cabana seating right next to the pool |
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| My favorite FNCE speaker, Molly Gee, speaking on "Confusion on All Sides of the Energy Equation" |
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| Chocolate culinary demo @ Culinary Demo Theatre |
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| Yay for Hershey's Kisses and all things delicious! |
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| There was a long line for Coca Cola's touch screen carbonated beverage machine; it was pretty hi-tech! |
For past FNCE attendees, don't you love how these big food corporations try to market "healthy" to their products? It also doesn't help that they're the largest donators to ADA either... anyway, that's going off topic! Have you attended FNCE this year or in the past? What were your most valuable experiences at FNCE?
