Learn all about Amanda Cerra, Elon Dining Services' registered Dietitian.
Hello! My name is Amanda Cerra. I am the registered dietitian for Elon Dining Services. Before I tell you about my role, here’s a little bit about me:
I always knew I wanted to be in a profession where I could help people. At the time, I didn’t realize everything that went into becoming a practicing RD. Most people don’t realize that you need a bachelor’s degree in nutrition and dietetics, complete a dietetic internship, pass an exam and THEN apply for your state's licensure to be eligible for hire.
My education started at a community college in upstate New York. I transferred to the University of North Carolina at Greensboro where I finished my bachelor’s egree. Soon after, I completed my dietetic internship through the University of Delaware. I began my journey at Elon Dining almost exactly 3 years ago.
Traditionally, dietitians are employed in the clinical world, helping manage diseases and working with other health care professionals. This position is unique in that I’m in an environment with chefs and food service professionals and typically not working with people who have chronic diseases. Instead, I’m working to help students create healthy habits they can take with them after they leave Elon.
In this position, I work mostly in food service management and community-based nutrition. I analyze the menus for nutrition and allergen information, I work with students individually, create and implement health and wellness events and help to educate and train our associates.
The most important and most time-consuming part of my job is analyzing our menus. I make sure all of our menu items are transparent for our students. If you haven’t already noticed, we flag for the Top 8 allergens, provide calories and full ingredient listings, which can all be found on our website. Did you know that we have an allergy and a preference filter? If you choose to eat vegan or have an allergen, for example, you can quickly identify certain menu items.
Another important task is making sure I am constantly training and auditing our associates on the accuracy of nutrition and allergen information. I look for things like accurate ingredients, accurately measuring ingredients and the correct serving sizes. We also constantly train and educate our employees about the importance of minimizing cross-contamination, especially at made-to-order stations if a student makes a special request.
Another important part of my job is nutrition consults. For the most part, I typically meet with students who are on the meal plan and need help navigating the dining halls, specifically if they are new to Elon, have food allergies or intolerances, GI disorders, or just simply want to learn how to eat a balanced meal.
On a larger scale, I create and implement health and wellness events. This is probably my favorite part. I get to be creative, get out of the office, be nerdy and talk to students about a certain health and wellness topic I am passionate about. Typically, it’s a table with samples, an engaging activity and swag.
If you would like to know more information about any of the above or just want to sit and chat nutrition with me feel free to check out elondining.com or e-mail cerra-amanda@harvesttableculinary.com. I look forward to meeting you!