Dietetic intern Meg Grant guiding a customer through a shopping trip, smiling and holding a showing the customer a shopping guide. She is wearing a dark blue long sleeve shirt.

Meg Grant helps guide UMass Food Pantry’s nutritional program during her Dietetic Internship

Meg Grant, a graduate student in the 4+1 program, supports the UMass Food Pantry's mission for her dietetic internship.

This summer, the Department of Nutrition’s Dietetic Internship program is supporting the efforts of the UMass Food Pantry, a blossoming collaboration between the university and the Amherst Survival Center. 

4+1 nutrition graduate student Meg Grant was first approached about working with the pantry as part of her dietetic internship. And, although she didn’t know what to expect, Grant jumped into the experience with an open mind and genuine enthusiasm. 

“The sense of community and belonging that the pantry offers really drew my attention, especially since it's in partnership with Amherst Survival Center, which extends beyond the UMass community,” Grant said. 

Grant spent the first few weeks out on the floor learning how the pantry shopping system worked to better determine what needs she could meet. From there, Grant turned her attention to conducting a needs assessment survey to create a shopping guide for people to use as they picked out items. 

“Now, I'm sitting out on the floor, talking with participants, whether that's nutrition-related or if they want recipe ideas. The project is deeply rooted in meeting people where they are at and providing appropriate nutrition information when needed or asked for.” 

Dietetic Intern Meg Grant smiling as a customer speaks to her in the refrigerator aisle of the UMass food pantry. She is wearing jeans and a dark blue long sleeve shirt and the customer is wearing dark brown shorts, a green t-shirt, and a backwards hat. There is a sign in the background that reads "community" in yellow letters on a red background.

The pantry opening is the culmination of more than a year of strategic development among the chancellor, university administration, and the Amherst Survival Center and the work of two previous food security working groups assembled by the Dean of Students Office. The goal is to address food insecurity on campus and create capacity at the Amherst Survival Center’s main site to support continued rise in use, especially as cuts to federal programs like SNAP and Medicaid increase need in the broader community. 

For Grant, the ability to address the nutritional needs of the community, widening her perspective from focusing on individual cases, has been a welcoming and rewarding piece of the internship. And Grant was ready to take this new experience head-on thanks to her familiarity with the people the pantry serves. 

“My roots go farther back than just being a student here. My father is an alum and retiree of the UMass community. I grew up walking around the campus with my dad when he would attend projects related to his department. I think being connected to UMass in different ways has helped me feel comfortable and confident in my ability to succeed in the dietetic internship.” 

Grant is a long way away from where she started, freshly learning about the UMass Food Pantry and the mission of its organizers and now creating a shopping guide to help patrons make informed decisions about the foods they select. It’s a testament to her meeting the moment, ready for whatever might come her way. 

“This specific internship with the Campus Pantry has allowed me to put my foot in the door of what community nutrition looks like on a smaller scale, preparing me to work with a larger-scale population. Overall, my experience has met and exceeded my expectations as a dietetic intern.”