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ARLINGTON, VA -- One-third of supermarkets have a registered dietitian on site and 86 percent employ registered dietitians at a corporate level.  The growing need to help shoppers with food and nutrition issues places supermarket registered dietitians (SRDs) in a unique position to impact public health while at the same time supporting the business of food retail.   

As an extension of the USA Rice Federation's outreach to health professionals, USA Rice has now developed a toolkit specifically for SRDs to use with consumers during National Rice Month (NRM) this September.

Last week, USA Rice emailed more than 400 SRDs with NRM reminders and links to the new 2014 NRM Toolkit.  The customizable toolkit includes consumer handouts, recipes, rice nutrition research, sample blog and social media posts, as well as media pitch ideas.

"Retail dietitians are an important group to target because of their growing number and ability to directly influence consumer purchases," said Mark Denman, Chairman of the USA Rice Federation and a member of the USA Rice Retail Subcommittee.  "They offer product recommendations, recipe ideas, and educational seminars on health-related topics as well as provide healthy eating tips on social media channels and appear in local media and at community events."

"I believe the toolkit is a useful resource and I hope the SRDs agree," said Betsy Ward, USA Rice's president and CEO.  "The kit also has use beyond National Rice Month, so hopefully we'll continue to see positive messages about U.S.-grown rice year round."

Ward said USA Rice will monitor toolkit downloads and follow-up directly with SRDs to encourage usage of the toolkit materials during NRM and beyond.

Contact:  Katie Maher, (703) 236-1453

U.S. rice put the curl  in that moustache!

BATON ROUGE, LA -- The Louisiana Chef contest was held during 4-H University, June 17-20, on the Louisiana State University campus.  The competition measures how well 4-H youth promote Louisiana commodities, including rice, through an individual or team demonstration.  Nineteen entries competed for the prize of a 4-H educational trip to Orlando, Florida.

The winning demonstration promoting rice was conducted by Vermilion 4-H members Adam Gaspard and Caroline Guidry.  Adam and Caroline, Kaplan High School tenth graders, are veteran 4-H demonstrators and have been partners on the parish and state levels for many years.   The team altered a favorite cheesecake recipe by including Louisiana rice and spotlighted rice in their speech.

The "Heavenly Rice Cheesecake" was a hit during their numerous practice sessions and on contest day.  Throughout the experience, Adam and Caroline learned about production, economics, and nutrition of Louisiana rice.

Contact:  Randy Jemison, (337) 738-7009

Around the Country

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Around the World

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Science and Technology

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