The Missouri Nutrition Alliance is an energetic force manifested out of necessity. There are two primary variables untethered in the atmosphere of health culture right now. Here in Missouri, these two variables are what drove the creation of the MNA.
Variable One
We have a lifestyle disease epidemic happening now. The combination of diabetes and obesity is now referred to as diabesity. The statistics for diabesity continue to ballon worldwide. In Missouri, this is almost 50% of the population with both of those statistics combined.
If that doesn’t make your jaw drop maybe the following sentence will. According to the CDC “90% of the nation’s healthcare expenditures are for people with chronic mental and health conditions.”
What does the CDC include in the lineup of chronic health conditions? Heart disease, cancer, diabetes, obesity, and tooth decay, are among those conditions related to “lifestyle”.
We don’t need the CDC to prove this to us. Futures in these chronic conditions are being sold to us at every TV commercial break and in every strip mall across America. In 1985 this country had approximately 60,000 fast food restaurants. Today we have access to approximately 247,191 fast food restaurants (alone), and counting.
Fast food restaurants of course are not the only point to this problem. There are many more.
Nutritional food deserts are another persistent issue. This term, refers most often to rural areas that do not have access to fresh or whole foods. Yet, blighted areas of our inner cities often fall into this category as well. The inability for these areas to receive education and resources for a healthier lifestyle further complicates this matter.
Fast food access in areas where there is little to no access to fresh foods serves the purpose of underscoring how much we feed into the problem instead of any real solution.
We have sold out to convenience. Three generations later, and not even our grandmothers know how to cook with whole foods anymore. Collectively we are outraged at healthcare costs while simultaneously we complain about the cost of organic food.
Variable Two
The dawn of the information age has played a huge role in the growth of the sector the Missouri Nutrition Alliance now calls “our tribe”. Holistic nutrition practitioners, health coaches, and nutritionists from countless modalities have emerged from the dust of our nutritional food deserts. They search for solutions where convention has fallen short.
Now there are dozens of institutions, universities included, that have created robust nutrition training programs. Yet there is still a major obstruction. In states like Missouri, a variety of natural health professionals will often struggle to find careers using their skillset. Indeed most of these professionals have no professional home.
Market research for the MNA has told us that currently in Missouri we have approximately 5000+ nutrition professionals who have been trained to impact the shocking 90% healthcare cost statistic. And yet only a tiny number of these professionals are actually working in this state right now.
The MNA’s mission is to address why these professionals are not working while also impacting that 90%. These people want to support those in their communities most impacted by lifestyle disease.
The Foundation of MNA Membership
Gone are the days of singular institutions providing us with just one story. Millions of people have taken a different tact to their education after getting a standard four year degree. It is not an education “less-than” simply because it is not mainstream. In fact mainstream, in the case of food culture, continues to be part of the problem.
There will always be a few folks out there who side-step what qualifies them as “credentialed” and misrepresent themselves professionally. These people exist in every sector. And in every sector they are still rare. These people will not be found representing the MNA.
To all of our current and future MNA members we must be clear. In order to protect our members and to serve the public effectively it is our duty to understand that what most of us do is something very different than what Registered Dieticians or CNS Nutritionists (Certified Nutrition Specialists) do. Respecting this benefits all of us, in all categories of nutrition professionals.
Before the Missouri Nutrition Alliance was an organization, it was a small group of advocates that became the MNA cofounders. We started this to legitimize our advocacy efforts and in doing so, realized there is a tremendous need for what the MNA’s mission has evolved to today. That mission is to elevate our professional members in their communities in order to impact that 90% healthcare cost statistic.
It is your right to work up to the level of your training and skill set. The co-founders of this organization will never relent on our commitment to protect this right. That is why in order to be an MNA member, understanding scope of practice is key.
We do not diagnose, treat, or cure disease. We educate, we do not prescribe. We do not share information outside of what would be considered “evidence based”. We do not claim to have credentials we have not earned. Getting clear on your scope of practice is your commitment to us that you are a consummate professional.
Here at the MNA, education on scope of practice is free to every working nutrition professional and health coach. This, regardless if you are a professional member or not. It is one of the many community service projects we offer in order to protect your right to work and increase your potential in the area to which you are trained and the communities to which you serve.
We do not seek licensure for our sector. Instead we strive to carve out a place that complements the existing healthcare sector, yet serves to identify our profession as separate and unique.
In order to prove our undeniable value to our communities the MNA only has members who walk with us on every single point of our mission.
“Knowing scope of practice for your niche is true professionalism.
Serving your community with this level of excellence is how our MNA members gain visibility AND experience. The professional becomes a star in their field and the community benefits. ”
Jessica Idleman, MNA Executive Director and Co-founder