Agnes C. Higgins née Quamme (1911 - August 27, 1985) was a Canadian nutritionist and executive director of the

Montreal Diet Dispensary Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

, serving from 1959 to 1981. She is best known for developing the "Higgins Method" to help mothers with nutrition so their children would not be low birth-weight babies and they would then be more likely to grow up healthy. The

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is the federal executive department responsible for developing and executing federal laws related to farming, forestry, rural economic development, and food. It aims to meet the needs of com ...

was influenced by Ms. Higgins and observed her work at the dispensary to create the

WIC The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is an American federal assistance program of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) for healthcare and nutrition ...

Program. Prior to working at the Diet Dispensary she worked for

Betty Crocker Betty Crocker is a brand and fictional character used in advertising campaigns for food and recipes. The character was originally created by the Washburn-Crosby Company in 1921 following a contest in the '' Saturday Evening Post''. In 1954, ...

and was one of the women who responded to correspondence addressed to Miss Betty Crocker. Her name is listed among Typonym'Elles, the list of recognized females whose names are of historic importance and are available to the city of Montreal for use when naming new city attributes.

Awards

* 1975 -

Order of Canada The Order of Canada (french: Ordre du Canada; abbreviated as OC) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the ...

* 1975 - Honorary Degree from

Concordia University Concordia University ( French: ''Université Concordia'') is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1974 following the merger of Loyola College and Sir George Williams University, Concordia is one of the t ...

. * 1980 - The

March of Dimes March of Dimes is a United States nonprofit organization that works to improve the health of mothers and babies. The organization was founded by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1938, as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, to comba ...

created the annual Higgins Award for maternal-fetal nutrition to award to nutritionists for their distinguished achievement in nutrition. * 1985 - E.W. Crampton Award for Distinguished Service in fields dealing with Nutrition and Food from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

McGill University: Earle W. Crampton Award

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Higgins, Agnes C. 1985 deaths Canadian women physicians American women physicians American women nutritionists American nutritionists