Extension
It Starts With Us
Author: Lynn Blankenship
Major Program: Food Preparation
According to Kentucky Health Facts: Only 19 - 23 % of residents in Metcalfe County consume the recommended number of servings of fruits and vegetables daily. Metcalfe County Nutrition Education Program Assistant and Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent, partnered with the Metcalfe County Library Summer Reading Program, to offer a hands on cooking series for families. Six sessions, with two different groups of participants with children ranging in age from 2 to 10 years, are offered
Author: Sheila Fawbush
Major Program: Food Preparation
Working with young people in the kitchen is a great way to develop their self-confidence and build skills such as reading, math, and following instructions while also teaching about nutrition, hand washing and safety. The Kids in the Kitchen program combines all these elements in a fun, two hour event for Shelby County youth. The Shelby County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent, 4-H Youth Development Agent, summer intern and program assistants coordinated three sessions of “Kids in the Kit
Author: Judith Hetterman
Major Program: Food Preparation
Today"s smart cook has four aims for meal preparation:- To reduce fat and sodium in food.- Retain the vitamins and minerals in foods.- Enhance flavors so that a healthy diet is appealing.- Saving time in meal preparation. Consumers see these small cooking gadgets as a way to streamline the cooking process. Manufacturers promote the cooking gadgets as appliances that make cooking easier, faster, smarter, and healthier. Due to a large request regarding electric pressure cookers and air f
Author: Katherine Alexander
Major Program: Food Preparation
Having high blood pressure puts you at risk for heart disease and stroke, which are leading causes of death in the United States. About 75 million American adults (32%) have high blood pressure—that is one in every three adults. Only about half (54%) of people with high blood pressure have their condition under control. High blood pressure was also a primary or contributing cause of death for more than 410,000 Americans in 2014—that is more than 1,100 deaths each day, according
Author: Nellie Buchanan
Major Program: Food Preparation
2018 Super Star Chef ProgramEvaluation Findings: Morgan CountyThis report is based on the data from the twenty-one (21) respondents to the pre- and posttests. Of these respondents, eleven (11) were female and ten (10) were male. Table 1 presents additional information on the characteristics of the participants.Overall, pre-post comparisons of participant responses to the assessment instrument show that the program enhanced participant understanding of the nutrition concepts covered in the progra
Author: Ruth Chowning
Major Program: Food Preparation
Cooking programs have been used to promote healthful eating among people of all ages. Children in Bullitt County are taking part in more after-school activities and many parents go straight from work to sports practice, music practice and more. Consequences of this change in family behavior are believed to contribute to increased rates of obesity in children, teen and adults due to unhealthy snacking and lack to family meals prepared at home. The Bullitt County Family and Consumer Science p
Author: Glenna Wooten
Major Program: Food Preparation
Calendar CookingThe Perry County Family and Consumer Sciences agent started a hands-on workshop for grandparents raising grandchildren to encourage them to prepare different recipes for their families. The 2018 Nutrition Education Program calendar was the resource used for recipes with additional information given relating to the recipe. This program was started in July and has continued monthly with an average of 6 grandparents attending. The Autumn Sweet Potato Chili was an unusual r
Author: Tiffany Bolinger
Major Program: Food Preparation
Super Star ChefThe mission of the Super Star Chef series is to provide a fun and educational environment for youth to gain knowledge and learn skills which will lead to success in the kitchen. The Christian County Cooperative Extension Service partnered with the UK Nutrition Education Program to implement Super Star Chef for 17 youth participants. Throughout the three day program, participants learned safety in the kitchen; reading a recipe; cooking techniques; nutrition facts; and dietary and p
Author: Sheila Fawbush
Major Program: Food Preparation
A collaboration among Dare to Care, the North Central District Health Department, the KIPDA Rural Diabetes Coalition and the Shelby County Cooperative Extension Service resulted in a six-week Cooking Matters course for families. This course provided 11 families (most of whom were dealing with diabetes) with in-depth nutrition education, experiential cooking, and meal-planning strategies for healthier lifestyles. The class also focused on menu planning, recipe makeovers and safely usi
Author: Catherine Jansen
Major Program: Food Preparation
During the summer of 2018, the Super Star Chef Program, provided by the University of Kentucky, was conducted in Carroll County. Five young adults taught the class. The Super Star Chef program was coordinated by the FCS Agent and the 4-H Agent in Carroll County.Sixteen (16) youth, between 2nd and 8th grade, participated in the class and completed the pre- and posttests. Of these respondents, ten (10) 62% were female and six (6)37% were male. Three of the participants were Hispanic.Ov
Author: Ronda Rex
Major Program: Food Preparation
According to the CDC, “Obesity is a serious concern because it is associated with poorer mental health outcomes, reduced quality of life, and the leading causes of death in the U.S. and worldwide, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and some types of cancer.”With a population of 92,488, Campbell County’s obesity rate is 31% and physical activity rate is 24%. (US Census Bureau) “Good nutrition, physical activity, and a healthy body weight are essential parts o
Author: Whitney Hilterbran
Major Program: Food Preparation
Foodborne illnesses are a burden on public health and contribute significantly to the cost of health care. Each year foodborne illnesses sicken 48 million Americans (approximately 17% of people in the United States) and lead to 128,000 hospitalizations and 3,000 deaths (Source: Healthy People 2020). In an effort to combat this preventable and costly illness, Scott County Extension Office Family and Consumer Sciences incorporated food safety concepts into a Homemaker Leader Lesson.Individuals ove
Author: Glenna Wooten
Major Program: Food Preparation
The Perry County Family and Consumer Sciences agent started off the 2019 year with Calendar Cooking to introduce participants to healthy recipes. The first recipe in the 2019 NEP Nutrition Calendar was Citrus Kale Salad. Eighty percent of the participants had never tasted kale and would never have considered preparing the recipe for their families. After working in groups to prepare the salad, participants then tasted the recipe and discussed the recipe: how it tasted, looked,
Author: Matti Coffey
Major Program: Food Preparation
According to the Whitley County 2018 Nutrition Education Program Annual Report, our program provides hands-on nutrition education to limited-resource audiences, focusing on: buying and preparing healthy foods, developing new meal planning and cooking skills, adopting new healthy lifestyle behaviors, and managing SNAP resources. There were 2,047 Whitley County residents with limited resources who participated in these lessons. This year, with a new partnership, we were given the opportunity
Author: Andrea Slone
Major Program: Food Preparation
According to the United States Census Bureau there are 18, 453 households in Floyd County, KY with an average of 2.42 persons living in the each household. According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Kentucky is below the national average of fruit and vegetable consumption among youth. The Center for Disease Control states that adults in Kentucky are also below average of the national fruit and vegetable consumption.The Floyd County Family & Consumer Sciences Advisory Council suggested
Author: Leslie Workman
Major Program: Food Preparation
In our third year of offering a monthly cooking program featuring recipes from the USDA Food & Nutrition Calendar, the Pike County Family & Consumer Sciences Program has helped over 40 families learn about economical ways to feed themselves using basic skills. The classes consist of an educational component related to the lesson (knife skills, the importance of whole grains, reading food labels, etc) along with hands-on preparatio
Author: Lora Pullin
Major Program: Food Preparation
As the end of the school year approaches, many high school students are preparing for the beginning steps of their future goals. Becoming an adult is no easy task and the future goals of students will not always follow the same path. In an effort to help prepare students at Russell High School for the future, their employment specialist, partnered with the Greenup County Extension Office to offer the program “License to Cook.” The employment specialist identified a
Author: Judith Hetterman
Major Program: Food Preparation
Families are returning to the kitchen and the dinner table due to the "Recipes for Life" program for 148 fifth grade students to teach them how to prepare and serve a formal five-course meal. When the students are not cooking, volunteers teach them about nutrition, manners and etiquette. Before the event, the students submit a family recipe to be compiled in a book that each student receives."This is one of the best programs that we have for our students," said Ju
Author: Karli Giles
Major Program: Food Preparation
A recent survey conducted by an online grocer revealed that 77% of their shoppers would rather prepare meals at home than eat out (Progressive Grocer, 2018.) In efforts to provide food preparation skills, the Jessamine County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent collaborated with the Adair County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent to provide an Electric Pressure Cooker and Air Fryer Class in both of their counties. Data from both classes show that 55 participants were in attendance representing ei
Author: Kelli Bonifer
Major Program: Food Preparation
A recent survey conducted by an online grocer revealed that 77% of their shoppers would rather prepare meals at home than eat out (Progressive Grocer, 2018.) In efforts to provide food preparation skills, the Jessamine County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent collaborated with the Adair County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent to provide an Electric Pressure Cooker and Air Fryer Class in both of their counties. Data from both classes show that 55 participants were in attendance representing ei
Author: William Crawford
Major Program: Food Preparation
Athletes, including marathon runners, seek high protein healthy dietary options. Like all people though, they also want tasty, often signature cuisine when traveling to cities or states that are known for regional dishes. One such specialty when traveling in our great Commonwealth is the Kentucky Hot Brown. Incredibly tasty, it also unfortunately is packed with carbohydrates and fat. According to the USDA Dietary Allowance, a competitive athlete needs .45 to .72 grams of protei
Author: Katherine Alexander
Major Program: Food Preparation
In the Green River Area (including Ohio, McLean, Webster, Daviess and Henderson Counties), an average of 21.7% of families with children were below the poverty level (in each county). In addition, approximately 2,830 grandparents are living with and caring for their grandchildren (source: Building Strong Families 2019 KY County Profiles).To make the best of family budgets and dollars spent on food, the Webster County Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent collaborated with the area Extensi
Author: Karli Giles
Major Program: Food Preparation
A three-day cooking class was offered to 40 students, ages ranging from 9-13 years old, at North Central 4-H Camp by the Jessamine County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent and Snap-Education Assistant. Over the course of the three days, a variety of skills were taught. Students learned how to read a recipe, how to measure ingredients with the correct measuring tool, and how to use kitchen utensils safely. In addition to learning the basic principles of cooking, students had to work together to
Author: Catherine Jansen
Major Program: Food Preparation
Recipes for LifeThe Recipes for Life program began when County Extension Homemakers identified the need to support the development of life skills for youth in the community. Skills such as nutrition education, food preparation, food and kitchen safety, recipe reading, kitchen and cooking organization, and math and science were lacking in our youth. The goal of the program is to teach the necessary skills that lead youth to a better quality of life.For the third year in a roll, the Carroll
Author: Luke Fries
Major Program: Food Preparation
Nelson County Cooperative Extension clients, youth and adult, seem to possess a strong passion for continuing traditions and learning new things. Thirty years ago, there were several family farms and hogs were one of the largest species of livestock on those farms. Out of necessity, those animals were often harvested and utilized in several ways to provide food for the family. Farmers found many different ways to use the livestock as food, including but not limited to, curing t
Author: Edith Lovett
Major Program: Food Preparation
The Pulaski County Cooperative Extension Service participated in the 3-Day Super Star Chef program, with 20 children in attendance each day. The 20 children included 2 blacks and 2 Chinese. All of the students were taught basic kitchen skills, prepared a recipe each day, and were evaluated the last day to see what skills they could recall. The students were taught food safety, how to use My Plate, using the correct measuring devices, how
Author: Heather Cheek
Major Program: Food Preparation
Over the past 3 years, Mason County FCS has been fulfilling a need of the county for quick, easy, and cost effective cooking classes. As an added bonus, the recipes used in Cooking Through The Calendar are nutritious as well. Mason County FCS uses the recipes in the calendar released yearly by the Kentucky Nutrition Education Program in this program. This program has been offered during the day and at night in an effort to accommodate many people’s schedules. This program is offered at no
Author: Christin Herbst
Major Program: Food Preparation
The Recipes for Life program began when County Extension Homemakers identified the need to support the development of life skills for youth in the community. Skills such as nutrition education, food preparation, food and kitchen safety, recipe reading, kitchen and cooking organization, and math and science were lacking in our youth. The goal of the program is to teach the necessary skills that lead youth to a better quality of life.For the third year in a row, the Carroll County Coo
Author: Tamera Magee
Major Program: Food Preparation
Franklin County FCS partnered with the Kings Center, a faith-based, non-profit community center that serves youth from first grade to high school. To promote proper nutrition, the Franklin Co. Agent, along with three community volunteers, offered two days of cooking to children ages 10-14. Encouraged by the youth, the Kings Center staff decided to join in assisting with food preparation. The first part of each day began with an educational component, followed by hands-on
Author: Gregg Rentfrow
Major Program: Food Preparation
Field to Fork and Hook and Cook are hunting and fishing programs, respectively, that are taught and promoted by Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. We, UK Nutrition Education Program and I, are working with KFW to develop recipe cards for wild game and fish. We are at the beginning of this program, but we are not only developing recipe cards, but are helping KFW to develop more educational programming that could be taught at the county level by agents.
Author: Julia Wilson
Major Program: Food Preparation
According to the American Heart Association, teaching youth how to prepare their own food will give them a skill they can use for a lifetime. (Cooking With Your Children; Web MD; May 30, 2008.) In the Spring of 2019 the Edmonson County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent was approach by four high school seniors who wished to complete a community service project with the Extension as part of their Honors English Class. Four youth worked with the agent to decide on the project, schedule, plan
Author: Alethea Price
Major Program: Food Preparation
Lunch and Learn is a program that the FCS agent started 5 years ago. Originally it was just a nutrition class where participants sampled a recipe from the Food and Nutrition Calendar and talked about different aspects of food preparation. Subjects often covered included food safety, MyPlate, stretching your grocery dollar, food preservation, increasing fruits and vegetables, and more. This class was always well attended. It continued to grow every year.In 2019, the FCS agent decided to update Lu
Author: Deborah Shepherd
Major Program: Food Preparation
Small Appliance WorkshopNew, trendy small appliances seem to be coming out on the market at a rapid rate. These are often marketed to consumers to save time, money and energy. These products are often purchased without being fully researched and the consumer is left with a new machine that they do not know how to properly use. This contributes to money invested in a product that is not being used and space that is now being occupied by bulky boxes. In an effort to educate consumers about ne
