Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Family and Consumer Sciences
Jordan Crain
Food Preparation and Preservation
Nutrition and Food Systems General
Active Living and Health Promotions General
Family Development General
A foundations of nutrition knowledge, skills and competencies in topics such as Food safety, handling and preparation, cooking methods and techniques, feeding practices, food science, and food systems are essential to changing dietary behaviors. With the increased trend of chronic disease and obesity in Kentucky, individuals, families and communities need tools and environments that support healthful dietary decisions. CES agents are encouraged to reach diverse audiences to help combat chronic disease and obesity in Kentucky communities.
- Routinely employ healthy dietary practices that promote health and wellness (e.g. consume recommended daily fruits and vegetables and improve food management skills).
- Green County will increase in the practice and promotion of physical activity and healthy eating.
- Green County will see an improvement in the built environment to promote physical activity and healthy eating.
- Green County will see an improvement in the mental health and well-being of Kentuckians.
- Generate positive attitudes toward changing dietary decisions to be more healthful.
- Increase intake of fruits, vegetables, and other nutrient dense foods.
- Decrease intake of solid fats, added sugars, and sodium.
- Employ healthful cooking methods, feeding practices, and food preservation techniques.
- Increased access to healthy food via local farmers markets, food retailers, and/or home gardens.
- Increase awareness about relationships between food and nutrition practices and chronic disease.
- Improve food and nutrition-related skills (e.g. Gardening, preparation and preservation techniques, safe food handling, food resource management).
- Increase confidence in ability to employ healthy eating practices.
- Increase motivation to access and prepare healthier foods.
Initial Outcome: Dietary Intake
Indicator: Number of individuals who reported: eating 4-6 servings of fruits and/or vegetables daily.
Method: Self-report surveys about fruit and vegetable intake or other dietary improvements; specific curricula or program evaluations.
Timeline: Pre-post implementing programs.
Initial Outcome: Availability and access to healthy food
Indicator: Number of individuals who reported: utilizing delivery systems/access points (e.g. farmers’ markets, CSAs, WIC, food pantries) that offer healthy foods; supplementing diets with healthy foods grown or preserved (e.g. Community backyard gardens, fishing, hunting, farmers markets); dollar value of vendor-reported sales or EBT, WIC, or Senior benefits redeemed at farmer’s markets; number of pints of foods preserved through water bath canning, pressure caning, freezing or drying.
Method: Self-report survey
Timeline- Pre-post implementing program
Intermediate Outcome: Preparing and preserving food
Indicator: Numore of individuals who reported: use knowledge and skills to improve food-shopping management; utilize the food label to make healthy food choices; choosing smaller portions; increased food preservation knowledge; demonstrated recommended food preservation practices.
Method: Self-report survey; specific curricula or program evaluations.
Timeline: Pre-post implementing programs
Audience: Community
Project or Activity: Farmers Market Outreach
Content or Curriculum: Cooking programs, marketing, increased access (e.g. location, hours, EBT), Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud resources, Farmers Market Toolkit, Super Star Chef
Inputs: Nutrition Education Program (NEP), paid staff, grant funds, Kentucky Department of Agriculture
Date: April-October/ Growing Season
Audience: General Public
Project or Activity: Physical Activity
Content or Curriculum: Publications, Faithful Families, Story Walk, Master Health Volunteer, Shared Space Agreements, Health Coalitions, Be More, Fit Blue, WIN, Health Partner, Bingocize, Keys to Embracing Aging, Couch Potato Challenge.
Inputs: Volunteers, facilities, health coalitions, Healthcare Providers, Health Department, Non-profits, Schools. Homemakers, Community Centers.
Date: Periodically each year
Audience: General Public
Project or Activity: Food Preservation
Content or Curriculum: Publications, Trainings, Home-Based Micro-Processing Training, Champion Food Volunteers
Inputs: Paid Staff, volunteers, facilities, programmatic materials, NEP.
Date: July-September for adults and youth
Audience: Families and Individuals
Project or Activity: Food Preparation for Better Health
Content or Curriculum: Cook Together Eat Together, Mastering Food Choices, Dining with Diabetes, Super Star Chef, Champion Food Vo;integer, Faithful Families, plans for prenatal- and infant/toddler-specific curriculum, resources for early care and education setting.
Inputs: Programmatic materials, community partners, faith-based organizations, health coalitions.
Date: Ongoing projects throughout the year
Audience: Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association Volunteers
Project or Activity: Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Content or Curriculum: Master Health Volunteers, Health Bulletins, Monthly Leader Lessons
Inputs: Volunteers, paid staff, community partners
Date: Monthly
Author: Jordan Crain
Major Program: Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud
In an effort to safely engage clientele in an exciting new way, the Green County Recipe Club was started. The Recipe Club is a way to promote the increase of fruits and vegetables in the diets of those participating. By joining the Recipe Club, participants agreed to receive a monthly packet with Plate It Up KY Proud recipe cards. After receiving their packet each month, participants are encouraged to make at least one recipe that is included in the packet. The evaluation results after the first
Author: Jordan Crain
Major Program: Active Living and Health Promotions General
In response to COVID-19, Extension To Go bags were started to assure that community members could still be active and engaged in Extension Programming from the comfort of their home. The Extension To Go bags have been offered to any Green County resident wishing to participate. Topics of Extension To Go bags included: Life Story, Managing Stress, Physical Activity, Recipe Kits, Meal Planning, Green Cleaning, Grill Safety, Nature Walks and Sun Safety just to name a few. With the increase of excit
Author: Jordan Crain
Major Program: Active Living and Health Promotions General
In an effort to offer useful programs in a safe and creative way, the Green County Family and Consumer Sciences Agent and the Green County Youth Services Center partnered together to offer a series of programs that went "Back to the Basics". The first topic was Measuring Savvy. For this session, participants were invited to stop by the Green County Extension Office for a "To Go" bag containing informational publications on how to measure correctly when cooking in the kitchen.
Author: Jordan Crain
Major Program: Kentucky Extension Homemaker Association
In an effort to encourage positive thoughts and safely engage clientele during uncertain times, the Lake Cumberland Area FCS Agents offered Kentucky Extension Homemakers the opportunity to become involved in a Pen Pal Program. The Pen Pal Program consisted of participants completing a survey that allowed them to share their hobbies, like and dislikes, etc. Once each County had time to gather surveys from those who wished to participate, participants were paired up with a person with similar inte
Author: Jordan Crain
Major Program: Active Living and Health Promotions General
Annually, Family and Consumer Sciences Agents and staff see an increased interest from clients in health-behavior choices around the new year. This year, to reach both current and new clientele with timely and research-based information, FCS Extension rolled out a new program just in time for January 2021- Big Blue Goals. The program was designed to allow for participation through either an online platform (Goalify app) that could be operated on a smartphone, computer, or tablet, or through