Extension
It Starts With Us
Healthy Lifestyle and Life Skill Education
Healthy Living and Life Skill Development
Lunsford, Hettmansperger, Comley
Food Preparation and Preservation
Active Living and Health Promotions General
Financial Education - General
Nutrition and Food Systems General
All of the issues facing today's individuals and families require they have basic life skills to make the best, most informed decisions which will affect their future, the future of their families, and the future of their community.
The County Health Rankings and Road-maps program ranks Garrard County 38th of 120 counties. This ranking helps to understand overall health of Garrard County residents. According to 2022 County Health Rankings of adults, 11% have diabetes, 36% are obese, and 32% are inactive. Garrard County also has a high rate of deaths by all types of cancers. As the data suggests, increasing opportunities for physical activity, promotion of healthier lifestyle choices, selecting healthy food choices and preparing healthy foods are important to the adult and youth of Garrard County.
Garrard County Extension Council (CEC), other program councils and a local survey of community issues and needs supports the need for healthy lifestyle choices programming. The CEC and the survey also recognized the needs in areas such as financial planning and teaching basic life skills in areas such as, cooking, exercise, financial education, food preservation, and improving home environment.
Participants will reduce their risk for weight related or preventable diseases through healthier lifestyle choices resulting in decreased medical and mental health costs. Families will increase physical stamina, increase participation in physical activities and change the local culture to accept and promote active lifestyles among residents in Garrard County. Reduced rate of chronic disease and obesity through intake of nutritious foods, use of healthy cooking methods and home food preservation. Persons will become more proficient in basic life skills such as, increasing their emergency savings funds and be more financially secure, perform basic food preparation skills in preparing healthy meals, and be able to make healthy lifestyle decisions. Increasing knowledge about healthy lifestyle choices will also influence mental health awareness and family and individual stress reduction.
Participants will decrease use of salt, fat and sugar in diet. Participants will increase consumption of fruits and vegetables. Data will indicate a decrease in number of youth involved in substance abuse practices. Persons will engage in more daily physical activity, create more physical activity opportunities in Garrard County, and participate in healthy lifestyle choices as it relates to mental health and stress reducing activities.
Knowledge will increase of basic food preparation skills, food preservation skills, and safe food handling procedures. Increased fruit and vegetable consumption will also occur. Youth and adults will increase their knowledge of the legal, emotional, health and financial consequences of substance abuse. They will gain knowledge about the relationship between disease and weight. They will also gain knowledge and improve attitudes, skills, and aspirations to increase physical activity. They will gain knowledge about financial security and methods for financial planning.
Initial Outcome: Increase knowledge of basic food preparation skills
Indicator: persons reporting food preparation at home using healthy choices
Method: survey of participants
Timeline: year-long as programs are conducted
Intermediate Outcome: More persons will choose to prepare healthy meals at home.
Indicator: people attending programs report more cooking at home
Method: surveys, personal interviews
Timeline: year long
Long-term Outcome: Decrease in chronic diseases related to lack of physical activity and poor food choices.
Indicator: decrease in number of reported cases of diabetes, high blood pressure, and obesity as these relate to increased chronic disease. Mortality rates as related to chronic diseases.
Method: Health rankings surveys, health screening results, Extension program evaluations and personal interviews
Timeline: year long
Audience: adults
Project or Activity: financial education integrated into other Extension programs
Content or Curriculum: Money Habitudes and Recovering your Finances
Inputs: FCS agent
Date: year round
Audience: adults
Project or Activity: 20 sessions Bingocize with emphasis on nutrition, 12 session Bingocize with emphasis on Covid19 education
Content or Curriculum: Bingocize
Inputs: FCS Agent
Date: Spring 2022, Summer 2023
Audience: adults
Project or Activity: Cooking/Nutrition/Food Safety Education
Content or Curriculum: SNAP-Ed Calendar/Plate It Up recipes used in Lunch and Learn
Inputs: FCS Agent
Date: Year round (monthly)
Audience: adults & youth
Project or Activity: Nutrition Education Program (NEP), Resource Management
Content or Curriculum: NEP curriculum, Cook Wild
Inputs: FCS Agent & NEP Program assistant & ANR Agent
Date: year round, February 2023 (Cook Wild)
Audience: adults/youth
Project or Activity: life skills programming
Content or Curriculum: FCS curriculums
Inputs: FCS Agent
Date: year round
Audience: Youth
Project or Activity: hiking, canoeing, kayaking to establish baseline appreciation for the outdoors and healthy alternatives to a more commonplace sedentary lifestyle
Content or Curriculum: Hiking Trails, Exploring Your Environment, Natural Resources Core Curriculum (Project WET, Project Learning Tree, Project WILD)
Inputs: Local Resource Funding, Grant Funding, 4-H Agent, volunteers
Date: spring, summer, fall
Audience: adult
Project or Activity: hiking at local parks and nature preserves to start a healthy initiative in our adult population
Content or Curriculum: Hiking Trails, First Aid in Action, Choosing Health
Inputs: 4-H Agent, Volunteers, Preserves and Parks, grant funding, transportation
Date: spring, summer, and fall
Audience: Youth
Project or Activity: Teaching youth to prepare food properly and look at the ingredients of each food item to determine health and taste. Also, prepare items for entry in county and state fair
Content or Curriculum: 4-H Cooking 101, What's on Your Plate?
Inputs: 4-H Agent, NEP Assistant, FCS Agent, kitchen supplies, local funding
Date: fall, winter, spring
Audience: Youth
Project or Activity: Teaching youth the different parts of the plants we use to eat raw or in prepared dishes
Content or Curriculum: Project Learning Tree, Learn, Grow, Eat, Go Curriculum
Inputs: 4-H Agent, FCS Agent, NEP Assistant, fruits and vegetables, local funding
Date: fall, winter, spring
Audience: Youth
Project or Activity: Teaching youth the value of movement and exercise in variable situations
Content or Curriculum: First Aid in Action
Inputs: 4-H Agent, Local Funding,
Date: fall, spring, summer
Author: Jay Hettmansperger
Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General
Describe the Issue or Situation.Camping has become more popular over the last few years and people are asking for meal ideas that are good to cook over a campfire. Describe the Outreach or Educational Program Response (and Partners, if applicable).The agents at Garrard County Extension office combined efforts to present a program on campfire cooking. The program was advertised through multiple media sites and newsletters. The Family and Consumer Science(FCS) agent, the Ag and Natural Resource(AN
Author: Kayla Lunsford
Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General
This time of year, everyone is thinking about fall activities. Camping and cooking over a fire is a great option for families because of its affordability and ease to plan. However, one barrier that may inhibit people from getting outdoors is a lack of knowledge on how to cook over an open flame, or possibly even how to start a fire in the first place. The Garrard County Extension Office offered a program to educate on these topics. The goal was to educate participants on healthy outdoor r
Author: Eric Comley
Major Program: Community Engagement
In a September 2024 online article by the American Red Cross, 11 survival skills were detailed in an effort to help people become more prepared for a situation that demands basic skills and minimal preparation to stay alive (https://www.redcross.org/take-a-class/resources/articles/11-survival-skills-to-know). Articles, like this one, are the result of a movement for people to become more self-reliant and an increase in outdoor recreation participation (https://outdoorindustry.org/press-release/o
