Home Gardening, Food Preservation, and Food Preparation
Accessing Nutritious Foods
Wooten, Gibson,May
Food Preservation
Accessing Nutritious Foods (general)
4-H Communications and Expressive Arts Core Curriculum
Home & Consumer Horticulture
Perry County ranks 118 among Kentucky’s 120 counties on the health risk and outcomes listed in the 2013 County Health Rankings report. Obesity threatens the quality and years of life and Perry County’s obesity rate for adults stands at 38% and 17% for high school youth. Thirty-six percent of adults in Perry County report lack of physical activity. Increased consumption of unhealthy food, stress, and built environments that promote physical inactivity are largely responsible for the obesity epidemic. These conditions promote chronic health conditions such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke and some types of cancers. As a result, more are dying from heart disease and cancer and have a lower life expectancy (less than 78 years of age).
Extension helps families gain access to food and to stretch food dollars; communities to decrease hunger; and local food assistance programs to educate recipients on healthy and safe food preparation methods.
Save money by preserving produce from gardens or farmer’s markets.
Save money by preparing foods at home.
Increase family income by growing and selling produce at the Farmer’s Market.
Construct an Annex that will accommodate gardening and fruit and vegetable production workshops, food preparation, food preservation workshops and home-based micro-processing workshops.
Identify and utilize correct method of canning for low acid and high acid foods
Identify and purchase healthier foods
Expand orchards and gardens to offset family food cost and to sell extra produce at the Farmer’s Market
Learn how to increase fruit and vegetable consumption
Learn how to make wise choices in selecting foods
Learn production practices, for fruit and vegetables
Initial Outcome: Learn correct, research-based information.
Indicator: Number of participants reporting change in knowledge.
Method: Workshops
Timeline: 2016-2020
Intermediate Outcome:
Indicator: Number of participants reporting growing food
Method: surveys, word of mouth reporting
Timeline: 2016 - 2020
Long-term Outcome:
Indicator: Number reporting change in practice
Method: surveys and word of mouth reporting
Timeline: 2016-2020
Audience: County clientele
Project or Activity: Food Preservation workshops
Content or Curriculum: Food Preservation curriculum
Inputs :Agents, specialists
Date: Spring – summer 2019
Audience: Homemakers, General Public, Youth
Project or Activity: Cooking Schools
Content or Curriculum: UK Curriculum
Inputs: Agents, specialists, community partners
Date: 2016-2020Audience: Homemakers, General Public, Youth
Project or Activity: Economical Entrees
Content or Curriculum: UK Curriculum
Inputs: Agents, specialists
Date: October 2018
Audience: Homemakers, General Public, Youth
Project or Activity: Meal Planning and Prep
Content or Curriculum: UK Curriculum
Inputs: Agents, specialists
Date: February 2019
Audience: Homemakers, General Public, Youth
Project or Activity: Mindful Eating
Content or Curriculum: UK Curriculum
Inputs: Agents, specialists, community partners
Date: January 2019
Audience: General Public and Farmer’s Market Vendors
Project or Activity: Farmer’s Market Nutrition Education, PBPT, WIC, and Senior Voucher Training
Content or Curriculum: UK developed materials
Inputs: Agents, NEP assistants
Date: Spring and Summer
Audience: NEP/Snap Eligible Families
Project or Activity: Lessons for program families
Content or Curriculum: Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Inputs: Agents, NEP assistants
Date: 2016 - 2020
Audience: Processors and Micro-processors
Project or Activity: Homebased Microprocessor Training
Content or Curriculum: UK curriculum
Inputs: Specialists
Date: Spring 2019
Audience: Fruit and Vegetable Producers
Project or Activity: Fruit and vegetable production workshops
Content or Curriculum: Training will be provided on production practices, marketing, pest and disease control
Inputs: Agents, Specialist
Date: Spring 2019
Author: Glenna Wooten
Major Program: Food Preparation
Due to an increasing interest in heritage skills, the Perry County Cooperative Extension Service set out to address one of these needs. Many individuals and agencies teach current, trendy classes, but the need for heritage skills classes exists and the pool of those with that knowledge is diminishing.The FCS agent attended a workshop in April to learn about sourdough bread making. The first workshop was offered in June in Perry County with 24 participants, again in August with 24 par
Author: Glenna Wooten
Major Program: Home & Consumer Horticulture
In the spring of 2019, the Perry County Cooperative Extension Family and Consumer Sciences agent offered a class on Gardening Options for Everyone. This lesson covered gardening basics such as soil, light, and drainage as well as spacing, planting depth, and caring for plants. Since many people in southeastern Kentucky now have only one or two in the household, a large garden is no longer the best option for them. Smaller container gardens or raised bed gardens are better opti
Author: Glenna Wooten
Major Program: Food Preparation
An agency for disabled adults reached out to Extension for help with teaching their clientele basic cooking skills. The agency transports the most highly-functioning adults to the Extension office to attend hand-on cooking classes. Clientele first learn about hygiene and the importance of proper hand washing and hair restraint. Then they were divided into small groups to work on skills such as reading a recipe, learning to use kitchen utensils, and demonstrating their use through pre
Author: Charles May
Major Program: Home & Consumer Horticulture
To assist parents with bored children at home with nothing to do besides play video games all day, the Perry County Extension Service ANR Agent started a neighborhood gardening club.This involved getting children in one neighborhood interested in growing their own garden. First, with some parent’s assistance, they had to clear off an overgrown area to make a site for a garden. This involved two days of hard work but the children seemed to enjoy it especially when they saw what a nic