Extension
It Starts With Us
Nutrition and Food Systems
Sustainable, Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Courtney Jenkins, Cathy Sparks, 4-H Agent
Cook Together, Eat Together
Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud
Nutrition and Food Systems General
Horticulture, Consumer and Home
A foundation 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. The food insecurity rate in Magoffin County is 23.9% in comparison to 15.9% in the state, with a total of 4481 people from those surveyed in the Kentucky Extension Community Assessment, who face food insecurity. Grocery stores have decreased by 66.7%, going from a total of 6 to only 2 in the county. All Cooperative Extension Service 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)
- Reduce the rate of chronic disease and obesity
- 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
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Audience: Communities
Project or Activity: Farmer's Market Outreach
Content or Curriculum: Cooking programs, marketing,, increased access (e.g. location, hours, EBT), Plate It Up! KY Proud Resources, Farmers' Market Toolkit, Super STAR Chef
Inputs:Nutrition Education Program (NEP), paid staff, grant funds, facilities, Kentucky Department of Agriculuture
Date: April-October/Growing Seasons
Audience: Communities
Project or Activity: Policy, Systems, and Environmental Approaches
Content or Curriculum: Faithful Families, Diabetes coalition, Color is the Key, Resources for early care and educational settings.
Inputs:Volunteers, grant funds, faith-based organizatiions, community partners, key stakeholders, SNAP-Ed toolkit
Date: Ongoing projects throughout the year.
Audience: Families and individuals
Project or Activity: Grow Appalachia Gardening Program
Content or Curriculum: UK Horticulture Publications, Master Gardener Curriculum, Grow Appalachia Resources
Inputs: Grow Appalachia Staff, Extension Publications, Resources and Specialists,
Date: January-October
Audience: Families and Individuals
Project or Activity: Food Preparation for Better Health
Content or Curriculum: Cook Together Eat Together, Dining with Diabetes, Super Star Chef, Faithful Families, Plate It up! Kentucky Proud Resources, Resources for early care and education settings
Inputs: Programmatic materials, paid staff, community partners, faith-based organizations, health coalitions
Date: Ongoing projects throughout the year
Audience: Families and Individuals
Project or Activity: Food Preservation
Content or Curriculum: Publications, Trainings, Home-Based Processing Training
Inputs: paid staff, volunteers, facilities, programmatic materials, NEP
Date: July-September for adults and youth
Audience: Kentucky Extension Homemakers Association/Volunteers
Project or Activity: Promoting Nutrition with Volunteers
Content or Curriculum: Champion Food Volunteers, Mastering Food Choices, International Cuisine publications, Food preservation workshops, Monthly
Homemaker Leader Lessons.
Inputs: Volunteers, paid staff, community partners
Date: Monthly
Author: Cathy Sparks
Major Program: Food Preparation and Preservation
The problem- Grow Appalachia group of farmers are required to attend a Food Preservation class as a part of their educational experience with the program. The ANR Agent asked that I teach the class to demonstrate how to water bath can and pressure can. The educational program response-As a result, I prepared a class where I would demonstrate these food preservation techniques, pressure canning green beans and water bath canning grape jelly. With the help of our administrative as
