Extension
It Starts With Us
Making Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Family and Consumer Sciences
Katelyn Squires
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: Number 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: Children and Youth
Project or Activity: Promoting Healthy Lifestyle Choices
Content or Curriculum: Cooking programs, Teen Cuisine, Laugh and Learn, LEAP, Super Star Chef, Recipes for Life, The Clover Way to Wellness,
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: May-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, Champion Food Volunteer, 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: Katelyn Squires
Major Program: Food Preparation and Preservation
Twenty-six youth and one adult (teacher) participated in a two-day food preservation series in Green County. On day one, the Family and Consumer Sciences agent presented a lesson over “The Basics of Home Food Preservation” to the Intro to Greenhouse and Plant Science Class at the local highschool. This presentation consisted of food safety procedures regarding botulism, learning about various equipment that would be used, researched based resources and so much more.On day two, the FC
Author: Katelyn Squires
Major Program: Family Development General
In a successful holiday preparation event, 55 participants joined county extension agents from the Lake Cumberland Area for "Kickstart the Holidays," a day-long holiday prep event. "Kickstart the Holidays" covered a range of holiday-related topics. Holiday preparation classes are crucial for various reasons, enabling individuals and families to better manage their finances during the holiday season, thus helping them avoid overspending and financial stress. Additionally, thes
Author: Katelyn Squires
Major Program: Active Living and Health Promotions General
Providing rural youth knowledge and strategies to be safe in their homes and communities is a foundation skill for being a responsible adult. Youth are at increased risk of experiencing certain types of harm. Rural youth are more likely to die in car accidents, farm accidents, and suicides than urban youth. They are also more likely to experience violence like bullying. Rural youth may have fewer resources to cope with harm. Rural communities often have fewer mental health providers,
Author: Katelyn Squires
Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General
Technology is ever changing and growing daily. Older individuals have a harder time grasping all the new technology and all that it can provide. Appliances 101 was a program that was intended to educate individuals on common household kitchen appliances. The kitchen appliances that were covered in this program were Air Fryers and Electric Pressure Cookers (also known as Instant Pots). Mississippi State University has some very useful publications that relate to Air Fryers and Electric Pressure C
