Extension
It Starts With Us
Accessing Nutritious Foods and Equity of Resources
Healthy Individuals, Families, and Communities
Flynt, Faris, Redmon, Brewer
Community Gardens and Horticulture Therapy
Faithful Families
Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud
Food Preparation and Preservation
Nutrition Education Programs help families gain access to food and stretch food dollars; communities to decrease hunger; and local food assistance programs to educate recipients on healthy and safe food preparation methods. Agents, paraprofessionals and volunteers are pivotal in influencing policies, systems, and environments and in training consumers and producers to maximize local access to food products from farm to table.
- Kentucky population will increase average fruit and vegetable consumption by 1 or more servings per day
- More new mothers attempt to breast feed their babies and increase duration of breastfeeding to six weeks or more
- Kentuckians improve food management skills and healthy eating habits
- Youth will be food secure when school is not in session
- People accessing emergency food sources will select from nutrient dense items
Number who:
- Access more local foods
- Redeem Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program benefit.
- Plant, harvest and preserve produce
- Apply improved food preparation skills, food management skills, food safety and healthy eating habits
Number of:
- New mothers utilize community services to support breastfeeding, such as WIC breast pump services
- Workplaces and other organizations adopt policies supporting new mothers’ attempts to breastfeed
- Youth who access other food sources when not in school
- Households accessing emergency food sources
- Households accessing fresh, locally grown fruit and vegetables
- Understand the importance of sustainable local agriculture to individual health and financial well-being
- Learn to grow, prepare and preserve food
- Learn to incorporate unfamiliar foods or foods not currently eaten into a healthy diet
- New mothers and those who support them increase knowledge about the health and economic benefits of breastfeeding
- Increase knowledge and understanding of healthy eating, food safety and food resource management
- Learn about community support services to increase food security
- Youth are more open to trying new foods from local sources
Initial Outcome: Citizens will increase their knowledge of healthy food choices and food preparation safety.
Indicator: Attending training and marketing opportunities
Method: Food preservation workshops, gardening camp, plate it up sampling at farmers market, myplate curriculum, 4-H demonstrations of food sampling in schools, food safety curriculum, SNAP Education
Timeline: Year round
Intermediate Outcome: Apply knowledge of food preparation and seek healthy food choices including local options.
Indicator: higher attendance at farmers market, WIC/SNAP benefits being redeemed, community garden usage
Method: gardening classes, farmers market opportunity, food safety demonstration/workshop
Timeline: Year round
Long-term Outcome: More people choosing nutritious options
Indicator: attendance and application of food preservation workshops, surveys, lesson evaluation tools
Method: distributing surveys at farmer's market and food preservation workshop; redemption of WIC/SRFMNP benefits increase
Timeline: Year round
Audience: Youth
Project or Activity: Food sampling, and Cooking Clubs in Schools
Content or Curriculum: plate it up recipes, MyPlate
Inputs: curriculum, materials, samples, school buy in
Date: During school year
Audience: Youth
Project or Activity: Gardening and nutrition
Content or Curriculum: plate it up recipes, MyPlate, Horticulture curriculum
Inputs: curriculum, materials, samples, school buy in, Ed Davis Center, Migrant Education
Date: During school year, Spring through Summer
Audience: General public
Project or Activity: Farmer's Market
Content or Curriculum: Plate it Up recipes and samples, educational programs, Farmers Market Toolkit
Inputs: samples, curriculum, recipes
Date: Summer-Fall
Audience: Adults and Youth
Project or Activity: Garden plots and 4-H gardening
Content or Curriculum: 4-H and master gardener
Inputs: curriculum, materials, space, staff, volunteers
Date: Spring-Fall
Audience: General public
Project or Activity: master gardener lawn and gardener expo
Content or Curriculum: Farmer's Market, Horticulture
Inputs: staff, office equipment, materials, volunteers
Date: Spring
Audience: General Public
Project or Activity: Food preservation workshops
Content or Curriculum: water bath canning, pressure canning, dehydration, and freezing techniques
Inputs: volunteers, materials, supplies, retired FCS Agents
Date: Summer
Audience: Extension Homemakers
Project or Activity: lesson leader training related to healthy choices
Content or Curriculum: lesson leader training
Inputs: staff, office equipment, materials
Date: Year Round
Audience: 4-H Youth
Activity:4-H Cooking
Content or Curriculum: 4-H Cooking Curriculum, MyPlate
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials, volunteers
Date: Monthly
Audience: General public
Activity: Local Foods Producer Panel
Content or Curriculum: Buying local produce, Farmers Market & CSA information
Input: Facilities, staff, video equipment, advertising, giveaways
Date: Spring
Audience: Youth
Activity: Outdoor Cooking
Content or Curriculum: SNAP-Ed publications for Outdoor Cooking
Input: Publications, staff, equipment, volunteers
Date: Fall, Spring
Audience: Adult, Youth
Activity: Grow Your Own
Content or Curriculum: SNAP-Ed publications for Grow Your Own
Input: Publications, staff, equipment, volunteers
Date: Spring, Summer, Fall
Audience: Adults, Youth
Activity: Rehabilitation Garden Program
Content or Curriculum: Recovery Garden Toolkit; grant money, SNAP-Ed and UK - CAFE publications, staff, equipment, volunteers
Date: Spring, Summer and Fall
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Wellness with Chronic Illness
Content: Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP)/FCS Curriculum
Inputs: Staff, FCS resources, grants, UK Health Care, etc.
Date: Year Round
Audience: Senior Adults
Project or Activity: Low Impact Exercise Opportunities and Bingocize
Content: Bingocize, 5Ks, Gentle Yoga, Wellness Curriculum.
Inputs: Staff, FCS resources, grants, UK Health Care, etc.
Date: Year Round
Audience: General Public
Activity: Hook and Cook
Content or Curriculum: Kentucky Fish and Wildlife and Extension information
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials
Date: Summer
Audience: General Public
Activity: Cook Wild/Field to Fork
Content or Curriculum: Kentucky Fish and Wildlife and Extension information
Input: Staff, office equipment, curriculum, materials
Date: Fall
Audience: Youth and Adults
Project or Activity: Food Sciences
Content or Curriculum: FCS Cooking, Food Safety, and Culinary Sciences Materials.
Inputs: Staff, SNAP/FCS Curriculum, Community Partners, etc.
Date: Spring
Author: Alivia Faris
Major Program: Food Preparation and Preservation
Kentucky has one of the highest rates of diabetes in the nation, with 1 in 3 residents living with diabetes or prediabetes. Complicating matters, 1 out of 5 people with diabetes are unaware they have it. While these numbers show how significant of an issue diabetes is, there are ways we can manage blood sugar which will ultimately reduce the risk and prevalence of diabetes. Defining the relationship between food, food resource management, and diabetes is a valuable skill for all Kentuckians, as
Author: Alivia Faris
Major Program: Food Preparation and Preservation
In the United States, 7 out of the 10 leading causes of death are directly related to diet. This is largely because risk factors like high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and high cholesterol are connected to the foods we eat. Evidence is drawing clearer connections to these risk factors and food insecurity. In Kentucky, food insecurity, or not having access to or the ability to afford nutritious food, largely contributes to diet-sensitive chronic conditions. Because of the known health outcom
Author: Sharon Flynt
Major Program: Community Gardens and Horticulture Therapy
The problem - Increase accessability to fresh, locally grown foodThe educational program response The 2023-2024 Seed Giveaway Program, started during the pandemic, continues to be a highly successful program, further fostering the community’s interest in gardening and sustainability. This initiative not only promotes healthy eating but also encourages environmental education and hands-on learning for individuals interested in learning to grow their own food from seeds
