Extension
It Starts With Us
Accessing Nutritious Foods
Healthy Lifestyles
Elizabeth Coots, Regina Browning, Candice Hollingsworth
Health & Wellbeing
Nutrition and Food Systems General
Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud
Food Preparation and Preservation
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 Shelby County, individuals, families, and communities need tools and environments that support healthful dietary decisions. The CES agent and paraprofessional are encouraged to reach diverse audiences to help combat chronic disease and obesity in Shelby County.
Nutrition education programs and local food systems help families gain access to food and stretch food dollars, help communities decrease hunger, and help 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.
LONG-TERM OUTCOMES:
Routinely employ healthy dietary practices that promote health and wellness (e.g. consume recommended daily fruits and vegetables and improve food management skills)
Shelby Countians improve food management skills and adopt healthy eating habits.
People accessing emergency food sources will select from nutrient-dense items.
Hunger is decreased.
Shelby Countians will see a reduction in the percentage of individuals with chronic disease including diabetes and in overweight and obese adults and children.
INTERMEDIATE OUTCOMES:
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, food pantries and/or home gardens
Families will gain access to food and stretch food dollars
Access to local foods in restaurants, retail outlets, schools and other institutions is increased
Consumer confidence in and demand for local foods is maintained or increased
The public has a positive perception of Extension professionals as reliable sources for food access information.
Increase number of people who access local foods
Increase number of people who apply improved food preparation skills, food management skills, food safety and healthy eating habits
Increase number of youth and adults who plant, harvest and/or preserve produce
Hunger is decreased
Producers and consumers apply food safety practices and/or procedures
Producers earn certification for Home Based Microprocessing
Number of households accessing emergency food sources.
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
Increase KOSA in healthy eating, food safety and food resource management
Increase awareness of availability of fresh, local produce
Increase KOSA in growing, preparing and preserving food
Increase food safety handling procedures
Understand procedures for safe food processing
Learn about community support services to increase food security
Understand the importance of sustainable local agriculture to individual health and financial well-being
Families will increase their consumption of fruits and vegetables
Families will gain access to food and stretch food dollars
Access to local foods in restaurants, retail outlets, schools and other institutions is increased
Consumer confidence in and demand for local foods is maintained or increased
The public has a positive perception of Extension professionals as reliable sources for food access information.
Intermediate Outcome: Nutrition knowledge, skills, and competencies
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 surveys; specific curricula or program evaluations
Timeline: Pre-post implementing curricula or program
Intermediate Outcome: Preparing and preserving food
Indicator: Number of individuals who reported: preparing more home-cooked meals; modifying ingredients and/or preparation techniques to improve nutrition
Method: Self-report survey; specific curricula or program evaluations
Timeline: Pre-post implementing curricula or program
Intermediate 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 curricula or program
Intermediate 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 or backyard gardens, fishing, hunting, farmers markets); dollar value of vendor-reported sales or EBT, WIC, or Senior benefits redeemed at farmers’ markets; number of pints of foods preserved through water bath canning, pressure canning, freezing, or drying.
Method: Self-report survey
Timeline: Pre-post implementing curricula or program
Initial Outcome: Increase KOSA in healthy eating, food preparation, food safety and food resource management. Increase KOSA in understanding sustainable, local agriculture to individual health and financial well-being.
Indicator: Number who gained KOSA in understanding in healthy eating, food preparation, food safety and food resource management and increased KOSA in understanding sustainable, local agriculture to individual health and financial well-being.
Method: End of program evaluations and self-reporting, EFNEP WebNEERS, SNAP-Ed
Timeline: Quarterly
Intermediate Outcome: Individuals access more local foods. Individuals plant, harvest and/or preserve their own food. Individuals apply improved food preparation, management and food safety skills. Individuals share new KOSA with others.
Indicator: Number of individuals purchasing, planting, harvesting and/or preserving, preparing local foods safely. Number of individuals applying improved food preparation, management and food safety skills.
Method: End-of-series surveys, observation
Timeline: Quarterly
Long-term Outcome: Shelby Countians increase access to fruits and vegetables. Families eat healthy, nutritious foods. Individuals and institutions seek first to utilize locally grown foods.
Indicator: Number of individuals who increased consumption of fruits and vegetables. Decreased number of families who do not have adequate foods. Number of individuals and institutions who utilize locally grown foods.
Method: Self-reporting and observation and statistical data
Timeline: Year-to-year over next decade
Audience: Farmers Market Participants
Project or Activity: Farmers Market Demos and/or sharing educational publications
Content or Curriculum: FCS publications, NEP Publications, Planeatmove publications, recipes, Victory Garden information
Inputs: CES publications, Planeatmove, NEP recipe cards and Plate It Up recipes
Date: July-August 2024; May-June 2025
Audience: Elementary age youth
Project or Activity: 4-H Nutrition School Clubs
Content or Curriculum: USDA Choose My Plate, Professor Popcorn, FCS publications, Chop Chop
Inputs: CES publications, paid staff
Date: March 2025
Audience: Preschool age youth
Project or Activity: NEP Garden Grant - Creating an Edible Garden
Content or Curriculum: USDA Choose My Plate, Professor Popcorn, FCS publications, Chop Chop
Inputs: CES publications, paid staff
Date: June 2024 thru Summer and Fall 2024
Audience: Senior Citizens
Project or Activity: Senior Citizen Nutrition Programs
Content or Curriculum: USDA Choose My Plate, Plate It Up recipes, various nutrition topics, Seasoned, Healthy Choices for Everyone Newsletter, Nutrition Calendar
Inputs: FCS publications, USDA Choose My Plate, Plate It Up recipes, Senior Nutrition and Health News
Date: Monthly
Audience: Head Start and Low Income Families
Project or Activity: Nutrition for Preschool Families; Community Baby Shower; Headstart Classroom
Content or Curriculum: Chop Chop, LEAP and assorted Nutrition Topics
Inputs: FCS publications, SNAP-ed, USDA Choose My Plate and Spanish materials, LEAP
Date: Fall 2024 and Spring 2025
Audience: Families at Food Distribution Site
Project or Activity: Educational Publications and/or Monthly Handouts at Food Distribution Site
Content or Curriculum: Assorted nutrition topics; recipes
Inputs: Plate It Up recipes, FCS publications, SNAP ED, Choose My Plate
Date: Monthly
Audience: Youth and Adults, Families, Seniors, Disabled
Project or Activity: Educational Materials and Heathy Choice Series at Operation Care/ A Loving Choice (ALC) Pregnancy Support Center/ Awake/ Women’s Renaissance Center/ Whitney Young Job Corps Center/ Transitional Housing/ Shelby House/ Centerstone
Content or Curriculum: Assorted nutrition topics; recipes, Healthy Choices for Everybody
Inputs: Plate It Up recipes, FCS publications, SNAP ED, Choose My Plate, Healthy Choice Curriculum
Date: Bi-Monthly or series of seven weekly programs, starting Spring 2025
Audience: Individuals/Families
Project or Activity: Food Safety & Food Preservation Information
Content or Curriculum: Preservation publications; Vegetable Canning, UK publications on Food Safety, Preservation from Healthy Choices for Everybody
Inputs: FCS Publications; So Easy to Preserve, Ball Blue Book, canning jars
Date: Fall 2024, Summer 2025
Audience: Preschool and Elementary School-Age children and/or Families
Project or Activity: Hands-On "Healthy Choices"
Content or Curriculum: LEAP - K-2. Professor Popcorn 4-6th grade. Teen Cuisine 7-12th grade.
Inputs: Choose My Plate. USDA and CES publications
Date: As scheduled by FRYSCS 2024-2025
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Plate It Up! Cooking Club
Content or Curriculum: Plate It Up recipes, FCS publications
Inputs: Pride of Kentucky, CES publications, Plate It Up recipes, members' choices
Date: Monthly, August 2024 - May 2025
Audience: Adults
Project or Activity: Soup Sharing
Content or Curriculum: Plate It Up recipes, FCS publications, Foods and Nutrition Calendar
Inputs: Foods and Nutrition Calendar, CES publications, Plate It Up recipes, members' choices, participants' soups
Date: January 2025
Audience: After School Care/ Limited Resource Youth
Project or Activity: Nutrition Programs – USDA, LEAP K-3rd Professor Popcorn 4-6th grade. Teen Cuisine 7-12th grade.
Content or Curriculum: SNAP Series of Youth Classes
Inputs: SNAP materials, USDA My Plate Yummy
Date: March 2025
Updated 5/5/2024
Author: M. Elizabeth Coots
Major Program: Local Food Systems
In most counties, farmer’s markets are located in the same location during certain days, and Shelby County is no different. There are a few farmer’s markets open one day a week in specific locations. To reach underserved communities in the county, the Shelby County Extension Agent for Family & Consumer Sciences partnered with the Shelby County Health Department to host a trial run of a monthly pop-up farmer’s market. The markets were held in July, August, and September, eac
