Author: Dayna Fentress
Major Program: Nutrition and Food Systems General
POP Club at the Hardin County Farmers’ Market returned for 2021, and again in 2022, after a year break due to COVID. In 2021, POP Club was able to occur 4 times, and saw more than 350 youth during those 4 sessions. 83% of youth tried a new fruit or vegetable, and 98% of the youth completed an agricultural related activity. More than $1,200 was given out in POP Bucks and therefore invested back into the Hardin County Farmers Market and our local vendors. This allowed youth in Hardin Co
Guest speakers were welcomed back into Hardin County Schools in the winter of the 2021-2022 school year. Nutrition classes are one of the most common requests received by our schools, so classes were scheduled across multiple schools, and by many grades. Nutrition lessons were offered to every student at Lincoln Trail Elementary School. These classes are provided through the gym teacher, and reach every student- more than 650 students, over the course of the semester. The PE teacher then re
Author: Karen Denniston
According to kentuckyhealthfacts.org, only 10% of Kentuckians eat the recommended amounts of fruits and vegetables daily and only 5% of Bourbon County residents eat those recommended amounts! Nutrition conscious eating habits need to be nurtured and developed at an early age. For this reason, the Bourbon County Extension FCS agent and the Senior Snap Assistant took this message to all the kindergarten classes in Bourbon County. The story and skit about Peter Rabbit and how he L
Author: LaToya Drake
The Cooperative Extension Service is known in some circles as “ the best-kept secret.” The Extension Service offers a wealth of resources; unfortunately, many folks don't know about them. Not only does the Extension Service serve as a reliable information source for gardeners and farmers, but it also provides affordable agricultural-related education, and can provide strategies for becoming a safer and better cook. The Extension Service houses one such asset, the Kentucky Nutriti
Author: Bethony Morris
The Hancock County Cooperative Extension Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program Assistant (EFNEP) joined True North Rehab Center to teach the Healthy Choices NEP program. Once the entry paperwork was done, the EFNEP found that less than 9% of the adults were eating the recommended USDA daily intake of fruits. It was then taught why fruits are such an important part of a diet. The vitamins, minerals, and fiber, fruits are a great source to help our bodies. Fruits provide tons of antioxi
The Hancock County Cooperative Extension Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program Assistant (EFNEP) was asked to join the South Hancock Elementary 5th grade class. EFNEP decided to teach the Professor Popcorn program. When first meeting with the class EFNEP talked about how important eating fruits and vegetables where. All the ways they help our body to grow, keep us healthy, and make our body strong. EFNEP learned that only 38% of students where eating vegetables at sc
The Hancock County Cooperative Extension Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program Assistant (EFNEP) partnered with True North, a rehab facility for women, to teach the Healthy Choices for Everybody program. At the beginning of the program only 10% of the ladies said they do any type of physical activity daily.As the program continued to meet once a week, at the end of each lesson, as a group the EFNEP and ladies discussed how to get the recommend 30 minutes of physical activity in daily.
Author: Courtney Luecking
In Kentucky, one out of every six children lack access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life and limited or uncertain availability of nutritious foods. In some areas of South Central Kentucky, rates of food insecurity among children are as high as one out of every four children. To support families with young children in the South Central region, Dr. Courtney Luecking, Extension Specialist for Nutrition and Health continued to work with community partners on the Mobile Food Marke
The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service Nutrition Education Program has worked with the Kentucky Department of Agriculture Farm to School Program to produce the Kentucky Farm to School Hub. This is a free statewide website designed to help farmers and school food purchasers find one another and coordinate the production of local food with school menu needs, so more Kentucky food makes its way to the plates of Kentucky schoolchildren. The Kentucky Farm to School Hub p
Author: Dianne Hayward
The local Community Action office contacted our extension office about holding classes related to growing your own food. As the nutrition education assistant I agreed and enlisted the help of the family and consumer science agent and Agriculture and Natural Resources agent. These classes were meant for the general public and especially low income families who require at least one attendance of a class to qualify for Garden voucher assistance program supplied by the USDA. The voucher can only be
Author: Rachel Gillespie
Obesity is a persistent public health challenge in Kentucky, with areas of eastern Kentucky facing some of the highest incidences in the nation. Obesity rates are compounded by ongoing food insecurity and healthy food accessibility challenges. Food insecurity rates in rural communities, particularly in parts of Kentucky, are higher compared to urban counterparts. Feeding Kentucky reports 1 in 7 adults and 1 in 6 children face hunger, with counties in Eastern Kentucky experiencing higher prevalen
Author: Emily Matthews
Following tornado damage that hit areas of Barren County in December of 2021 the Barren CountyNutrition Education Program assistant realized families without electricity in areas mighthave questions about food in their refrigerators or freezers. The Nutrition Education Program assistanttook the Be Food Safe During Emergencies booklets to the City Hall of Park City and to Isiah 43 ChristianCounseling’s donation center in Cave City. While dropping booklets off, the Barren CountyNutrition Edu
According to the center for disease control a study of 432,302 children showed that the body mass indexof children ages 2 to 19 nearly doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic. During the COVID-19 pandemicaccess to children for direct education was challenging, as school districts began allowing visitors toenter school building and classrooms the Barren County Nutrition Education Program assistant set outto teach nutrition face to face. A partnership with the Caverns Independent School District and
Author: Maxxwell Alviar
The Fort Harrod Area Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agents hosted a virtual, multi-site Charcuterie Boards Program. Locations included Wildside Winery in Woodford County, Dry Stack Coffee Shop in Boyle County, the Jessamine County Extension Office, the Boyle County Extension Office, the Lincoln County Extension Office, and the Anderson County Extension Office. Participants had the option to attend the program at one of the in-person locations or attend virtually. A total of 133 participa
Like many rural communities, Anderson County faces chronic health disparities at greater rates than urban counterparts. Many of these health challenges are exacerbated by poor food environments and from a lack of knowledge and skills related to nutritious food choices in a variety of food settings. In efforts to address these health disparities, the Family and Consumer Sciences Agent initiated the six-session program Mastering Food Choices with 12 female adults over the age of 60 an
An infant formula shortage began impacting Kentucky families in November 2021. The shortage started because of pandemic-related supply chain issues. In February 2022, an Abbott Nutrition plant in Sturgis, Michigan closed due to sanitation and safety concerns. This facility being one of the largest formula production facilities in the country exacerbated the shortage. The closure deeply affected Kentucky because it produced brands of formula that many families access through t
Author: Rachel Hance
For the past few years, our extension staff has partnered to provide a community event to educate and invite our clients to the farmers’ market. This year’s event was Sweet Summertime at the Farmer’s Market drive-through event.We targeted preschool through middle school youth. Each client received a bag with summer physical activity and healthy eating educational activities along with Farmers’ Market bucks to spend at the Farmers’ Market. 186 youth and 302 tot
Author: Emily DeWitt
Food insecurity rates in rural communities are higher compared to their urban counterparts. Feeding Kentucky reports 1 in 7 adults and 1 in 6 children face hunger, with counties in eastern Kentucky experiencing higher prevalence compared to the rest of the state. These trends are consistent in Martin County where 1 in 5 adults and 1 in 4 children are considered food insecure. Food insecurity in Martin County is exacerbated by persistent poverty and geographic isolation which impede healthy food
