Author: Paul Norrod
Major Program: Policy, Systems, and Environmental Changes
Rural Mental Health challenges and suicide disproportionately affect rural residence and in particular farmers, farmworkers, and their families. In Kentucky, 43.6% of Kentucky adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression while 3.2 million Kentuckians were without adequate mental health access. In farmers, their suicide rates parallel or exceed the rates of the national population. More concerning is a recent reported rise in suicide rates among younger farmers.Nurses are at the forefront of
Author: Meagan Klee
“In Kentucky, 25.5% of youth ages 10-17 have obesity, giving Kentucky a ranking of 2 among the 5- states and D.C.” ( https://stateofchildhoodobesity.org/state-data/?state=ky). According to the CDC, 40.3% of Kentucky adults are considered obese. (https://www.cdc.gov/obesity/data/prevalence-maps.html#overall). Casey County is a rural community located in south central Kentucky. The community contains two paid-membership gyms (facilities with lifting equipment and running/w
Author: Maranda Brooks
Food insecurity is the consistent lack of enough food for everyone in a household to live an active, healthy life. According to 2018 data from the Feeding America website (https://www.feedingamerica.org), the percentage of food insecurity in Kentucky is 14.8%. Moreover, the food insecurity rate is 12.8% in Fayette County (www.feedingamerica.org). In order to address this problem, the Fayette County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences shared Hunger in Kentucky lessons with
FCS joined forces as a part of the Diabetes Coalition team to plan develop and initiate and implement Diabetes Expo, held at the extension office. With the local hospital Saint Joseph not bringing back the annual diabetes expo, Nancy Hiner co-chair of Diabetes Coalition and community partner from the Lexington Health Department reached out to FCS to see about hosting at the extension office. Planning meeting where held throughout the year up til April and logistics were ironed out with maximizin
Author: Jessica Hopkins
Over the last few years, the Harrison County Extension ANR, Horticulture, and FCS Agents have noticed an increase in individuals with an interest in homesteading. The agents are more frequently receiving phone calls and questions related to how to grow and process their own food. After some discussion, the agents, along with the office program assistant, decided to offer a series of classes focused on five different components of homesteading. The sessions would be called the H
Author: Jessica Barnes
Author: Shelley Meyer
