The drug epidemic in Eastern Kentucky has been on the steady rise in the last 10 years and the number of addiction recovery facilities in Lawrence County alone have doubled within the last 5 years. Lawrence County Expanded Food Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) Assistant offered the pilot program Healthy Choices for Your Recovering Body to a women’s substance abuse recovery center. The seven (7) lessons included Moving toward good health, Cooking for better health, Keep food safe, Building healthier meals with Myplate, Using food labels and Shifting toward healthier choices. Each lesson the participants would make the recipe themselves. The EFNEP assistant enrolled and graduated six residents into the Healthy Choices for your Recovering Body pilot curriculum with each participant receiving graduation certificates.

Based on pre and post surveys; 100% showed improvement in five or more diet quality indicators; 100% showed improvements in food safety practices; 83% showed improvement in five or more food resource management practices and eat fruit more often each day while 67% plan meals and make a list before shopping. Some participants said, “The amount of fat, salt and sugar in items really surprised me.”; “I received a lot of good information that I will take with me throughout my life, being a diabetic, I learned how to make items with less sugar.”