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 and one male.  In lesson one, emphasis was placed on understanding the food environment of the county and how that impacts food choices as well as building knowledge needed to make healthier food choices in subsequent lessons.

The program was very well received by participants. On a scale of 1-4 with 4 being strongly agree, participants believed the subject matter was timely (3.3), speaker was effective (3.5), information was practical (3.6), the information is useful for their family (3.4), and the program was very educational (3.5). As a result of the lesson, 75% of the participants shared they were better able to identify food components that should be limited in the diet. 33% of participants shared they were better able to use the nutrition facts label to compare items and 25% better understand what their own food environment looks like. Further, 92% reported intentions to read nutrition facts labels or that they already did. 50% reported the intention to use online resources for determining nutrition information and 50% shared they intended to check nutrition information before dining out. Lack of a computer was cited as a barrier to these behaviors. Overall, 83% of participants felt the information they learned provided them the ability to make healthy food choices.

Participants shared they would use labels on food items to look for added sugar and sodium, they better understood the difference between saturated fat and trans fat, and were encouraged to read labels more often. Participants were also highly appreciative of the provided recipes.