Louisville, Kentucky is home to folks who have resettled from over 60 different countries and is home to citizens that speak collectively over 130 languages other than English. With this cultural diversity there is also a lot of diversity in food and food traditions. All folks who resettle in Louisville, KY are eligible for SNAP benefits. Like all people, folks from diverse backgrounds also want to eat and access healthy food but may also want to preserve their cultural food traditions. To help accomplish this, the Horticulture agent connected international farmers who love to cook with UK's NEP recipe team to begin creating NEP/SNAP approved recipes that reflect a broader diversity of dietary and cultural needs.

This summer, four different farmer/chefs went into the Dare to Care/CommonTable teaching kitchen with members of UK's NEP team to cook and film culturally important recipes from their respective home countries. The end result (coming in Summer 2023) will be five new NEP/SNAP approved recipe cards featuring the farmer/chef's recipe and information about their cultural traditions. In the future, the UK horticulture agent hopes to work with Common Earth Gardens and NEP to highlight more culturally significant dishes that can be turned into NEP/SNAP recipe cards.