According to the American Heart Association, the average American consumes more sodium than is recommended. On average, Americans eat more than 3,400 milligrams of sodium each day, while the recommended amount is 2,300 milligrams each day. In an effort to educate participants, the Wilderness Trail Area FCS agents centered this year’s 25th Area Holiday Cooking School around using spices and herbs to create flavorful meals. The use of spices and herbs allows for reduced sodium in meals.

To aid in education and awareness, FCS, ANR, 4-H and Horticultural Agents and assistants assisted by preparing samples for this program. Each volunteer group made roughly 200 samples of the recipe they chose, making the total number of samples approximately 2,600 with 13 different recipes having been made. Many samples used spices and herbs, fruits or vegetables and KY Proud products.,

130 participants from the eight counties from the Wilderness Trail Area attended the cooking school. As a result of this program:

• 95% of participants tried at least one food where spices and herbs were used to enhance flavors.
• 100% of participants had access to try a Kentucky proud product.
• 83% of participants reported that they learned ways to make recipes healthier.
• 69% learned methods of adding spices to enhance the taste of foods.

One participant quoted, “I enjoyed using new spice blends and will use this at home."