Each year, the Lawrence County Cooperative Extension Service plans and organizes a county-wide educational event, known as “Farm and Home Field Day.” This annual event has been a tradition in Lawrence County for over 40 plus years.  A host of community partners and leaders are involved in the planning process.  Farm and Home Field Day serves as a public relations event for the Lawrence County Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) Senior Assistant as it provides an opportunity to promote the SNAP-Ed program and to talk with people one-on-one.   Approximately 171 people attended the October event.  During this year’s event, the SNAP-Ed senior assistant provided healthy food samples for tasting and recipes to take home.  This year’s event attracted many families new to Lawrence County and not familiar with the SNAP-Ed program.  In addition, several adults from parent classes taught at an elementary school attended as well.  Participants stopping by the SNAP-Ed table, enjoyed the food samples, took time to converse with the SNAP-Ed assistant, and said “thank you” for doing this. One mother’s comment was especially good to hear after trying new foods that were never available to her family, “This is an amazing and fun event and I’m so glad my family attended.” 

The Extension staff observed that this year’s Farm and Home Field Day attracted new residents/families living in Lawrence County; and that this was their first time being introduced to Extension programs, including SNAP-Ed.