Over the past year, Cooking Through the Calendar has proven to be an important and effective program in Clay County, Kentucky. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, over 35% of Clay County KY persons live in poverty. With Nutrition Education Program’s recipe calendar financial breakdown of each recipe, participants have been able to see how cost-effective well-balanced meals can be. Participants are given an opportunity to help prepare the recipe or watch a demonstration done by the FCS Agent and are provided nutritional information that pertains to the recipe of the month. After participating in one program that included a recipe with fish, one participant expressed the desire to include fish in her weekly diet after finding out how affordable it can be. Another participant, after learning about plant protein while sampling a vegetarian recipe, expressed interest in trying to have a “plant protein day” once a week to increase the variety of foods in her diet.

There has been consistent participation in the monthly Cooking Through the Calendar classes, and participants reported learning something new about nutrition at every class. Recipes have been received well and participants always look forward to attending the monthly classes held at Clay County Cooperative Extension to learn something new.