In South Central Kentucky, food insecurity is a sad reality that many of Extension’s clients face. According to Feeding America, 1 in 8 Kentuckians face food insecurity. South Central Kentucky is also home to many native wild game species that are commonly harvested for alternate sources of protein. However, many clients in the area struggle to prepare wild game to make it palatable. Game meats are naturally low in fat and cholesterol, but traditional cooking methods, such as frying, can negate those health benefits. The University of Kentucky SNAP Education program created a series of Cook Wild Kentucky recipe cards to provide alternative cooking recipes for wild game to promote healthy eating of game meat. Utilizing these recipe cards, the FCS and ANR agents in Pulaski and Russell counties offered a two-part Cook Wild program in December 2023 and January 2024.

The two-part Cook Wild program allowed Pulaski and Russell County residents to see the proper food safety standards for wild game, sample wild game recipes, and receive answers on how to harvest wild game within the area. A total of 51 participants attended the two-part program, with 43 participants being male, an underserved audience within FCS programs. During this program series, participants were able to try 9 varieties of wild game, including duck, frog, crappie, salmon, beaver, rabbit, squirrel, bison, and venison, in 12 different recipes across two days. Bison and salmon were included as they are a protein source that has been seen in commodities distribution within the two-county area within the past few years. These recipes were demonstrated to showcase proper food safety when cooking wild game, as well as a discussion on the harvesting of local wild game that was sampled.

The program has an overwhelming response from participants, with 97% of participants stating they gained knowledge on food safety for wild game, and 100% of participants reported trying food at the programs. Around 76% of participants took home wild game recipe cards or requested the recipes from agents.