The new year began, and the Louisville Area Family & Consumer Sciences Agents (F.C.S.)were looking through the new Food and Nutrition calendars when discussion started about watching cooking shows and being more likely to try a recipe after watching someone prepare it.  When one of the local news stations reached out to an agent about a cooking segment , the “Cooking Through the Calendar” program was organized! 

With Louisville ranked as the 49th largest television market in the U.S., Extension had the opportunity to reach an average 2,300 viewers on Wave 3 every morning.

Agents were assigned a month to prepare the recipe either live at the news station or pre-recorded with the news station reporter.  A video format was created after meeting with the news station reporter to make each segment consistent and within the time constraints.  During each cooking segment, the F.C.S. Agent introduced Extension and the recipe, then began preparing the first few steps while mentioning tips and tricks of the recipe, explained the nutritional value, cost to prepare the recipe, what ingredients can be substituted and what healthy side dishes would be good to pair with the dish. To wrap up the segment, the F.C.S. Agent would showcase the final product and where to find additional recipes and resources at their Extension office. 

After each segment, the video was posted on the news station website and the Louisville Area F.C.S. Agents shared the link on their social media pages and county websites.  The feedback received from this program was astounding. Thousands of contacts were made through the 7 county Facebook pages, county Extension and WAVE 3 websites gaining visibility for the Extension Food and Nutrition programs. The local News reporter stated to the Bullitt County F.C.S. Agent that she was very impressed at the professional poise, display and expertise in knowing how to present a cooking show on TV in such a short time. Once the reporter tasted the food, she raved about the lower cost and high nutritional value, stating "you just don't expect nutritious food to taste so good!".  She was thrilled to keep the food demonstrated and share with the staff and viewers about how good the recipe tasted.