Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) agents and Nutrition Education Program (NEP) assistants serve families of all ages and stages of life. Since a significant proportion of FCS agents and NEP assistants working for the University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service started their position within the last two years and have diverse training and previous experience, it is important to share foundational information and current trends for nutrition.  

To address this need, Dr. Courtney Luecking led a team of four Nutrition Specialists and Associates (Dr. Heather Norman-Burgdolf, Dr. Sandra Bastin, Anna Cason, and Annhall Norris) in developing a week-long series entitled Beyond the Table: A guide to supporting nutrition across the lifespan. The training series involved five, 60-minute sessions held daily via Zoom during March 2024. March was purposefully selected, as it coincides with National Nutrition Month. The goal for this series was for attendees to be able to discuss key nutritional needs, identify relevant FCS Extension nutrition resources, plan for virtual cooking opportunities, and promote food safety across the lifespan. Each Specialist and Associate led an interactive training session. Dr. Luecking’s session provided an overview of childhood nutrition. Anna Cason featured nutrition considerations for young and middle-aged adults, including pregnancy and lactation. Dr. Bastin facilitated a session about engaging intergenerational audiences through virtual cooking demonstrations. Dr. Norman-Burgdolf provided an overview of nutrition concepts for older adults, and Annhall Norris addressed food safety across the lifespan.  

Over the week, 104 agents and assistants tuned in for the live sessions. Sessions were recorded so agents and assistants could watch videos and complete a quiz to receive professional training credit at a time more convenient to them. Videos are also archived on the FCS internal YouTube channel as a resource for new agents. In post-program surveys agents had positive feedback about relevance of content for their community needs (4.8/5) and that content was related to practical situations (4.95/5). One agent shared - “(This) was great information. I appreciate the discussion re: nutrients in foods - I don't have a nutrition background and feel inadequate when teaching classes about nutrition so I tend to squirrel this info away.” 

This training series was part of ongoing efforts to build FCS agents’ capacity to deliver evidence-based and innovative nutrition programming that addresses external factors that influence nutrition behaviors, empowers consumers to navigate their food system, promotes healthy relationships with food, and creates a weight inclusive environment. The nutrition specialist team will continue to support workforce development of FCS agents, so they continue to be the trusted, go-to resource for public health-related nutrition information.