Describe the Issue or Situation.

This event highlighted the importance of heart healthy foods that are easy to prepare, shareable, and accessible for community members. As well as the importance of using electric cooking equipment that can be safer, cheaper, and easier to use than traditional gas or charcoal cooking equipment. The feature of this event was the importance of bringing people together, in this case over the love of football which we commonly associate with lots of rich and delicious foods. Commonly these foods are considered as negative for our health. According to the United Health Foundation’s America’s Health Rankings, Kentucky ranks 47^th out of 50 for cardiovascular health, and the percentage of adults told by a doctor they have some form of cardiovascular health issue is above the national average by 4%. https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/CVD/KY

Describe the Outreach or Educational Program Response (and Partners, if applicable).

For this event: Heart Healthy Gameday Grilling, UK Extension, KSU Aquaculture Extension, The Food Connection, Lean Feast, Lexington-Fayette County Health Department, and Critchfield Meats came together to provide ingredients and demonstrations for how to cook heart healthy and sharable meals and appetizers to community members. This event also highlighted the importance of electric grills, griddles and cookware techniques and safety. KSU Aquaculture Extension demonstrated how to prepare a heart healthy Tilapia Corn Chowder soup. This recipe focused on heart healthy ingredients such as low sodium, fresh tilapia, fresh vegetables, and low fat cream. 

Provide the Number and Description(s) of Participants/Target Audience.

KSU Extension and Research Associates Jeffrey Warner and I (Gunnar Psurny) demonstrated the preparation and explained the hearth health benefits of each ingredient to an audience of 4 people: an early-middle aged Japanese man and woman couple with their young daughter, and a middle aged African American woman. 

Provide a Statement of Outcomes or Program Impact. Please note that the outcomes statement must use evaluation data to describe the change(s) that occurred in individuals, groups, families, businesses, or in the community because of the program/outreach.

During the demonstration, the audience was very engaged and had a lot of good questions and seemed to have a genuine interest in learning the heart health benefits of tilapia and other ingredients. The audience was very thankful and had excellent feedback for the Tilapia Corn Chowder we prepared. A short term outcome is expected that the audience will incorporate lower sodium and lower fat ingredients into their cooking as well as heart healthy proteins such as tilapia. Many did not know the benefits of tilapia such as omega 3 fatty acids and healthy minerals found in tilapia.