Many teens in Kentucky do not know how to cook nor do they know how to store foods safely. In fact when asked “How do you store a leftover pizza?” Eighty percent of kids said to leave the pizza on counter overnight. The Nutrition Education Program partnered with Community Education to present the Professor Popcorn curriculum. This program is designed to teach kids the healthy eating and food safety.

This is a problem in Kentucky. Identifying healthy foods and food safety begins at an early age. Children need to be taught healthy eating and food safety. From the Professor Popcorn lessons 100 percent of children know to store pizza in the fridge overnight instead of on the counter top. Seventy- one percent of children now wash their hands before eating and food preparation. Seventy –one percent of children know can know how to handle food safely. Fifty three percent of kids improved on choosing healthy afterschool snacks Ninety-four percent of the participants improved one or more area like handling foods safe, identifying healthy snacks, increase in physical activity, and ability to choose foods according to the Federal Dietary Guidelines.