New clients, ones that had not been served by the local extension office, were needed by the most recently hired nutrition assistant. In observing the current clients who attended programs at the extension office, most seemed to be retired people, without children. The assistant decided to target Families with children of all ages as potential clients for a new program. Materials available to use, in addition to the approved Supplemental Nutrition Assistance program curriculum, were Healthy Choices, Plate It Up, and Calendar Recipe cards. Putting the recipes cards to good use inspired the idea for “Taste Test Third Tuesday”.

Partners in this project contributed promotion for this program: our Local office’s Four H agenda for a county showcase included an invitation, an announcement was printed in our office newsletter, a local newspaper included the date in the community calendar and an area radio station announced the workshop. The assistant was also fortunate to have been provided recipe boxes from an expiring Children, Youth and Families at Risk grant, in order to continue Family programs. With help from all these partners the program began.

Our program was attended by families of many blends, Dads, Moms, Grandparents and Foster-parents. The families taste tested recipes from the approved list. The recipes cards, that passed the “taste test “ , were  added to the wooden recipe box, that had been customized by the children in the family. Including activities for all ages allowed adults with children to attend without the need of a baby sitter. Providing a way to store the nutritional material will make it more likely to be keep and reused.