With youth and families in mind, many don’t choose healthieralternatives when it comes to food.  Thisis due to limited resources unhealthy eating habits, and lack of propernutritional education.  Through thecollaborative efforts between the Cooperative Extension Service EFNEP (ExpandedFood Nutrition Education Program) assistant, and the Comprehensive Care YouthProgram Counselor, the summer youth program addressed these issues with theLEAP and Teen Cuisine Curriculum.  Afterthe completion of eight classes with an average of 30 youth participants and 6adult volunteers through the months of July and August; multiple “hands-on”activities such as but not limited to, practicing food safety, learning how toread labels and recipes, along with actually preparing and sampling the endproduct, youth increased their knowledge of being more healthy andself-sufficient.  The impact of thisprogram touched several individuals, not just the youth in various ways.  The counselor stated that the youth couldn’twait to come back to learn more cooking skills and make new recipes.  The youth loved the fact that they were notonly learning various cooking skills, but were able to actually have their very“OWN” apron as many of the youth, from time to time stated they would be usingit at home while cooking.  There were sixyouth that attended from the previous summer, that as soon as they came back toclass, asked if they would get to make the “Chicken & Cheese Enchilada’s”again, further explaining that their family had been making that particulardish since receiving the recipe from last summer.  With that being said, not only did the youthbenefit, but the program was able to take some of the “indirect” contactinformation and turn it in to a “direct” benefit for the entire family.

With programs such as the Cooperative ExtensionOffice offers not just to adults, but also to the youth, Extension helps tobroaden the knowledge of the entire family in some manner or the  other, whether it starts through an indirectcontact, direct contact, or actual program.