Author: Omar Miralles
Planning Unit: Jefferson County CES
Major Program: Accessing Nutritious Foods (general)
Outcome: Intermediate Outcome
In 2016, 1,190 refugees were resettled in Kentucky (Kentucky Refugee Ministries 2016 Annual Report). At a local Jefferson County ministry that handles the resettlement of recently arrived refugees from around the world, staff were interested in the Healthy Choices for Every Body Program taught by the Nutrition Education Program Assistant with the Cooperative Extension Service. The staff asked for assistance with helping their clients to figure out questions related to food and nutrition in the United States. They started the classes, bringing their own cultural life experience and the problems they were having adapting themselves to the new reality and culture of the U.S. The refugee families learned to plan meals ahead of time, create grocery lists before going to the store and compare prices and were able to save money by taking advantage of sale foods and resources. After seven classes with the group, they showed an improvement of 77 % in food resource management skills needed in their everyday struggle to adjust to their new environment. They were all very happy to be part of the program and continue to learn how to make the right choices, even when there are so many options.
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