Limited income senior citizens come to the Wolfe County Extension Office each month to pick up food boxes from a drive through God's Food Pantry.  The Wolfe County Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Education Assistant (SNAP/Ed) looked for a way to attract these senior citizens to come into the office for nutrition education classes.  The assistant offered the opportunity for these food box recipients to have their boxes held until the next day, at which time they could come in to the office without waiting in line, they could sample a healthy recipe and visit with other senior citizens their age.

This opportunity would save the clients the wait outside in the weather. Coming to the program  was more economical for them, for they would use less automobile fuel required to run their vehicle than during the previously required wait in line.  Most importantly, the classes gave them valuable nutrition information. Upon the completion of diet recalls, 33 percent showed an improvement in their intake of fruits, and 66 percent increased their intake of vegetables from 1 cup or less per day to at least 3 cups of vegetables per day. The recipe that received the most positive response from this group was the "Salt Free All Purpose Blend"  a blend of herbs that is a healthier alternative to salt.  With many of our group receiving physician's recommendations to decrease their salt intake, this recipe proved to be very helpful.  Members of the group tried the recipe at home and asked for extra copies for their friends and family.  A lady in the group had even passed the recipe on to her physician.  She related "I told my doctor, that I had followed through on her suggestion to cut down on salt, thanks to my new recipe, and I showed her my recipe."