Healthy cooking is important for many families with children. According to choosemyplate.gov he MyPlate icon is a reminder to make healthy choices from each of the five food groups. In Fayette County, through the federally funded Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP), the EFNEP program has been a factor in helping adults with children living in the home to learn about nutrition education, meal planning, and food safety techniques to educate and change food pattern behaviors to low-income families. Winburn Community Action works with community residents to assess their economic needs and, often, their personal goals and aspirations. Healthy cooking was one of the ways families were able to learn about nutrition and healthy cooking.

One of the ways KSU EFNEP Fayette County participated with Community action was by offering a healthy cooking series for community residents. Nine community resident’s participated in a four-week series which offered residents with skills consisting of how to bake, sauté, and prepare healthy lunch, dinner, and dessert meals. The participants worked with a variety of fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, dairy items, healthy sugar alternatives (stevia), and whole wheat food items. The residents learned chopping, mixing, and baking skills.

Cooking for the family is important because it helps with saving money, healthy eating habits, and family involvement. Through the 24-hour pre and post food recall, the EFNEP assistant will measure the results of the participants. The adults in the program improved their fiber intake from 38.3% to 69%. The participants also increased their vegetable, calcium and potassium intake as well. As a result, the residents were able to learn food resource management skills and the importance of including healthy cooking meal ideas.