A resident at a local Jefferson County apartment complex contacted the Nutrition Education Program Assistant about beginning a nutrition education program with other residents. The group began meeting regularly and the Nutrition Education Program Assistant with the University of Kentucky’s Cooperative Extension Service noticed that the group was having problems with the way they spent their resources and that they were missing some important cooking measures. They were also in constant stress every month when they were trying to stretch their SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) funds. The majority of the group did not know the risk they were facing when thawing meat, fish and other protein sources in the kitchen sink hours before cooking and breaking safety rules when handling food.

The Nutrition Education Program Assistant began the Healthy Choices for Every Body program and the group started learning about how to manage their budget and basic rules for food safety. They were really happy to learn that they could avoid running out of food by making simple daily changes and even more satisfied to know how to handle and prepare animal protein sources safely in their everyday food habits.

At the conclusion of the program, the group demonstrated a 73 % improvement in using meat thermometers and thawing meats properly. They were happy that those little changes could bring peace of mind to their lives and that they could spread the knowledge to their friends and families!