According to the 2018 Annual SNAP-Ed Report for Kentucky, at least one out of 3 Kentucky children are overweight or obese. Nearly half of Kentucky children consume fruits less than once daily, well below the 1½ to 2 cups daily recommended by USDA MyPlate.Children who consume low amounts of fruits and vegetables are at greater risk for many nutrition related health problems. According to the Centers for Disease Control, ”eating a diet rich in fruits and vegetables daily can help reduce the risk of many leading causes of illness and death, including heart disease, type 2 diabetes, some cancers, and obesity.”

McCracken County Extension began a collaboration with the Paducah Middle School nutrition program and cafeteria during the spring of 2019. At Paducah Middle School, 100% of students qualify for free or reduced school meals. Working with the school cafeteria offers an opportunity for Policy, Systems and Environment changes that directly impact students. While the National School Lunch program already has regulations in place to ensure that schools are serving nutritious foods, getting students to select and consume the healthy foods is another matter. The County Extension Agent for Family and Consumer Sciences provided the school cafeteria with marketing items designed to increase consumption of fruits and vegetables by middle school students. The banners, aprons, and other signage were used in the cafeteria for a 6 week period.

Although results are not available yet to determine if students consumed more fruits and vegetables as a result of the marketing intervention, there have been positive changes in collaboration of McCracken County Extension and the school nutrition program.  This was a first time collaboration with a school cafeteria. In doing this collaboration more ways the Cooperative Extension Service and school nutrition programs could collaborate was recognized. In the future there will be plans to do this project with more schools in the area. The middle school appreciated the new aprons, bowls and signage and had more enthusiasm for making the cafeteria more friendly and appealing.