Warren County is home to one of the three refugee resettlement agencies in the state of Kentucky. Over 500 refugees resettle to Warren County each year. Over half of refugees are children under 18. Many refugees relocate with little knowledge of where to purchase food items or how to prepare them, usage of kitchen equipment, and proper food safety. In collaboration with the Warren County Fiscal Court and SOKY Marketplace, Kristi and Nan were included in a specialty crop grant to teach the community about local fruits, vegetables, and healthy choices. Additionally, they provided practical demonstrations on how to prepare healthy recipes utilizing these crops. Kristi and Nan partnered with Refugee Bowling Green and Foundation for Connecting Communities to offer this program to refugee families. 

           Class participants were made up of mostly Burmese and Congolese refugees. Due to language barriers, Nan and Kristi coordinated for translators to be a part of each class. Furthermore, the SNAP Education Assistant was able to get the Healthy Choices for Everybody curriculum translated to Swahili and French, which are the native languages. These classes helped refugees learn how to grow, cook and eat in-season Kentucky crops such as; strawberries, kale, peppers, watermelon, sweet potatoes and others. Due to the climate and other factors, many Congolese and Burmese have crops that differ from those that are grown in Kentucky. For many, it was their first time ever eating these fruits and vegetables. Therefore, they learned how to cook using recipes from Plate it Up Kentucky Proud, University of Kentucky’s Food and Nutrition Calendar, and meals from the Healthy Choice for Everybody curriculum. 

One hundred percent of participants showed improvement in food safety practices like proper hand washing techniques, using a meat thermometer to cook foods to the proper internal temperature, and safely storing foods. Ninety-four percent of refugees showed improvements in food resource management by cooking dinner at home, comparing food prices and meal planning. Additionally, 94% of participants showed improvements in diet quality by increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in their diet.