In Kentucky alone, there are 1.8 million girls of many different ages, who are in a Girl Scout Troop; and over 800,000 adult volunteers working with this organization.  Although The Girl Scouts are known for selling cookies, they are also known for many other accomplishments as well. Girl Scout troops many times participate in different community projects that can help improve and maintain the neighborhoods where they live and also to protect the planet; likewise, they learn many life skills while partaking in this organization. Troops throughout the United States can and do earn several different merit badges for taking part in events i.e. Babysitting, Money Managing, First Aid, and Cooking; just to name a few. 

Recently two Girl Scout troop leaders contacted the Grayson County Extension office to enroll their scouts into some cooking classes.  The Nutrition Education Program (NEP) Assistant taught a series of classes to these two troops.  The curriculum that was used was “Super Star Chef.”  There were four classes that lasted one and one-half hours each for a total of 6 instructional hours.  The scouts were taught proper hand washing; measuring skills; knife skills (using child safe knives); how to read a recipe and much more.  Also taught was the MyPlate curriculum, which focuses on Varying your Vegetables, Focus on Fruits, Make Half your grains whole, Go Lean with Protein, and Choose Low-fat dairy foods. The young ladies all had the opportunity to learn hands on cooking skills, while they prepared nutritious recipes. 

 Each scout was given a pre and post survey concerning their eating habits and health status.  From these surveys, there was a significant increase in knowledge and understanding of a healthy life style.  When choosing healthy snacks, there was an 89% increase, 78% improved when choosing low-fat dairy products, and there was an 84% increase in the number of vegetables they eat in a week; in addition to other improvements as well. 

Girl Scout Troop # 631 and Troop # 1630 both earned their cooking badges after completing the cooking and nutrition classes offered by the Grayson County Extension Office; they also made substantial changes in their knowledge of nutrition and cooking skills.