Warren County, Kentucky is the home to many refugees because we have the International Center for placement. Due to the climate and other factors many Congolese and Burmese refugees have crops that differ from those that are grown in Kentucky.  Therefore, they did not know how to cook specially crops like, strawberries, kale, watermelon, sweet potatoes and peppers.

The Warren County SNAP Education Assistant provided educational programming by teaching the Healthy Choices for Every Body curriculum to refugees at the International Center. Specifically, they participated in hands-on demonstrations on how to prepare specialty crops and group demonstrations on how to incorporate this specialty crops into healthy meals. Translators were a part of each class. 100% 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. 100% of refugees showed improvements in food resource management by cooking dinner at home, comparing food prices and meal planning. Additionally 100% of participants showed improvements in diet quality by increasing fruit and vegetable consumption in their diet.