A recovery program for adults in Jefferson County participated in the University of Kentucky’s Nutrition Education Program using the Healthy Choices for Everybody curriculum. The “Keep Food Safe” lesson made a difference for these participants physically and at home. The participants did an icebreaker called “Food Safety Scenarios” where the assistant divided participants into pairs or groups, distributed a scenario to each group, and told the participants, as they read through the story on the card, to note any possible food safety problems. There was one male participant that stated “My girlfriend always uses the same cutting board whether it is fruits, vegetables or raw meat. I had a feeling something wasn’t right.” After the icebreaker, the Assistant started to teach the “Keep Food Safe” lesson. The assistant informed the participants the goals of the lesson were to:

· Reduce cross contamination practices

· Reduce unsafe food thawing practices

· More usage of a meat thermometer

· Improve frequency of handwashing before preparing food

The Assistant and participants also discussed how long to keep food in the fridge and freezer. The participants then learned to use the same cutting board for fruits and vegetables but use a different cutting board for the meats. The participant also stated “My girlfriend keeps food in the refrigerator for months, I tell her that it is bad but she don’t believe me.” The assistant gave the participant a handout stating how long food can be stored in the refrigerator or freezer. The assistant gave out samples of the Citrus Chicken Stir Fry recipes to the participants to taste, showed the participants how to keep their veggies and chicken separate as well as practiced handwashing.

An improvement in food safety was also seen in the group upon their completion of the program with 88% of participants showing an improvement in one or more food safety practices (i.e., washing hands before preparing food, washing all items and surfaces after cutting raw meat or seafood, not thawing frozen food at room temperature, or using a meat thermometer). When the assistant returned to the recovery center to teach another class, the male participant stated “My girlfriend and I have been feeling a lot better due to the lesson last week about “Keep Food Safe” and we no longer use the same cutting board and she don’t keep food in the fridge long like she use too.”