Knox County 4-H received a $1000 grant from the Kentucky 4-H Foundation. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our plans for the funds changed and 4-H council members brainstormed ideas that would best reach today's youth.  According to the CDC, American's are not consuming enough fruits and vegetables needed to promote a healthier diet.  They state that making these products more affordable, available and making them relevant is important and can dramatically increase fruit and vegetable consumption.  In effort to increase agriculture awareness and encourage families to eat more fruits and vegetables, the 4-H Council partnered with members of the Farmers Market to offer fresh produce to families and youth for 6 weeks.  

Each week,30 youth and families received a fruit or vegetable like potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers and also a few recipes that used the product. Youth made salsa, vegetable dip, scalloped potatoes and more. In addition, they learned basic skills like knife safety, measuring and kitchen safety.  

The following successes are a result of the Farm Fresh Program:

• increased quality time spent as a family preparing the meal
• youth learned to prepare their own healthy snacks and prepared their own snacks on a regular basis
• 70 percent of families tried a new recipe
• all produce was purchased local.
• youth tried a new fruit or vegetable
• 100 percent reported learning a new kitchen skill.
• families report consuming more fruits and vegetables.