Dr. Nicole Breazeale is heading up the equitable food systems Cooperative Extension programming in the Department of Community & Leadership Development. One important angle involves preparing future food systems leaders. Given the challenging economic and environmental inheritance that youth face today, there will be added pressure for them to address unsustainable food systems. This requires equipping them with systems thinking, skills, resources, relationships, and confidence to face this challenge (Glover & Sumberg, 2020). Over the last year, Dr. Breazeale and her team have developed three initiatives in line with this goal. 

First, Dr. Breazeale created an original 4-H curriculum for the Global Education program entitled, “Argentina: Cooking Empanadas and Exploring Global Foodways.” It includes a 9-minute cooking demonstration video, a PowerPoint, a facilitator’s guide, activities, and an evaluation. This original curriculum was introduced to 47 4-H Agents at a virtual training. When asked, “Rate the overall quality of today’s program out of a 5.0 scale,” Agents rated the training a 4.93. Comments included the following: “This was outstanding! Our World Explorer’s Club will be completing the program.”  “We are starting a culture club and will be doing the lesson!  We will try the recipe, share, visit a Latin American store and more!” “This seems really great for our Teens vs. Food program.” We have also made plans to incorporate the lesson into the 4-H statewide “Bake Along” club to reach even more youth.

            Second, Dr. Breazeale (PI) and her partners (Black Soil, Need More Acres Farm, and UK’s Agriculture Education) have successfully secured a two-year, $80,000 Southern Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SSARE) grant to partner with Kentucky farmers in developing a middle school storytelling curriculum focused on promoting equity and inclusion in the food system.  Geared for 4-H Agents and Agriculture Education teachers, the curriculum will include five lessons built around videos featuring Black Kentucky farmers and include a social action project. The curriculum development team is currently putting together an Advisory Council and Plan of Work.    

            Third, Dr. Breazeale is a Co-PI on a $255,000 NIFA National Needs Graduate Fellowship Grant.  The team is developing an interdisciplinary food systems graduate training program at the University of Kentucky. With an eye for equity, our first cohort of MA students will be recruited into diverse departments and begin in August of 2022. Students will take a handful of classes together over the two-year period. The program also involves significant opportunities for professional development and networking since one of our goals is to train graduate students who will work in Kentucky and bring a food systems approach to their specialized careers – especially Extension! Activities organized by this team of UK faculty and Extension Specialists (including graduate classes, virtual “learning circles,” and field trips) will be open to students and food systems players beyond the funded cohort. This is a significant state-level program that has the potential to impact the state. We hope to use this program as a springboard to enhance collaborative, interdisciplinary research and Extension programming on sustainable food systems within the Kentucky land grant system. Extension Agents will be engaged through the Science, Translation, and Outreach Master’s program as well as through our virtual forums, ultimately resulting in the development a statewide network of Community Food Systems educators.