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KA 703. Nutrition Education and Behavior (Quay County)

Impact Reports | Plan Details

Plan Goals

Improve health of Quay County Citizens through healthy food choices, food preparation skills and food resource management.

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KA 703. Nutrition Education and Behavior

Impact Reports

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Established the Quay County Food Protection Alliance in April. The group identified several groups in the county that would be vulnerable to a food outbreak and would be hard to contact. Several options were discussed and the group divided up research jobs to gain information on developing a way to communicate with people who do not get the radio or newspaper. The group also identified others who should be involved. The second meeting occurred in September and 5 new members joined. The group will be working the city’s new emergency notification system which will e-mail, text, and call people when there is an emergency. The next step will be to develop protocol procedures, so that the committee is ready and knows what to do if there is an emergency.

Earth Day activities for the Quay County Schools are coordinated by NRCS and revolve around an outdoor classroom that has kivas for presentations, a variety of trees, someday a small pond if we have irrigation water or rain, and hopefully some wildlife. All schools in Quay County participate along with Ft Sumner. The presentations typically focus on Nature or wildlife. The kids rotate by classes through 10 stations. At each station they have a 15 minute presentation. The presenters present 20 times during the day. Typically the 4-H agent takes some animals to the classroom and discusses animal safety. This year the 4-H Agent and Home Economist teamed up to present a totally different program. The program was a skit where the 4-H agent served as a talk show host who could not concentrate on his interview because his grandmother was very sick and he did not know what had caused it. The Home Economist was the interviewee who was going to talk about Food Science, but instead ends up interviewing the talk show host about events leading up to grandma getting sick and describing how bacteria grows on food. The skit was not scripted, but it always ended with the determination that grandma had food poisoning. The kids were brought into the skit as much as possible based on their age. During the presentation the kids learned about the proper ways to thaw meat, washing hands before and after handling food, not leaving food out for more than two hours, and making sure hamburger is cooked well done. Six Hundred and Eighty-two students, parents, and teachers stopped at this station and many reported that they enjoyed the food safety presentation the best. The next week while the 4-H agent was at Tucumcari Schools giving a presentation on a different topic, several asked him how his grandmother was. Also during the presentation, many of the kindergarteners and 1st graders informed us that Miss Alice (Our ICAN educator) taught them to wash their hands while singing a song.

Seventy-two people attended our annual Agriculture and Home Economics Seminar. The format was changed this year to a program that focused on food safety of our food supply. The key note speaker discussed how fast a food borne illness can travel through the food supply. Other speakers talked about protecting ourselves against food borne illnesses and other health scares and the new farm bill and how that will affect the food we buy. On the agriculture side the speakers talked about good farming and ranching practices to insure a safe food supply.

During the visits to the Extension Clubs in February, discussed with Twenty-nine people suggestions for keeping food safe during an emergency. All types of issues were discussed from freezer safety to food damaged by heat from a fire. What to do when out of electricity and of course rotating food in an emergency kit. Food and refrigerator thermometers were distributed with information on cooking temperatures and food safety.

Presented a program to the Tucumcari High School Health Classes on Food Safety. The Plan had been to use the Dr. Quest videos with a discussion, but the schools internet was not strong enough and the videos would not stream properly. So the improvised program became a discussion of what food borne illnesses they had heard about in the media and what were the real causes and then a discussion of home food safety around the 4 areas of clean, separate, cook and chill. A real attention grabber was the meat samples provided by agro-guard. Participants learned at least one thing in each of the 4 areas to keep them safe from food borne illnesses. There were 64 youth in 4 classes.

Thirteen youth attended 4-H Home Economics Fun Night during which one of the activities before cooking was a presentation on Food Safety in the Kitchen. Thirteen attended and participated in a discussion and activity sheets from the FightBac program. They learned about the temperature zone, cooking foods until done, and about the 4 principals of Fightbac: clean, separate, cook, and chill.
(Progress towards the medium-term objectives.)
Permalink - Posted October 27, 2011, 8:24 pm
Was approached by the coordinator for Helping Hands Hospice about a Cooking for One School for their clients that had recently lost a loved one. Hospice provides bereavement care for one year. In addition to information on how to change their cooking patterns, she felt that they needed information on stress management and taking hold of their finances. By teaming up with ICAN we were able to develop a 2 hour class that met 4 times meet the needs of Hospice and ICAN. The ICAN educator presented the Eat Well, Live Strong Curriculum which focuses on eating more fruits and vegetables. Every lesson had an easy exercise component with it. The participants divided up into two groups and each group prepared a dish. A complementary food item was provided by Hospice, so that a complete meal was offered. The recipes selected as well as others came from other EFNEP sites and had two servings, they were modified to make the number of servings needed for the class. In addition to the programs described below, presentations on emergency preparedness, stress management and financial records were presented by the Home Economist.

During the second class a lesson on food safety was presented. The presentation focused on the 4 areas of food safety: clean, cook, separate, and chill. The 2-hour rule and danger zone were stressed along with the importance of washing fruits and vegetables and storage suggestions. The booklet titled: “Kitchen Companion” was provided along with a meat and refrigerator thermometer and a magnet with a listing of the cook to temperatures. Eleven attended the second session.

During the third class a special lesson on tips for cooking for one was added and taught by the home economist. This lesson discussed cutting down recipes, making regular sized meals and freezing leftovers into frozen dinners. Meal planning and safely storing left overs was also discussed. Eleven attended the third session.

(Progress towards the short-term objectives.)
Permalink - Posted October 27, 2011, 8:23 pm
Presented two programs to the 9th grade food science class on MyPyramid and Milk and Bone Health. Students learned about MyPyramid and how many calories and how much food from each group each individual should be eating daily. They learned about portion sizes and which foods go in which group. Then we discussed their typical day’s meals. Most discovered that they were lacking the amount of food needed in at least one food group usually vegetables. During the second program students learned about the importance of calcium to their bone health and good sources of calcium. Twenty-two students participated in at least one class.

Discussed Healthy Snack Ideas with the Tucumcari High School Health Classes. During the program the youth learned what to look for in a healthy snack and learned how to read labels of prepackaged snacks. They worked in teams to decide which snack was healthier and then presented to the rest of the class. After the activity, it was determined that most packaged snacks are not healthy and we brainstormed ways to prepare fruits and vegetables as healthy snacks. Fifty-three youth were in the 4 classes.

The Extension Association club program for November was on Recycling Leftovers and included ideas for making your own microwave dinners, tips for utilizing your freezer, planned leftover ideas, and most importantly food safety information. Participants received a booklet reminding them of food safety information, a food storage chart, tips, and some planned leftover meal ideas. The program was distributed to 6 clubs and was presented to 55 ladies.
(Progress towards the short-term objectives.)
Permalink - Posted October 27, 2011, 8:22 pm
Twenty-three people participated in the Annual Kitchen Creations Cooking School held in February, but only 16 completed all 4 sessions. Participants gained knowledge on meal planning and learned to cook foods in different ways. Many even tried new foods. Stir-frying is a new concept to many families and is a healthy way of preparing meals. Many expressed gratitude for the class. Over half reported that they had tried the tips presented and their blood sugar levels had gone down. One reported that her blood sugar had dropped 100 points. A retired Health Department Nutritionist assisted with the classes.

To support our clientele with diabetes, a quarterly newsletter was developed with helpful tips, recipes, and a balanced menu example. Four issues of this newsletter were developed during this reporting period. Agent has received complements from Nurse Practitioners and they are encouraging their patients to sign up for it. Currently there are 182 on the mailing list.

Throughout the year, met with 9 diabetics and their families to help them understand their diet better. Sessions focused on identifying carbohydrate foods and portion sizes, reading labels, and balancing meals.
(Progress towards the short-term objectives.)
Permalink - Posted October 27, 2011, 8:22 pm
After a request for the training to be able to obtain a home based food processor license, contacted the NM Environment Department and arranged for the training. There were two potential food processors that attended the training along with the agent. Both were discouraged after attending the training and were rethinking their plans for preparing a home based food product.
(Progress towards the short-term objectives.)
Permalink - Posted October 26, 2010, 8:03 pm
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