KA 703. Nutrition Education and Behavior (Eddy County)

The Home Economist presented a workshop on food safety to 3rd and 4th grade students and teachers who attended the Chaves County Progressive Agriculture Safety Days and the Kids, Kows, and More event. A puppet show, “Who Wants to Be A Germ Buster?” featuring ‘Bac’, the bacteria puppet was used to present basic components of food safety. Hand washing, preventing cross contamination, and serving food safely were some of the concepts taught during the workshop. A game show activity was used to review the concepts taught in the puppet show, and the participants enjoyed the interactive learning. Teachers who attended the events stated that the food safety subject matter was important for the youth to learn and appreciated the workshop being included at each event. Over 2000 youth and adults participated in both of the events.

Food Safety was the topic of a program presented by the Home Economist to the Yucca Cowbells. This is an organization concerned with supporting agriculture and those families involved in agriculture. Important information regarding safe food handling, home food preservation, and food safety in the market place was provided to the women in a program following a regularly scheduled meeting. The Home Economist discussed various food safety concepts and provided each member with a packet of information to take home and share with their families regarding the importance of keeping food safe at home. At the organizations request, the Home Economist also provided some information on the importance of a safe national food supply. Twelve members participated in this food safety program.

In order to encourage public consumption of more fresh fruits and vegetables, the Home Economist provided a cooking demonstration at the Artesia Farmers Market in September. Fresh produce was used to create new tastes for traditional recipes. Vendors at the market provided most of the produce used in the cooking demonstration and the public was invited to sample the creations. The Home Economist developed a short brochure with recipes and tips for using produce from back yard gardens in several different ways. Other publications from NMSU College of Agriculture and Home Economics were also available to encourage and assist the public with small scale vegetable gardening. The Home Economist communicated with market customers about ways to get the recommended servings of fruits and vegetables in their daily diet at an affordable price and with variation. The demonstration took place from 8:00 am until 1:00 pm and forty seven people participated and took information.

The Home Economist assisted the Eddy County Extension Homemakers in preparing a booth for the Carlsbad Health Fair in March. In an effort to educate the public on the importance of calcium at all stages of life, the Home Economist worked with the Health Fair committee to obtain a booth space and select a topic for the booth. Working with the Homemakers to develop up to date information on calcium at various stages of life- infancy, youth, adulthood, and elderly- information and recipes were handed out to health fair visitors. The Home Economist and the Extension Homemakers communicated with fair goers the importance of calcium in one’s diet. The Home Economist coordinated with Southwest Dairy Farmers and requested their donation of 250 individual sized cartons of milk to be handed out by the Homemakers at the health fair. Over three hundred adults and children received information on calcium from the booth at the Carlsbad Health Fair.

In an effort to better facilitate the ICAN program in Eddy County, the Home Economist worked with the Nutrition Educator to recruit more participants and offer more nutrition education throughout Eddy County. The Home Economist provided support and supervision to one Nutrition Educator as programs were presented to elementary students throughout the county. A youth program was also coordinated for the children attending the Head Start program in Eddy County. The Home Economist ensured that the Educator was teaching important nutrition concepts such as hand washing and food safety, using My Pyramid to make healthy food choices, and reading and understanding food labels to both youth and adult participants in the ICAN program. The program also offered education on basic food preparation and food resources management. As part of the ICAN program, nutrition classes were held in 18 elementary schools- public and private. Classes on adult nutrition were taught at the Eddy County Extension Office, Childcare Training programs, Foster Grandparents, and Senior Citizen centers. Participants were recruited by phone contacts, health fairs, the county Income Support Division and informational fliers posted around the county. Nine hundred and thirty seven youth and sixty six adults participated in classes and received nutrition education through the ICAN program in Eddy County.