Cooperative Extension Nutrition Education Program: Outreach to Southeast Kentucky Families in Poverty

The University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension Service provides community engagement and outreach efforts for Kentucky families living in poverty as part of the land grant mission. Food security is a primary concern for those with limited resources and income. To address food availability and nutrition concerns of these families, Cooperative Extension delivers researched-based educational programming through the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). EFNEP is a federally funded program that works to improve the quality of life of families living in poverty through education and behavior modifi cation. The EFNEP program uses a community-based outreach approach where food and nutrition educational content is taught by peer educators to provide experientially-based programming on making quality food choices. In this article, the authors look at the characteristics of a high poverty, Appalachian region of Kentucky and the impact of the EFNEP program outreach to local families as compared to state and national impact data