The FY19 SNAP-Ed through the Land-Grant University System report is now available. This report features the outcomes and impacts of LGU SNAP-Ed programs representing 42 institutions and 37 states.
There is also a 1-page (front and back) infographic highlighting key findings of the report.
We are thrilled to announce the National Leadership Team and the SNAP-Ed Program Development Team for 2020-2021.
Vegetable Sharing Program in Louisiana
Many SNAP-Ed programs have assisted with food assistance efforts during COVID-19. Below you will find programs that have made a difference during this time!
The Wyoming Cent$ible Nutrition Program had several different activities that featured gardening, adult education, and news articles throughout the pandemic. Visit the links to learn more about the programming in Wyoming.
Community Gardening for Resilience
Growing Green Thumbs
Article on Limiting Grocery Trips
Adult Series Education Success Stories
A News Release from LSU Ag Center
J.S. Aucoin Elementary donates school garden bounty to senior meal program
Writer: Ruthie Losavio at rlosavio@agcenter.lsu.edu
(06/12/20) AMELIA, La. — When the school garden at J.S. Aucoin Elementary started producing an abundance of cucumbers, LSU AgCenter area nutrition agent Jessica Randazzo saw the perfect opportunity to give back to the community.
“We had more cucumbers than we knew what to do with,” Randazzo said. “We reached out to the Council on Aging to see if we could donate the produce to their meal delivery boxes for seniors.”
The school garden provided more than 50 cucumbers to the senior feeding program.
“They’re already asking when I can bring more,” Randazzo said.
The St. Mary Parish Council on Aging senior feeding program has been delivering meal boxes to low-income seniors across the parish amid the pandemic.
“Our dedicated employees that have been delivering meals during this time of isolation were excited to also provide fresh produce,” said Beverly Domengeaux, St. Mary Parish Council on Aging director. “It put a big smile on all our seniors’ faces to have something fresh.”
Before COVID-19, J.S. Aucoin Elementary’s school garden club gave students the opportunity to grow their own food and try new recipes.
The program proved to be a huge success. Students were eager to try the vegetables they had grown. The school cafeteria even incorporated vegetables from the garden into school lunches.
“Two years ago, when I was asked if I wanted to be president of the garden club, I was hesitant to say ‘yes’ because of how the garden looked at the time,” said Tracy Gros, J.S. Aucoin Healthy Communities Coalition and faculty member.
“Once the garden was finished, we stayed after school and the students couldn’t wait to plant,” Gros said. “During the day I would go outside to see if anything was growing or needed watering, but the students were there before me.”
Despite school campus closures and summer vacation, the school garden continues to thrive thanks to the care and attention of the J.S. Aucoin Healthy Communities coalition and faculty volunteers like Gros.
The school’s Healthy Communities coalition focuses on improving health at J.S. Aucoin through community-led, sustainable physical and social environmental changes. The school garden is just one of those changes.
Funds from USDA SNAP-Ed, the Walmart Foundation and the 4-H Healthy Habits program have supported the garden.
For more information about the J.S. Aucoin Elementary school garden or Healthy Communities coalition, contact Randazzo at jrandazzo@agcenter.lsu.edu.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) contracted with Insight Policy Research (Insight) to review and provide way to improve the reporting of program outputs, outcomes, and impacts to ensure when SNAP-Ed data is combined at the national level it is reliable, valid, and meaningful.
For the detailed report, see SNAP-Ed Data Improvement, Agenda and Action Plan
These reports provide outcome reports by region across the United States.
2017 – Southeast Region Outcome Report
2017 – Mountain Plains Region Outcome Report
2019- Mountain Plains Region and Southwest Region combined Report
The University of Maryland College of Agriculture and Natural Resources is hosting a series of lectures on Sustainable Food Systems. These events contain topics related to sustainability and the role of agriculture plays in the foods that we consume everyday.
The first lecture featured how Caroline Co schools are working to bring the farm to the school cafeteria.
All lectures can be viewed online via WebEx. To register for upcoming lectures, visit: https://agnr.umd.edu/sustainable-food-systems-lecture-series
Thank you for joining us for the webinar. Listen to the recording from the webinar and download the powerpoint.
There is also a published article about the study that can be accessed.
Webinar Description:
This research examined the effects of a double dollar fruit and vegetable financial incentive on purchases at a community supermarket among shoppers from low-income households who had at least one child. Participation in an in-store Cooking Matters event was requested for those who received incentive but optional for their non-incentivized controls. The sample included Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants. Compared to the controls, incentivized shoppers—who were given an immediate 50 percent discount on qualifying fruit and vegetables—increased weekly spending on those items by 27 percent overall; this change was for fresh produce. There was no change in purchases of frozen and canned produce or unhealthful foods. Estimated annual average daily consumption of fruit and vegetables by the incentivized shoppers and by one designated child per incentivized household did not change. Attendance at Cooking Matters events was low. These findings support continued funding for financial incentive programs as a way to increase fruit and vegetable purchasing among low-income households with children but suggest that effective complementary approaches are needed to improve total diet quality.
Michigan State University has released their final report focusing on Policy, Systems, and Environmental Changes within EFNEP.
We have received the following states FY19 impact reports on their SNAP-Ed and EFNEP work during the 2019 fiscal year. Click on the name of each state to view the corresponding report:
2019-2020 Program Development Team Members. Not all team members were present for the photo.
Land-Grant University System SNAP-Ed Program Development Team Annual Work Meeting Report: Action Items and Accomplishments April 16-18, 2019, Alexandria, VA
The Land-Grant University SNAP-Ed Program Development Team (PDT) is action-oriented, proactive, and focused on long-term projects. This 17-person team represents all Extension regions and is comprised of family and consumer science program leaders and other university administrators, SNAP-Ed program coordinators, an office manager from the Land-Grant University (LGU) System, and a federal partner from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), U.S. Department of Agriculture. In 2019, an EFNEP Coordinator was added to the team to help facilitate coordination among SNAP-Ed, EFNEP, and other Land-Grant University extension low-income nutrition education programs. A second Family and Consumer Sciences Administrator was added to the Executive Committee to share volunteer leadership responsibilities. The team conducts monthly conference calls, subcommittee work, and an annual face-to-face meeting to improve the consistency and effectiveness of Extension SNAP-Ed programming to address national health and nutrition-related problems facing low-income populations in the context of Extension’s broader low-income nutrition education portfolio.
At its annual meeting in April, the PDT reviewed progress, refined and updated its strategic plan implementation, and developed key action steps for the upcoming year. Specific deliverables were identified, building upon past efforts. These included:
The PDT’s ongoing goals are to support programming, professional development, and partner engagement in ways that will best serve the SNAP-Ed population. The updated strategic plan is being finalized and will be shared shortly with Extension Directors/Administrators, FCS Leaders, and SNAP-Ed Directors/Coordinators.
Highlights of the last year include:
Members of the LGU SNAP-Ed Program Development Team for 2019-2020 (as of August 2019)
North Central Region
Northeast Region
Southern Region
Western Region
Executive Committee
Special Projects (new)
Rotating Off – April 2019
