These resources were developed by the State Agency Relationship subcommittee of the Program Development Team (PDT). The resources are designed to assist a new LGU SNAP-Ed Leader and those associated with SNAP-Ed programs to gather pertinent information and to provide some background information in order to support their SNAP-Ed program. The resources includes:
Many Extension programs are tied to the Farm Bill. This document outlines the legislative process used to create the Farm Bill.
The Issue
Youth live, play, eat, shop, and learn in their communities but are rarely included in decision making processes that directly impact their health and nutrition, such as related school district policy-making, neighborhood design, food access, and advertising placement. Engaging and building the capabilities of youth as leaders is an important step toward effective policy, systems and environmental (PSE) changes.
What Has UC CalFresh Done?
UC CalFresh’s Youth Engagement Initiative, launched in 2016, gets youth involved in promoting healthy nutrition and physical activity. To facilitate youth participation in PSE changes, El Dorado, San Mateo, and Imperial County initiated Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) projects during the 2016-2017 school year. YPAR engages young people in research and action that builds their skills and fosters strong, just communities and institutions.
Each county team pursued a unique strategy based on local youth interests and opportunities:
The UC Davis Center for Regional Change and the Public Health Institute Center for Wellness and Nutrition provided ongoing technical assistance and program documentation. Support included in-person trainings, one-on-one coaching, and resources to assist youth to use mapping tools and data to identify needs and build their cases for PSE changes.
The Payoff
YPAR helped youth build leadership skills to create change in their communities.
Through YPAR, the counties combined direct nutrition education with PSE change, built and leveraged local partnerships, empowered young people to take on leadership for youth health, and helped youth develop research and presentation skills.
To read more about these YPAR projects, please see Moving from Serving Youth to Engaging Youth, which documents the counties’ work.
Clientele Testimonial
“I got involved with the Youth Food Alliance because they were serving healthy food; I stayed involved because I was making the community healthier.” – Youth Researcher
Contact
Supporting Unit:
Brandon Louie, MS, Community Engagement Coordinator, UC Davis Center for Regional Change, bplouie@ucdavis.edu
Metria Munyan, Youth Engagement – Project Manager, Public Health Institute, Center for Wellness and Nutrition, Metria.Munyan@wellness.phi.org
Anne Iaccopucci, 4-H Healthy Living Academic Coordinator, UC ANR, Ca. State Office, amiaccopucci@ucanr.edu
Andra Nicoli, MA, Program & Evaluation, UC CalFresh State Office, amnicoli@ucdavis.edu
Land-Grant universities, and their partners, work to provide vital nutrition assistance programming and information through SNAP-Ed. The LGU SNAP-Ed Program Development Team undertook developing and disseminating this brochure as part of strategic planning to market their collective work to internal and external partners. Download the brochure electronically or use for informal printing. Contact Sandra Jensen at Sandra.jensen@sdstate.edu to receive copies of the brochure.
2018 Program Development Team Members. Not all team members were present for the photo.
Land-Grant University System SNAP-Ed Program Development Team
Report of Accomplishments and Action Items
Annual Work Meeting – April 10-12, 2018, Alexandria, VA
The Land-Grant University SNAP-Ed Program Development Team (PDT) met in Alexandria, Virginia to review progress, refine strategic plan implementation, and develop key action steps for the upcoming year. This 15-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. The team conducts bimonthly 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.
Highlights of the last year and work meeting plans for upcoming year include:
Throughout the year, the PDT purposefully promoted the strength and capacity of Extension outreach efforts to efficiently and effectively develop, deliver, and evaluate multi-level educational approaches to positively impact the health and well-being of limited resource individuals. Additionally, PDT members focused on mentoring colleagues, building and sustaining critical partnerships with other implementing agencies, and promoting the importance of a nationwide system of nutrition education and evaluation expertise through the LGU System.
Members of the LGU SNAP-Ed Program Development Team for 2018-2019
North Central Region
Pat Bebo, Asst. Director, Family & Consumer Sciences Extension, The Ohio State University (term ended; will serve 1 year as ad hoc representative)
Candance (Candy) Gabel, State Coordinator – Director, Nutrition and Health Ed., University of Missouri (new)
Christine Hradek, SNAP-Ed and EFNEP Coordinator, Iowa State University
Megan Ness Ditterick, EFNEP/FNP Coordinator, North Dakota State University
Northeast Region
Patsy Ezell, Assistant Director FCS, University of Maryland
Lisa Sullivan-Werner, FNP and EFNEP Leader, University of Massachusetts
Elise Gurgevich, SNAP-Ed and EFNEP Coordinator, Penn State University (new)
Southern Region
Karla Shelnutt, Associate Professor and Extension Nutrition Specialist, University of Florida
Michelle Vineyard, Extension Specialist TNCEP, University of Tennessee (retired mid-year)
Renda Nelson, Better Living for Texans State Program Director, Texas A&M University
Ivy Murphy, SNAP-Ed Coordinator, North Carolina A&T University (served partial year); 1890 representative
Andrea Morris, Health and Nutrition Specialist/Program Manager EFNEP and SNAP-Ed, Alabama A&M University (new); 1890 representative
Western Region
Donna Sauter, ICAN Director (SNAP-Ed & EFNEP), New Mexico State University
Sally Bowman, Program Leader SNAP-Ed & EFNEP, Oregon State University
Executive Committee
Laura Stephenson, Assistant Dean, Family and Consumer Sciences, University of Tennessee Extension
Jill Thorngren, Dean, College of Education and Human Sciences, South Dakota State University
Sandra Jensen, Office Manager SNAP-Ed through the LGU System, South Dakota State University
Helen Chipman, National Program Leader Food & Nutrition Education, NIFA/USDA
To download a copy of the highlights of the meetings, visit 2018 PDT Committee Meeting Highlights.
The FY19 SNAP-Ed guidance has been released from the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). This document provides instructions for development and submission of state nutrition education and obesity prevention program plans.
The SNAP-Ed Guidance, fillable PDF templates, and links to supporting materials are available on the SNAP-Ed Connection Website at: https://snaped.fns.usda.gov/national-snap-ed/snap-ed-plan-guidance-and-templates
The Regional Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Centers of Excellence (RNECE) National Coordination Center at the University of Kentucky released their final RNECE report recently. This report includes the RNECE recommendations for future work in nutrition education for limited resource families in the United States. Each regional center also has a report provided. Please visit the RNECE Final Report for the complete report.
Creating a text message based program has shown to be a non-conventional way to provide nutrition education to SNAP-Ed participants. There are many programs across the country that have implemented a text message program in their state. This is a list of programs that has been shared with the CoP with a general description of their current texting program and program contact information.
Alabama SNAP-Ed at Auburn University
Alabama SNAP-Ed at Auburn University uses text messaging to engage parents of 3rd graders in a school-based obesity prevention initiative, Body Quest. Each year, parents of 3rd graders participating in Body Quest are invited to join the Recipe Tester Club for Body Quest Parents. Simultaneously with the 15-week Body Quest intervention with 3rd graders, parents receive a series of inexpensive, simple and kid-friendly vegetable recipes to prepare and “test” with their children at home. Parents provide their cell phone numbers on consent forms and are enrolled to receive text messages. Parents are sent action-oriented texts three times each week. Text messages include tips for improving personal and family eating, shopping and physical activity practices.
In the 2017-2018 school year, 4,348 parents were enrolled to receive texts using SMS messaging software, SimpleTexting. To coincide with Body Quest activities in schools, parents were assigned to treatment and control groups. Treatment parents (n = 2,394) had 3rd graders in the treatment group of Body Quest receiving obesity prevention education in school. Control parents (n = 1,954) had 3rd graders in the control group of Body Quest receiving delayed intervention after pre- and post-assessments were completed.
At the end of Body Quest, 54% of original treatment parents continued to receive texts through the initiative and participated in a post-survey texting poll. Parents texted responses to a series of questions and gave feedback on their experience with Body Quest and the Recipe Tester Club.
For more information, contact Katie Funderburk, MS, RD (kem0017@auburn.edu).
Colorado Integrated Nutrition Education Program (INEP)
The Integrated Nutrition Education Program (INEP), and The Culture of Wellness in Preschools (COWP) are programs through the Rocky Mountain Prevention Research Center at the University of Colorado School of Public Health. We provide a creative and fun way for kids to learn about healthy eating in their classroom and to share what they learn with their families. Parent engagement is very important to our program. As part of our efforts to engage parents, staff, and community members, we are developing a free text messaging program. The major themes of our messages will be Healthy Eating Behaviors, Physical Activity and Reduced Sedentary Behaviors, Healthy, Parent Engagement, Feeding Relationship, and Food Resource Management.
Text2BHealthy will be launched this month in approximately 45 elementary schools statewide, and 65 early childhood sites. We will be working on multiple outreach efforts to continue enrolling parents into the program. If you have any questions feel free to contact Maria Saldana, maria.saldana@ucdenver.edu, or Julie Atwood, julie.atwood@ucdenver.edu
Health mPowers (Implementing Agency in GA)
HeathMPowers provides text messages to families of students in grades K-5 as part of the elementary school-based SNAP-Ed program, Empowering Healthy Choices in Schools, Homes and Communities. Families opt in to the initiative by texting a designated keyword to HealthMPowers. Participating families receive bi-weekly nutrition and physical activity tips, recipes and additional resources for shopping on a budget and being active as a family. The messages are tied to monthly nutrition and physical activity themes, and weekly activities students are learning in the classroom through a nutrition and physical activity day planner provided to each child. The texts, available in English or Spanish, provide consistent messaging across grade levels and reinforce key behaviors.
During the 2016-2017 school year, 1041 families were enrolled. In September 2017, 916 families re-enrolled to continue receiving the text messages during the upcoming 2017-18 school year. Some did not re-enroll because their child had moved on to middle school. To date, there are over 1300 families enrolled in the texting initiative.
HealthMPowers also started a texting pilot for Early Care and Education during the 2017-18 school year. These text messages correspond to the themes used in the elementary texts, but are tailored to the needs and information for families of pre-school children. In addition, early care teachers receive the texts along with resources and strategies to reinforce the weekly messages in the classroom.
For more information, contact Kendall Charlton at Kendall.Charlton@healthmpowers.org.
Maryland Food Supplement Nutrition Education (FSNE)
Maryland developed Text2BHealthy in January 2012 as an indirect method of reaching parents with nutrition education. Text2BHealthy is a text message program targeting parents of elementary school students who are currently receiving classroom-based nutrition education. Text2BHealthy provides parents with “nutrition nudges” 2-3 times per week on nutrition-related school and community activities, grocery store specials, and physical activity ideas. Messages are targeted and focus on encouraging families to take action and specific to the individuals school and community.
Text2BHealthy currently has 29 schools participating across the state of Maryland and has over 2100 parents enrolled.
Text4HealthyTots is a text message based program in Maryland that is targeting parents of children ages 3-5. Messages give parents tips for feeding their children fruits and vegetables, healthy meal and recipe ideas, trying new foods, and being active as a family. Parents will receive 1-2 messages per week with ideas that relate to the time of year and often link to our blog, website, and Facebook page for more information.
Maryland uses Mobile Messaging by Upland Software as their software platform for sending messages. For more information, contact Laryessa Worthington lengland@umd.edu.
Michigan State University Extension
Michigan State University Extension has two small texting programs. One aims to provide parents with quick actionable tips, as well as recipes related to nutrition and being healthy as a family. This project began in September and we have 37 participants. Originally, we tried to solely recruit through our Healthier Child Care Environments PSE initiative and had minimal participants. Then we shared information about it on social media, which is how the majority of the participants were recruited. Two text messages are sent out each week – one actionable tip and one recipe.
The other text program MSU Extension has is for Flint parents who have been impacted by the Flint Water Crisis to provide them with recipes and tips for using their food assistance benefits effectively. There are 141 participants who receive about 1 text message a week. Less frequently, as they occur, we send community events and resources that are available to the residents. We recruited at community events beginning in June.
MSU Extension uses the free platform, Remind, to deliver both of these initiatives. Remind allows for scheduling of messages in advance, shows how many people received the message, and also how many read it. It also allows the participants to react (“like”) a message and you can also set up two-way communication if desired. While you can do all of these things, the analytics are not displayed readily; you have to look at each message individually. Remind is user-friendly, able to be managed by multiple people, and many of our participants are familiar with the program because a lot of teachers use it to communicate with parents.
For more information, contact Erin Powell, MS RD LDN at powelle9@anr.msu.edu.
Rhode Island SNAP-Ed at University of Rhode Island
Rhode Island SNAP-Ed has incorporated text messaging into its programming since 2015. RI SNAP-Ed successfully utilizes text messaging with participants in two primary ways: as reminder texts for upcoming SNAP-Ed programming, and as motivational reinforcers at the conclusion of series programming. Reminder texts have increased in popularity for both farmers’ market events (now year-round) and series workshops. Motivational texts serve as continuation of nutrition education after in-person programs have been completed; these are customized to either adult or parent audience and are delivered twice per week for four weeks, followed by a final survey to assess post-text behavior change. Texts are personalized to include the initial of the program leader and are offered in English and Spanish. Participants sign consent forms in order to be enrolled.
In FY2017, RI SNAP-Ed sent out a total of 2,738 texts, up 49% from the previous year. Breakdown of text type was as follows: 35% of texts to Adults for adult education reinforcement; 12% to Parents for parent education reinforcement; 38% went as reminders of upcoming farmers’ markets and other events; 13% contained links for post-text evaluation survey; and 2% of texts were interactions with participants e.g. replies to texts.
Contact Kate Balestracci, MS RD at katebal12@uri.edu for more information.
Washington State University Extension
Reaching Rural Parents in New Ways: TEXTING!
As part of the Communication Initiative, Text2BHealthy (T2BH) was piloted to increase access to adults through 16 participating schools that serve as community hubs in rural settings. Participants were recruited via direct events at the beginning and middle of the school year, as well as indirectly via posters, flyers, and the school websites.
2,185 targeted behavioral text messages resulted in 331 participants receiving 27,111 indirect contacts over 42 weeks.
Customized texts included the following themes:
Chelan, Douglas, Okanogan Counties: Physical activity, fruits and vegetables in season at local fresh markets, and tasty low cost recipes.
Grays Harbor, Skagit Counties: Physical activity, local sales where SNAP clients shop, seasonal fruits and vegetables, and reinforce direct education topics.
Behavioral Outcomes include:
The texting platform that WA State Extension used to send their text messages was Twilio. For more information, contact Kathleen Manenica at manenica@wsu.edu.
We have received the following states FY17 impact reports on their SNAP-Ed and EFNEP work during the 2017 fiscal year. Click on the name of each state to view the corresponding report:
School based programming is a key opportunity to reach our target population in SNAP-Ed. Two programs shared their Smarter Lunchrooms work. Read more about their programs below:
In 2016-2017, in partnership with Team Nutrition over 90 schools received the Smarter Lunchroom initiative. In addition, over 40 schools received the Fuel Up To Play 60 program in partnership with the United Dairy Industry of Michigan. Trained Michigan State University nutrition professionals provide support in completing the pre and post assessment for each initiative as well as the implementation of 10 Smarter Lunchroom scorecard items or a Healthy Eating and Physical Activity play for Fuel up to Play 60. Many of the schools are receiving Smarter Lunchroom, Fuel Up to Play 60 as well as direct education using Show Me Nutrition for a true educational experience! For more information on the work at Michigan State University, contact Dawn Earnesty, MS RDN (wilcoxd4@anr.msu.edu).
Food waste is a major issue in the United States. Schools are one of the most important sites for food waste reduction efforts because they hold a daily captive audience that can be influenced to make better choices. Additionally the state recently passed a law aimed to reduce the amount of food waste in New Jersey by 50 percent by 2030. Through the training and technical assistance of the Family and Community Health Science Educators the Paterson Public School system reduced food waste by approximately 90,720 pounds district wide for the school year. Working with the food service. For more information, contact Sara Elnakib, RD, MPH, CHES (elnakib@njaes.rutgers.edu).
