Category: EFNEP

Spartanburg EFNEP has been partnering with the Bethlehem Center to bring nutrition education to their afterschool groups this school year. The second-grade class enjoyed a six-week series learning the Show Me Nutrition curriculum.

During this time, the children were introduced to MyPlate by playing games with the five food groups and diving deeper into each category each week. The class enjoyed tasting a myriad of recipes including a fruit smoothie, colorful fruit skewers, food group sandwiches, and more.

Over six sessions, the children studied how to build strong bones, power up with protein, eat a rainbow of fruits and a variety of vegetables in addition to moving their bodies more. They enjoyed playing games and creating their own personalized MyPlates to set healthier goals for themselves.

These students are ready to tackle all that the remainder of the school year has to bring with healthy and active mindsets!

Emily Fish, Spartanburg County NE

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program has been serving limited-resource families across the United States for over fifty years through community nutrition education. EFNEP was established in 1969 by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) in response to growing concerns of diet quality and poverty nationwide. It began as a pilot program in Alabama and later spread across the U.S. with the help of land-grant universities’ cooperative extension programs. Today, NIFA funds EFNEP programs in all fifty states, and this funding delivers promising results in health outcomes and behavior change for families in need.

EFNEP targets four core areas to help improve health outcomes: diet quality & physical activity, food security, food resource management, and food safety. With research-based curricula, EFNEP delivers free nutrition classes to limited-resource communities.

Clemson Extension’s EFNEP program has been actively working in Spartanburg County to deliver hands-on, interactive nutrition lessons to Title I schools, after-school programs, community centers, and more. The adult curriculum used by Clemson EFNEP, Eating Smart, Being Active, includes nine lessons which highlight money-saving tips for grocery shopping and budget-friendly recipes for families. Clemson EFNEP also serves middle and high school students through the Teen Cuisine curriculum which promotes independence in the kitchen by improving food safety practices and cooking skills. Elementary-aged students in grades third through fifth may also participate in this program through the Choose Health: Food, Fun, and Fitness curriculum. These lessons introduce young learners to the importance of maintaining a well-balanced diet while helping them identify which foods and drinks could help them do so. At each level, these interactive classes include a food demonstration that allows participants to practice their cooking and food safety skills and a physical activity portion to promote regular exercise.

By maintaining ongoing partnerships throughout the county, youth and adults in Spartanburg have received free resources on diet quality, physical activity, food safety, healthy recipes & more. If you are interested in bringing these classes to your organization or school, please contact the EFNEP nutrition educator at your local Clemson Extension office!

EMILY DURANT FISH, NUTRITION EDUCATOR SPARTANBURG COUNTY

864-594-0421

Emily DuRant Fish is a graduate of Clemson University with a degree in Language and International Health (B.S.). Upon graduation, she started her career in Cooperative Extension as a youth nutrition educator with the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) at the University of Maryland, College Park. During her time there, Emily also took on the role of a program specialist where she managed program data and developed training development tools. 

She is excited to be back in her home state of South Carolina as the EFNEP nutrition educator for Spartanburg County. Emily aspires to utilize her public health background and passion for teaching to promote healthy lifestyles for families and youth in her community. In her free time, Emily enjoys reading, hiking, walking her Bernese Mountain Dog, and playing pickleball!

Current statistics on the health problems that adults and their families face indicate the need to improve nutrition knowledge, to encourage hands-on experience with food, and practice healthful, practical cooking with fresh and affordable foods.

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is a federally funded program delivered through the Cooperative Extension Service that aims to assist limited-resource families in acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and changed behavior necessary to improve nutritional health and well-being. EFNEP provides nutrition education in four core areas: Diet Quality and Physical Activity, Food Resource Management, Food Safety, and Food Security.

In South Carolina, experienced and trained Nutrition Educators ‘follow a recipe’ and teach Eating Smart Being Active (ESBA), an evidence-based curriculum developed by Colorado State. ESBA is tailored to meet individual needs through a series of hands-on interactive lessons and delivered individually or to groups through partnerships with local community organizations. The ‘learn-by-doing’ approach allows participants to gain the practical skills necessary to make positive behavior changes to lead a healthier lifestyle.

SC EFNEP teaches SC adults cooking skills, food resource management, and behavior changes that promote a healthy lifestyle. In 2021, SC EFNEP reached 396 families, and the outcome data revealed:

• 96% improved Diet Quality
• 94% improved Food Resource Management
• 84% improved Food Safety
• 80% improved Physical Activity

Through an experiential learning process called A Recipe for Success, EFNEP participants increase their ability to select and eat healthier foods, stretch their dollars by managing food budgets, decrease foodborne illnesses, and increase physical activity.

Throughout the Summer of 2022, the Spartanburg County Nutrition Educator worked tirelessly to deliver EFNEP curricula to youth and adults. We had the opportunity to deliver Nutrition Education lessons at different locations, following brand new partnerships created throughout our county. Amongst the youth audience, we had the privilege to teach the “Choose Health: Food, Fun, and Fitness” (CHFFF) curriculum to the Spartanburg County Public Library, Sparty’s Kids Camp (at USC Upstate), and the Spartanburg Northside Development Group, etc.

As for Adults, various homemakers throughout Spartanburg County. Locations such as Lyman, Cowpens, Wellford, and Spartanburg have participated in the Eating Smart ~ Being Active (ESBA) classes. Although out of Spartanburg County, we were invited by The Carolina Community Action Inc. in Union County and Birth Matters.

What are our participants saying about EFNEP classes?

“Thank you, Ms. Santana; my seven years old daughter had never tried sweet peas before; today, she did! (Participant at SCPL)

“Thank you, Ms. Santana, for introducing me to my new favorite food.” (Sparty Kid’s Summer Camp)

“I love this salad. I will ask my mom to prepare it for our party next week.”

“It was a lot of fun playing Snowball Fight in the middle of summer.” (SCPL, playing with crumpled scrap paper).

Elizabeth (Beth) Edwards-Morelock / EFNEP

Beth Edwards-Morelock’s love for Extension and the services they provide began while working in the Lexington County and Saluda County offices as an Administrative Assistant. She earned an associate degree in Health Sciences from Piedmont Technical College in Greenwood, SC. Over the course of her career, she has also worked in family practice offices as a Medical Assistant.  She loves gardening and is a Certified Master Gardener.

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) offered by the USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture and Clemson University Cooperative Extension Service is aimed at providing practical, hands-on nutrition education. EFNEP delivers nutrition education in four core areas: diet quality and physical activity, food resource management, food safety, and food security.

EFNEP includes programming to a diverse audience of children, youth, adults, and families with limited financial resources and who are eligible for Food Assistance programs such as WIC, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), AFDC, or Head Start.

You may reach Beth by calling the Laurens County Extension Office or contact Beth directly at 864-980-3584 or ekedwar@clemson.edu .

Aaron C. Swank, MPH, is an applied epidemiologist working with the Fairfield County Extension Service as a Nutrition Educator under the EFNEP program. His academic background and training include Bachelor’s degrees in both Human Nutrition and Kinesiology (2015). Aaron completed a Master of Public Health at Kansas State University (Manhattan, KS) in 2017. He studied the impact of chronic psychological distress on nutrition and physical activity behaviors among low-income Americans.

As an applied epidemiologist, Aaron has worked in many roles with health professionals, scientists, policymakers, and stakeholders to promote health and well-being in rural communities. Aaron’s primary focus has been building connected, accessible, culturally-competent, safe health systems in communities deeply impacted by food insecurity and physical inactivity. One of his greatest strengths is building capacity and trust within local coalitions to empower all residents to thrive together in their community. Aaron has accomplished this by delivering and implementing evidence-based health interventions developed and designed to make health a priority to individuals, communities, and organizations. Additionally, he has advocated, engaged, and trained in the education and promotion of strong social support systems that offer safe opportunities to purchase healthy foods, maintain an active lifestyle, and create an accessible, affirming, culturally-competent health care system for all.

Aaron’s most recent job was as a Health Assistant for Accolade, Inc., where he assisted customers in navigating health insurance coverage and eligibility. He served as the Nutrition & Family Finance agent for K-State Research & Extension from 2018 to 2020. He has nearly ten years of experience in direct, skilled nursing care. During this time, Aaron worked as a nurse’s assistant in senior living communities in Topeka and Manhattan, KS. During graduate school, Aaron worked as a Household Coordinator, supervising the care of a 16-resident dementia-care house at Meadowlark Hills Senior Living Community in Manhattan, KS. He supervised and trained the nursing staff, led care planning for residents and families, and oversaw the household budget and dietary planning.

Aaron is a veteran and Sergeant of the United States Marine Corps, serving from 2004 to 2012. He has published co-authorship in peer-reviewed health science journals and has written many health-related articles for local newspapers. Aaron moved to Blythewood from south-central Kansas in December 2021. He lives with his brother, sister, and four nieces and nephews.

For a very long time, Clemson EFNEP has been The best-kept secret, not anymore. More and more people know about EFNEP programming now. Either because they have participated as learners or because word of mouth is out there. We have successfully recruited and taught adults for the Eating Smart Being Active series. We continue providing these teachings online. In that way, we are confident that everyone stays safe.

Although in-person classes are still not permitted within the school districts, due to the non-visitor policy, we are now trying different routes to reach and provide the Nutrition Education portion to home-schooled youth. In this way, we can offer these lessons to one child at a time.

In Spartanburg County, several groups of learners throughout the second part of 2021 completed and graduated from their Eating Smart ~ Being Active classes.

As we continue tirelessly working to see the numbers of COVID-19 cases decrease, we are thankful for the opportunity to serve the Spartanburg Co community.

If you or someone you know would like to receive these 100% FREE Nutrition Education Lessons, please reach out to us. We would love to hear from you.

Marlyne R. Walker, MS, RD
EFNEP Curriculum Coordinator/EFNEP Specialist

Studies have implied that individuals are not always practicable to attend EFNEP and nutrition classes. Transportation, childcare, and fluctuating work schedules have made regular attendance difficult for many. In addition, COVID-19 has created a whole new set of obstacles. It is imperative to offer nutrition education programs online to combat these barriers associated with traditional face-to-face classes, expand outreach and increase program graduation numbers. Clemson University’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program will deliver online EFNEP adult make-up lessons made possible with increases in Internet access and mobile devices in areas of limited resources.

Marlyne R. Walker, the EFNEP Instructional Designer, and the EFNEP State Director are developing and recording videos for the online lessons: a series of 9 lessons called The Dish: Nutrition Bite-Sized Lessons. These lessons will consist of multiple, evidence-based mini-videos addressing behavior change appropriate for EFNEP’s target audience. Each class will address the EFNEP core areas and feature a quick, easy recipe and a physical activity to promote more movement.

Situation:
The onset of the COVID19 pandemic in March 2020 presented pragmatic and logistic challenges to conduct traditional face to face, hands-on and interactive Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) workforce training.   In order to reduce the spread of COVID19 and overcome the hinderance of social distance, the EFNEP management team developed a creative and strategic plan to transition face to face training to virtual learning to our EFNEP staff and EFNEP participants. Since 1969, EFNEP remains devoted to reaching low-income citizens where there are and embracing best practices for (virtual) learning. The Clemson University’s EFNEP team utilized the EFNEP National Guidelines for Social Media and best practices for effective online teaching to develop EFNEP virtual online learning workforce development training.

Educational Response:
From March to present, Marlyne Walker, Registered Dietitian and EFNEP Training Coordinator / State Specialist has conducted and facilitated 5 different virtual workforce development trainings. Some of the trainings consist of multiple days and totaling over 40 hours. The EFNEP workforce trainings are designed for EFNEP nutrition educators to teach EFNEP participants- youth and adults. All the EFNEP interactive trainings were held on ZOOM. The initial training consisted of Tips to Reach and Teach EFNEP Participants/ Classes Online. It was a collaborating effort conducted with the EFNEP management team and an EFNEP agent. Also, Walker trained 9 newly hired EFNEP nutrition educators on the adult curriculum and middle/ high school curriculum.  In addition, Walker planned quarterly EFNEP Check-In.  She has facilitated two EFNEP Check-In for all EFNEP team members. The purpose of the EFNEP Check- In is to promote team building, review nutrition concepts and/or demonstrate ways to engage and interact with EFNEP participants online.

Outcome/ Impact:
After attending the EFNEP training, 100% EFNEP nutrition educators reported to be able to use some, most or all the content/ strategies in their county program. EFNEP nutrition educators were able to reach 306 adults with 100% graduation (completing series of 9 lessons) and changes in decrease consumption of solid fat and added sugar (SoFAS) and 81% improvement in food resource management.  In addition, EFNEP nutrition educators reached 2326 youth (130 groups) with 82% graduation that is completing a series of 6 lessons. The end of year report revealed 82% of youth improved diet quality and 57% improved physical activity.