UK SNAP Ed Program 2018

The University of Kentucky (UK) shall strive to improve the nutrition and physical activity practices of Kentuckians through multi-level interventions involving education, marketing and promotion, and policy, systems and environmental changes. Both direct education and indirect methods will be utilized. The target audience for SNAP-Ed services includes Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) families, single parents, teen parents, (head of household), children and youth, elderly, homeless, and disabled persons, and persons with limited English proficiency. Services may be provided in all 120 counties of the Commonwealth. UK will provide direct education to small and large groups of the target audience regarding Dietary Quality, Food Securit y, Food Safety and Food Shopping and Resource Management. These programs will assist the target audience to adopt diet and lifestyle behaviors that are consistent with established SNAP-Ed Guiding Principles, which include the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and provide classes/workshops on how to access, prepare and preserve nutritious foods. Activities will be conducted in locations such as the Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) offices, food banks, and senior voucher Farmer's Market Nutrition Program sites. Classes/workshops/demonstrations will assist the targe t audience in learning how to prepare nutritious foods, proper food storage, food safety and kitchen hygiene. Social media, newsletters, billboards, direct mail, and youth magazines will be utilized to increase the reach of SNAP-Ed projects. UK will also research, design, implement and evaluate a social marketing research project to improve dietary quality of SNAP-eligible Kentuckians through mobile applications and to increase SNAP-eligible Kentuckians’ access to nutritious foods through farmers markets. The results of this social marketing research will inform all aspects of UK SNAP-Ed services, both direct and indirect interventions. Policy, systems and environmental (PSE) approaches to changing Kentuckians’ nutrition and lifestyle related behavior will be implemented primarily by county agents at the local level. Efforts will include, but are not limited to, improvements in food policies, development of food systems, and positive changes in environmental settings related to nutritious food consumption and physical activity behaviors. The plan includes eight proposed projects: 1. Adults and Families Project; including Limited English, Seniors and Disabled Persons 2. Youth Project; including School Age, Collaborative School, Recipe for Life, Super Star Chef and Preschool 3. Food Systems Project; including Farmers’ Markets, Gardening and Food Preservation 4. UK Messaging Campaign Project will include, but is not limited to, direct mail, media and social media, and signage 5. PSE/CEDIK Project; Supporting the health of Kentucky SNAP-Ed participants through engagement in reshaping policy, systems and the environment 6. Altarum Project; Systems Assessment to Transform University of Kentucky SNAP-Ed Programming 7. UK Mobile Technologies Project; Social Marketing Research Project to Improve Dietary Quality of SNAP-eligible Kentuckians through Mobile Applications 8. Farmers’ Market Research Project; Social Marketing Research Project to Increase SNAP-eligible Kentuckians’ Access to Nutritious Foods through Farmers Markets