SNAP-Ed Educators combining direction nutrition education with community-based healthy food access partnerships: Lessons learned from two Minnesota counties

Intro:

Following new USDA guidance, University of Minnesota-Extension SNAP-Ed Educators seek to increase healthy choices in the community by combining direct nutrition education with policy, systems and environmental (PSE) approaches. Two case-studies implemented in partnership with community-based agencies show promising results toward increasing food access and food skills for low-income participants.

Methods:

A partnership with Healthy Communities used Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares from a school garden to provide produce to a local food shelf.  Additionally, food shelf clients were provided with food skills education on how to make quick and healthy meals with the available produce. Another partnership with Choose Health had physicians refer low-income patients to a free CSA program combined with cooking classes in order to increase client consumption of produce.

Results:

Healthy Communities’ surveys indicated an increase in the amount of fruits and vegetables (F&V) taken home from the food shelf. Clients reported improved confidence in preparing and trying new F&V. Choose Health results showed that most participants (n=28) increased the amount of produce eaten each week, 29% decreased their blood pressure, and 71% indicated overall health as good or better post-intervention.

Conclusion:

SNAP-Ed Educators leveraged community-based partnerships to increase food access for low-income families in two counties. Increased food access was combined with nutrition education to help families build skills and increase consumption of produce. Initial results suggest that direct education, combined with PSE changes created through community-based partnerships, have the potential to lead to behavior changes and better health outcomes for low-income populations.