SNAP is Making Partners In Community Health
Hilary Kass
SNAP-Ed Nutrition Educator
Collaboration is a common word used at the Douglas County Extension Office. Our reason for being is to extend helpful research-based
information to everyone in Douglas County, and to reach everyone we must have collaborative relationships.
In SNAP Ed our specific target audience is low resource individuals and families that are eligible to receive SNAP benefits. Over the last few months, your SNAP Ed Nutrition Educators have had some great collaborations that we want to tell you about.
In April, the spacious Garden Room at the Senior Resource Center provided a welcoming space for a group that showed up each Tuesday afternoon to learn basic nutrition. But what also happened is that we all had a great time and were inspired to come each week and try new foods and ways of preparing them, as well as simple physical activity ideas. We heard people say, “I wasn’t going to come today but I am so glad that I did”, “I’ve never had this and it is really tasty”, “I’m going to stop at the store and try this recipe at home.”
The Create Better Health curriculum that we use shows ways to use common food items to create healthy and tasty meals without requiring specific ingredients. This builds the skill of using whatever foods one has at the time to make a nourishing dish. Each recipe begins with the word Create; Create-A-Skillet Meal, Create-Easy Eggs, Create-A-Smoothie, Create-A-Grain Bowl.
One of my favorites is Create-Amazing Vegetables. Here we prepare and sample vegetables raw, blanched, microwaved, stir-fried, and roasted. Everyone was surprised to taste the sweetness of roasted radishes! We also prepared frozen vegetables, a real nutrition powerhouse that requires very little time or technique and can be a very accessible option for most.
After completing all sessions in the series, each participant received a free kitchen item valued at $30. This generous incentive, made possible by a collaboration with Aetna and United Healthcare
Community Plan, makes for an even more spirited energy. The beauty of collaboration.
Next, we shared this same Create Better Health program with The Arts Train young adults through a collaboration with Van Go, Inc. It was easy to make the connection between the art that they create through their job training and the attitude of creating health through the art of preparing and taking in nourishing foods. These sessions included hands-on cooking, which is always very fun, interesting, and impactful. These young people also received kitchen items that they can use to build their own home kitchens.
In April we collaborated with the Boys and Girls Club of Lawrence for hands on cooking with teens, and in May we joined Heartland Community Health Center’s Food As Medicine program for a hands on cooking class held in the beautifully appointed kitchen at Just Food.
Next on our calendar are programs with Lawrence Memorial Hospital and ECKAN.
