EFNEP - Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program

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Producing Results

South East Produce Council and EFNEP are Cultivating Ideas, Growing Relationships, Producing Results!

Consuming an adequate intake of fruits and vegetables has been proposed as one way to reduce morbidity and mortality from heart disease and cancer. In addition, obesity levels are lowest among those who have high intakes of fruits and vegetables.

The U.S. Dietary Guidelines recommend that all people over the age of two years of age eat five to nine servings of fruits and vegetables every day. However, more than 75% of U.S. residents fail to meet these recommendations.

Project Description

Recognizing that the majority of people consume an inadequate intake of fruits and vegetables, a program was developed with the goal of increasing consumption. This program arose from a partnership between the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and the South East Produce Council (SEPC).

The SEPC is a non-profit organization made up of growers/shippers, wholesalers, retailers, brokers, institutional food service operators, distributors, the media, and industry product or service providers. The organization is committed to serving its members and the community, and they support charitable causes in Southeastern communities.

Through the partnership, EFNEP's educational lessons were enhanced to focus more on fruit and vegetables. The SEPC provided information on different produce items, which includes the nutritional value and health benefits of the item along with proper selection and handling. Fruit and vegetable recipes were developed and tested in the Food Science and Human Nutrition sensory evaluation/food product development lab at Clemson University. These recipes were utilized in the hands-on portion of the educational classes provided by EFNEP educators.

One of the unique components of this program involves funding provided by the SEPC for the purchase of a seasonal produce item which would be "featured" in the educational lessons. The SEPC provides a coupon to be used by the educators and to be left with the family redeemable at their preferred local supermarket. The first set of coupons (for collards) was distributed and redeemed during the months of February and March.

Evaluation

The program includes a pre-test and a post-test evaluation to assess preferences and changes in level of consumption of fruits and vegetables. The entry survey revealed that the top four fresh fruit items the participants purchased were apples (80.6%), oranges (70.4%), grapes (68.5%), and bananas (65.7%). The top fresh vegetable items were cabbage (48.1%), corn (42.6%), collards (35.2%), lettuce (25.0%), carrots (25.0%), and potato (25.0%).

Before the program, the participants ate 2.7 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in a day. Approximately one third of the participants (33.3%) ate 3 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in day and 27.8% ate 2 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in day.

About half of the participants (45.4%) were aware of the 5-A-Day program and half of the participants (53.7%) were not aware of the 5-A-Day program before the program. The top two fruits that participants never had but would like to try were mango (40.4%) and kiwi (33.0%). The top four vegetables that participants never had but would like to try were eggplant (21.1%), asparagus (17.4%), mushrooms (39.2%) and squash (7.4%).

The results indicate that about three quarters of the participants (74.0%) consume more fruits and vegetables since starting the program. After the program, the participants ate 3.2 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in a day. About one third of the participants (31.6%) ate 4 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in day and 25.3% ate 3 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in day. About one quarter of the participants (24.2%) ate 2 servings of fresh fruits and vegetables in day. Almost all participants (94.7%) thought this program was helpful in educating them about the benefits of eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

Conclusion

The program is an innovative way to help participants acquire knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors necessary to improve their eating habits. Evaluation data shows that the program participants made a significant increase in their consumption of fruits and vegetables. In addition, through the administration of entry surveys, a baseline profile of the families' fresh produce purchases and consumption was developed. The knowledge base developed through this project can contribute to other education programs, and provide needed information for disease prevention and intervention planning.