Cumberland County • 2019

Farm to Fork Volunteers

Farm to Fork

In June 2019, the Cumberland County Cooperative Extension Service hosted a Farm to Fork Dinner on Hill Street in Burkesville, Kentucky. The Farm to Fork event featured a meal utilizing Kentucky Proud products, live music, and a silent auction. The meal that was served was all local KY Proud items ranging from lamb, chicken, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, potatoes, to blueberries. Many local artists and crafters donated handcrafted items for the silent auction. A local musician, John Capps, provided the music. In total, 72 people attended the event in support of the Feed My Sheep Food Pantry. The event raised $1,235.00, with proceeds going towards the Feed My Sheep Food Pantry. Participants got to enjoy a nice social evening while supporting a great cause.

For More Information, Please Contact us at:

Cumberland Co. Extension Office • (270) 433-7700 • http://cumberland.ca.uky.edu/ 90 Smith Grove Rd, Burkesville, KY 42717

Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS)

Debbie Messenger, Agent

Cooking Matters

The Family and Consumer Sciences Agent partnered with the Lake Cumberland District Health Department to present Cooking Matters. The purpose of this program was to teach participants ways to choose and prepare healthy foods for their families within their food budget. Participants were taught skills to help them move closer to healthy eating, cooking and food budgeting goals.

The program included six sessions. Topics included: MyPlate, food labels, kitchen tips and tricks, smart planning and shopping, recipe frameworks and a grocery store tour. Each week, a new skill was taught and a recipe was prepared and sampled. Individuals were encouraged to go home and practice new skills and prepare the recipe with their family.

Thirteen individuals completed the program. Post evaluations showed that nine individuals had increased their weekly vegetable consumption. Ten participants shared that they felt more confident in buying and preparing healthy foods for their families on a

budget. All thirteen stated that they felt very confident in using basic cooking skills in preparing meals for their families. Many that participated in the program discussed in sessions their experiences with their families preparing the meals and how the recipe prepared at home was received by family members.

New skills learned by the participants included: "comparing unit prices", "making weekly menus", "keeping pantry stocked with sale items and preparing meals from those items on hand". A young mother told the group that her children always looked forward to help prepare the recipe each week and that they were more willing to try the new foods that they had helped prepare.

Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR)

Chelsey Anderson, Agent

Fencing School

An all-day fencing school was held in Cumberland County (4C Cattle Company) on April 11th in collaboration with Clinton County Extension. This was one of three regional schools held in the state. The school consisted of speakers from the University of Kentucky,

Cooking Matters participants enjoying

competing in the secret ingredient cooking

challenge.

Holden Tweedy assisting the presenters during the Fencing School.

Kentucky Department of Agriculture, Stay-Tuff, Gallagher, and ACI.

In total, 25 participated in the day long schooling while representing eight different counties in the state. Participants received classroom education during the morning session and then went to the farm in the afternoon for a hands-on training. As a follow-up to this event, the Clinton-Cumberland Cattlemen’s association held their June meeting at the same location. One of the speakers came back to do an extension of the lesson taught at the fencing school.

SNAP-ED

Di Hayward, SNAP-ED Assistant

Farm 2 School is a Big D.E.A.L (Digging, Eating, Agriculture and Learning)

Each year, April usually sees the start of the vegetable growing season and community programs for low income families in Cumberland County. This year the Extension ANR, FCS agents and NEP /SNAP-Ed Assistant decided to do something different. The Extension staff applied for and received a Farm to School grant. A partnership was made with the Cumberland County Farmers’ Market, Cumberland County schools food service director, and the 21st Century programs at both the Middle and Elementary School. The projects were aimed at getting more local produce into the schools, educating families on the value of growing their own produce, and helping students make healthy choices on the foods they eat. The Nutrition Education Assistant assisted the Middle School 21st Century program with the Farm to School program which commenced in March. Two classes were provided per week. The first being a gardening class “Where does my food come from?” and the second class was a cooking class ”How do I Eat that?”. Students researched crops they could grow in a raised bed at school that could be used by the school lunchroom and problem solved how to make a raised garden bed. Students assembled the raised beds and planted lettuce and strawberry plants. They

were very excited about doing the hands on activities. The teacher was thrilled that the students were using their mathematical skills in real life problems. In the Elementary School 21st Century summer camp Farm to School program the students had lessons on where their food comes from. Students were responsible for growing plants and they took this responsibility very seriously. They grew herbs in baskets/pots and onions and carrots in the raised bed. Twenty students were involved in this program. The teachers asked if it could continue into the next school year, with more of the school involved and a bigger stake in the connection between what the students grow and what the school lunchroom will use from their garden. Planning has already begun and there are more plants and raised beds to go into the school gardens.

4-H and Youth Development

Elijah Wilson, Ed.D Extension Agent for 4-H Youth Development

Leadership Development

In 2018, the Extension Service commissioned a statewide community needs assessment. As part of the process, a questionnaire was developed that included likert-type and open-ended questions that were designed to determine the most important issues impacting quality of life. The process also included the use of focus groups and interviews to further understand the complexity of community development

CCES 21st students harvesting carrots they

grew in their raised bed.

related issues.

In Cumberland County, two focus groups were convened and 252 people completed the questionnaire. Participants who completed the questionnaire were asked to rate 62 statements related to community needs on a scale of 1– 4 with a 4 being Very Important and 1 being Not Important. According to the analysis, one the most important issues was the need for the next generation of community leaders. When asked to rate the importance of qualified leaders to prepare community for the future, the average response from people in Cumberland County was a 3.7.

One of the seven core subject areas in the Kentucky 4-H program is Leadership. One way that 4-H members developed their leadership capacity is by attending leadership conferences, such as Issues conference. In November 2018, five teens from Cumberland County High School attended Kentucky 4-H Issues Conference in Jabez, Kentucky.

The purpose of this annual four-day intensive leadership development conference is to help 4-H members learn about the process of identifying and addressing local issues. After the conference, participants had the opportunity to put their leadership skills into action by applying for a grant to help address a local issue in their community. In 2018, Cumberland County 4-H members Paris Newell and Shayla Branham were awarded a $500 grant to improve community health by promoting the consumption of water instead of sugar filled drinks. As a result, they were able to partner with the Cumberland County School District to install new and upgraded water fountains that are filtered, cooled, and have water bottle filling stations that have been shown to increase water consumption and promote the use of refillable cups and bottles.

26 Number of youth that have confidence speaking in front of groups.

30 Number of individuals more likely to buy a Kentucky fruit or vegetable as result of tasting a Plate It Up! Kentucky Proud recipe sample.

38 Number of youth reported being a better leader (due to skills improved through Extension programming) .

106 Number of youth who indicate they are connected to caring adults who are interested in their success.

110 Number of individuals reporting improved knowledge regarding disaster preparedness.

163 Number of producers willing to adopt improved soil health/quality practices to improve profitability due to extension programming efforts.

205 Number of participants gaining access to Extension programming at local farmer’s market.

449 Number of volunteer service hours completed by Extension Master Gardener Volunteers in the county.

600 Number of individuals who demonstrated safe handling and preparation of food.

786 Number of indirect contacts made by Master Gardener volunteers.

2900 Total miles walked by program participants

Extension At a Glance

4-H members partner with school system to increase consumption of water during school.