UGA Cooperative Extension

Walton County Extension Office:
Family & Consumer Sciences

EFNEP (Expanded Foods Nutrition Education Program)

The Expanded Food & Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) is an outreach of the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension in Walton County. EFNEP is a federally funded program and is conducted through the Cooperative Extension in every state and U.S. territory. Cooperating Colleges are the College of Agriculture & Environmental Sciences and the College of Family & Consumer Sciences.

For over 30 years, EFNEP has been helping families with children learn how to eat healthier meals and snacks, stretch their food dollars and reduce the risk of food-borne illness.

Participants enroll in the EFNEP classes which may be taught in group sessions or in individual home visits by Paraprofessional, Molly Kimler. These individuals learn how to improve the quality of their diets and to plan and buy the most nutrition for their food dollar.

Walton County EFNEP offers a variety of nutrition education experiences for every family member!

EFNEP for ADULTS

Faced with the challenges of paying rent, utilities, daycare, and other family expenses, families experience the stress of trying to provide a variety of nutritious foods and maintain healthy diets on limited budgets. EFNEP provides a variety of tools and ideas to help families cut food costs and provide healthy meals and snacks for family members. They learn how to make quick & easy meals on a budget. During 2009- 2010, over 130 clients were enrolled.

Adults enrolled in EFNEP learn how to:

Prepare quick & easy meals and snacks
Plan low cost nutritious meals
Shop for the best food buys
Keep foods safe to eat
Eat right and light to control sugar, salt, fat and calories
Make healthy fast food choices

Youth 3

PRE-SCHOOL

EFNEP provides fun filled food experiences for preschoolers in Walton County. Each lesson includes a nutrition objective that encourages preschoolers to make healthy food choices and to develop good health and nutrition habits. Lessons are conducted with the use of songs, finger plays, stories, and hands on experiences. During the 2009 -2010 school year, 375 preschool children were reached.

Preschoolers learn:

To identify the Food Pyramid
The importance of eating a variety of foods from each food group

Youth 2

Youth 1

YOUTH

Fun food experiences that teach children healthy food choices, are also conducted with school age youth. Groups are taught through schools, after school community classes, summer workshops and day camps. During 2009- 2010, over 100 youth were reached.

Youth learn:

About the Food Pyramid
Why we need to make healthy food choices
How to prepare snacks

TAMS

Another component of EFNEP includes working with pregnant and parenting teens, “TAMS”. Participants attend group classes or receive home visits, to improve their nutritional knowledge, the quality of their diet, reduce the incidence of low birth weight and encourage prenatal visits with health professionals.

An additional benefit of the TAMS program is that it serves as a support group for the girls. Guest speakers are invited to teach about other prenatal topics such as parenting skills, Babyreads and setting goals for the future. Visits are made by Paraprofessional, Molly Kimler, to schools and homes. During the 2009 -2010 school year, the Walton County EFNEP program reached over 50 Teen Moms.

They learn:

How to eat healthy for moms-to-be
How to properly feed infants and toddlers
How to provide positive food experiences for their children

Walton County EFNEP Staff

Molly Kimler - Program Assistant

Molly Kimler (picture on left), Nutrition Program Assistant
Judy Hibbs, Area Extension Agent, EFNEP

Contact Us

Walton County Extension
100 North Broad St.
Monroe, GA 30655
(770)267-1324
(770)267-1428 - fax

Last update Sept. 24, 2010