Support Nutrition Education programs in CT! --Linda Drake

In my last entry, I touched on the complex issues that surround nutrition education and access to healthy affordable foods. I’d like to dig a little deeper into the importance of continued and increased funding for programs like EFNEP.

EFNEP in Connecticut only has six community-based educators located in Hartford, New Haven and Windham counties. They are dedicated and hard-working. Some of the things they teach are exploring food attitudes, shopping skills, reading labels, food safety and food preparation. EFNEP participants have fun, try new foods, learn new skills and make changes to help them feed themselves and their families better. Sometimes we work with parents and kids cooking together. In Connecticut, about 96% of EFNEP participants make at least one positive food behavior change. They even spend less on food, while buying more nutritious foods.

The problem is funding! Across the nation, EFNEP programs are limited and reach less than 2% of their potential audiences. Food Stamp Nutrition Education is also available to food stamp recipients, but it has not had the documented success that EFNEP has…yet its funding is about 5 times higher! Studies on EFNEP cost benefit have shown that for every dollar spent for EFNEP, anywhere from $3.00 to $10.00 can be saved on health care costs.

My soapbox – CT needs state funds for effective food and nutrition education for low- income families. State funds could then be used as match to apply for more federal funds for nutrition education. The amount of money that companies spend on food advertising boggles the mind – in the hundreds of billions of dollars. Yet nationally, EFNEP gets about $68 million, and Connecticut’s budget is in the same ballpark as Maine, Oregon and North and South Dakota – states with very different demographics than Connecticut! Massachusetts has more than twice the federal funds for EFNEP than we do. Representative Rosa DeLauro is a great champion for EFNEP and has helped us get increases in recent years. But still, the funding allowed for in 1969 was $92 million! Obviously, Congress doesn’t understand how hard it is to make ends meet, and how hands-on, personal food and nutrition education experiences can make a real difference. I cannot ask our legislators, at either the state or national level, for funds because I am a state employee. But you can! If you want to chat about this more, respond to this blog.