Nutrition Education

SNAP-Ed

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education

SNAP-Ed is the nutrition education component of SNAP, with the goal of improving the likelihood that persons eligible for SNAP will make healthy food choices within a limited budget and choose physically active lifestyles consistent with the current 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the USDA food Guidance.

Direct Nutrition Education

Nourish Colorado is now one of two SNAP-Ed implementing agencies in Colorado, supported by the Department of Human Services. We support this work by implementing Cooking Matters curriculum with partners across the state. Cooking Matters is helping to end childhood hunger by inspiring families to make healthy food choices. Cooking Matters programs help parents and caregivers struggling with limited food budgets learn how to shop for and cook healthy, affordable meals.

To inquire about Cooking Matters in your community, first explore if any of our implementing partners are already offering courses near you. Our Cooking Matters partners:

- - Care and Share Food Bank (Southern CO)
  - Garfield County Public Health
  - Food Bank for Larimer County
  - San Luis Valley Local Foods Coalition
  - Weld County Public Health
  - Hilltop Community Resources (Grand Junction)
  - Valley Food Partnership (Olathe)
  - Mancos Food Share
  - Manna Soup Kitchen (Durango)
  - Community Table Arvada
  - Community Partnership Family Resource Center (Teller County)

As Nourish has taken on a more limited SNAP-Ed budged and resources, we are unable to support the wide network of previous Cooking Matters implementers. We can however offer technical assistance to train-the-trainer partners, no-cost curricula, data and evaluation support, and potentially a small stipend to those interested in delivering Cooking Matters within their organization. Cooking Matters will continue to have their online facilitator training materials for anyone interested in delivering Cooking Matters programming through September 2024. If you are interested in providing food skills education to families through your organization please visit the Cooking Matters website to learn more about the Cooking Matters Core. This bundle of 13 lessons with recipes and handouts may be implemented in any combination to provide the flexibility to best meet your communities desires. In addition, the Cooking Matters at Home lessons and other toolkits are available. If you are looking for other food skills education materials, recipes, tips, videos and kids handouts are available at CookingMatters.org.

If you’re interested in hosting Cooking Matters courses at your organization, please reach out to Rakia Ranney rakia@nourishcolorado.org

Policy, Systems, and Environment

PSE is one of the approaches outlined in the SNAP-Ed guidance.

- - Policies take several forms such as laws, ordinances, regulations, and rules.
  - Systems interventions are changes that impact all areas of an organization, institution or community, not just policies.
  - Environmental interventions involve changes to the economic, social, or physical environment.

Some examples of our PSE work are supporting fruit and vegetable prescription programs, connecting nutrition education participants with other programs such as D ouble Up Food Bucks or SNAP outreach, and supporting corner stores and retailers with food skills education messaging.

Reach out to Jazmin Bojorquez jazmin@nourishcolorado.org if you’re interested in implementing some of these changes in your community.