-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 19,1986 58 Extension Service's EFNEP Program Takes Nutrition Education To Urban Communities BY MARGIE FUSCO Cambria County Correspondent GREENSBURG Pat Long is angry. Despite a sunny day and a successful conclusion to the West moreland County day camp, the senior extension agent is on a subject that gets her steamed: the July 1906 Reader’s Digest article that labels the Cooperative Ex tension Services as one of “Uncle Sam’s Ten Worst Taxpayer Rip- Offs.” “The writer didn’t mention a thing about nutrition programs. He probably didn’t even know about them.” She pauses, and noting that the author spoke to an official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, adds, “I’ll bet he didn’t know about them, either.” Long is responsible for ad ministering the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program in Westmoreland County, one of 56 county programs in the state. EFNEP, as Long notes, may be the extension service’s best-kept secret. Whereas most extension ser vices deal with the rural com munity, EFNEP takes the lessons of agriculture into the heart of urban communities. Founded in 1969 (with Westmoreland as one of the pilot counties in the project), EFNEP helps low-income families improve their nutrition through education and better use of resources. In Pennsylvania, the program reaches almost 6,000 families a year. Westmoreland County an nually serves about 250 families through EFNEP. More than half of these households have less than $438 in monthly income. Although most of the participants receive Westmoreland BY MARGIE FUSCO Cambria County Correspondent GREENSBURG - Bradley Diggs is a winner in more ways than one. He’s one of 200 youngsters, ages 8 to 12, who at tended the 16th annual West moreland County 4-H Day Camp, held July 7-10 at Twin Lakes Park near Greensburg. Diggs won the apple eat-off during his group’s day at the camp. But like all the others who attended the program, he took home more than an award. “The camp is designed to make learning fun,” explains Pat Long, home economist with the West moreland County Agricultural Extension Service. The camp is part of the federally-funded Ex panded Food and Nutrition Education Program, administered by the Extension Service in 56 Pennsylvania counties. Because EFNEP includes 4-H clubs in its range of nutrition education programs, the idea of day camps was established near the program’s start. The annual Westmoreland County day camp is open to youngsters in four com * v y campers food stamps and other supple mental help, many of the home makers are young and are un certain about how to make ends meet and still feed their children well. “We’re not talking about people who are ripping off the system,” Long says. “We’re talking about people with a genuine need. Maybe they oeme out of poor homes themselves and they don’t even know the basics of good nutrition. Or maybe they’re unemployed and suddenly living on a tiny income, trying to figure out how to meet the bills and still feed a family. These are people we’re helping.” Through EFNEP, nutrition aides meet with homemakers and teach them about basic nutrition, food selection and preparation, and skills such as gardening and canning. “People who grew up learning to can and garden presume everyone knows how, but a lot of folks don’t,” Long explains. “A lot of the people we deal with haven’t been near a garden before, or they’re far removed from families who could teach them. They need a network of people who can help.” EFNEP aides also work with children, establishing 4-H clubs in low-income communities. “In the past, these clubs were labeled and separated,’’ says Joanne Logan, 4- H advisor in Westmoreland County. “They were the nutrition clubs. Now we’re making every effort to treat all our elute equally.” Programs such as the annual 4-H day camp help EFNEP aides, volunteer helpers, and 4-H members reach even more children with education about nutrition. Logan notes that 4-H Camp Makes Learning Fun munities served by EFNEP. For a token fee of 50 cents, the youth gets a day-long program of workshops and games, along with a hot, nutritious lunch. This year’s camp focused on apples. Campers were divided into groups identified by apple varieties. They played a “Wheel of Fortune” game in one workshop, answering questions about proper nutrition. In another workshop, they learned how to operate a microwave oven and baked their own anples for a snack. After lunch they held an apple eat-off contest, then had a miniature petting zoo featuring farm animals. The day ended with games and a boat trip on one of the park’s lakes. A new feature of this year’s program was a separate workshop for adult chaperones at the day camp. While the youngsters were busy with games and crafts under the watchful eyes of their 4-H club counselors, the grownups went off to leam beauty tips and try their own hands at a craft. “A lot of mothers come along each year as volunteers,” Long explains. “We wanted the women to spend a day up **¥ <ward join their counsc.ors in parai games. 'om nutrition-based 4-H clubs out number livestock clubs in the county. The Westmoreland County EFNEP program functions with six aides in addition to Long. One aide works entirely with youth programs. The remainder spend the majority of their time with adult programs. “Our staff really works as a team,” Long says. “That’s what it takes to make it work, and it’s working here.” But Long knows that things may change soon. The program is facing substantial revisions in November. “Up until now it’s been mostly one-on-one. We take a homemaker and work with her over the course of three years. We evaluate her knowledge at the beginning and help her to build skills and get confidence in herself as a homemaker.” The new program will shift the emphasis to group activities and will require that instruction time be shortened to one year. Noting that group instruction can be difficult in low-income areas where neighbors may be at odds, Long admits, “I’m con cerned about how it’s going to work out.” She has an additional con cern: in January she will be losing three of her nutrition aides to retirement. “It’s taken a lot of years to develop this program,” she says. “I feel as if we’ve done a lot of good. Now we’ll have to cut back and serve fewer families. ’ ’ Agnes Mayewski, one of the nutrition aides facing retirement, says, “This has been more than just a job for me. I feel as if I’m doing something for people, making some difference in their lives. I worry about what’s going to become of a good program. ’ ’ feeling good about themselves.” It’s not just the mothers who learn to feel good about them selves. Bradley Diggs, usually solemn-faced, breaks into a grin as he accepts his apple eat-off award. Maria Glance hesitantly tries her first-ever sip of goat’s milk... and goes on to drain the glass eagerly. “I just milked a sheep! I really did it!” a girl shrieks. It’s not im portant that she really milked a goat; what matters is that for the first time all day she peers out over the movie star sunglasses she’s been hiding behind. “This is a special place,” notes Extension Service 4-H Advisor Joanne Logan, who helps to run the camp. She points to the number of 4-H teens who come back year after year to act as counselors. “One fellow over there has even graduated from the program this year, but he came back because he wanted to work the day camp one more time.” Kim Flowers of the New Alexandria Home Ec 4-H speaks for the others when she says, “I love it. I love working with the kids here. I think I leant as much from them as they do from me.” See your nearest NEW HOLLAND Dealer for Dependable Equipment and Dependable Service: Annville, PA B H M. 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