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Ravalli County

SNAP Education in Ravalli County

Published: 2020
By Jennifer Murrillo
Montana State University Extension provides 'Buy, Eat, Live, Better," Montana’s SNAP-Education program, which supports low-income Montanans in making the healthy choice the easy choice through a dual focus on nutrition and physical activity education and partnering with local and statewide organizations to improve policies, systems, and environments that support healthy behaviors. The 'Buy, Eat, Live, Better' program offers free cooking, nutrition, and physical activity classes to SNAP eligible adults and elementary students in the first, third and fifth grades. A school’s eligibility is based on participation in the Free and Reduced Lunch Program. Qualifying Ravalli County schools for Youth Understanding MyPlate (YUM) nutrition classes include Darby, Hamilton, and Victor. These communities are also offered the nine-week 'Eating Smart, Being Active' class series to teach adults how to create healthy, nutritious meals while staying within a tight food budget. Jennifer Murrillo, SNAP Education Instructor, taught interactive lessons for adults and youth to help families with: • Easy meal planning according to MyPlate • Stretching limited food dollars • Increasing physical activity • Discovering tasty ways to eat healthy • Improving skills for safe food handling and preparation For the 2020 grant year, 89 classes were taught with an average of two classes per week and a reach of 292 children and adults with 17 series and 10 'Creates' classes. Modifications were implemented due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Behavior change from the 'Eating Smart, Being Active' series and Youth Understanding MyPlate: 100% of participants showed improvement in one or more diet quality indicators (i.e., eating fruits, vegetables, red and orange vegetables, dark green vegetables, drinking less regular soda (not diet), drinking less fruit punch, fruit drinks, sweet tea, or sports drinks, and cooking dinner at home). 75% of participants showed improvement in one or more physical activity behaviors (i.e., exercising for at least 30 minutes, doing workouts to build and strengthen muscles, or making small changes to be more active). 89% of youth improved their diet quality via their abilities to choose foods according to Federal Dietary Recommendations or gained knowledge. 40% of youth improved their physical activity practices or gained knowledge. Hamilton Daly and Victor Schools, O’Hara Commons Sustainability Center, Darby Bread Box Food Pantry, Hamilton Farmers’ Market, and Victor and Hamilton Community Gardens are the Ravalli County sites with completed work on policy, systems, and environment change.
Providing SNAP education information and resources at a farmers market in Hamilton, Montana.