Missoula County EFNEP Program Highlights

Published: 2022
By Molly Attwater

The Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) offers nutrition and physical education classes to community members who qualify for public assistance and children in Title One schools. This year, Missoula County EFNEP partnered with numerous community agencies including the YWCA and Carole Graham House, where mothers of young children learned to prepare healthy food on a budget for their families. EFNEP also worked with the WIC office, Lifelong Learning Center, and Mountain Home Montana. EFNEP partnered with Double Snap Dollars and provided farmer's market coupons to class participants in 2022. EFNEP educators met class participants at the local farmer's market to redeem coupons for fresh, locally-grown produce. This was the first farmer's market experience for numerous participants. Several mothers invested in seeds to grow herbs in their homes and everyone purchased nutritious produce. As a result of the EFNEP nutrition classes, the participants from the Lifelong Learning Center could provide more nutrient-dense dinners for their families, on a budget. Numerous participants from the YWCA became cognizant of the amount of sugar their families were consuming by learning to read nutrition facts labels for the first time. As a result, they began intentionally reducing the quantity of sugar they consumed. EFNEP taught at many Missoula County schools, including Seeley Lake, DeSmet Elementary, Clinton Elementary, Alberton School, Franklin Elementary, Hawthorne Elementary, Lowell Elementary, Bonner Elementary, and Russell Elementary. The EFNEP educators encourage the children to be messengers and share their newfound nutrition knowledge with their families.