Helping Every Time People Eat!

Two messages are emphasized in all of UNL Cooperative Extension in Lancaster County’s food programs — the importance of nutrition as well as food safety.

The Great Taste of Good Nutrition: Eating a healthy diet helps promote good health and reduces risk for chronic diseases such as heart disease, certain types of cancer, diabetes, stroke and osteoporosis — the leading causes of death and disability among Americans. Extension Educator Alice Henneman helps people select and prepare healthy, enjoyable foods. One of her programs this year was “Eat Smart: How to Fill Up, Not Out.”

Handling Food Safely: An estimated 76 million cases of foodborne disease occur each year in the United States according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). On a yearly basis, foodborne diseases are related to an estimated: 325,000 hospitalizations, 5,000 deaths, $3 billion cost of hospitalizations, $20– 40 billion cost of lost productivity.

Extension is the lead agency in Lancaster County for educating consumers about food safety. Many consumers call the extension office with home food safety concerns.

Henneman, in partnership with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department, has developed several educational materials to promote food safety, including articles, posters, flyers and table tents. Photo above is of a display at a health fair whic included a food safety quiz.

Blending It All Together: In food preparation, nutrition decisions and food safety procedures go hand in hand. Extension blends nutrition, food safety and food preparation information in user-friendly ways.

Extension’s Food Web site, lancaster.unl.edu/food, offers a variety of materials to help people select and prepare healthy food. The site received more than 650,000 hits last year.

Alice Henneman presenting a free class “Healthy Cooking with Spices & Herbs” at BryanLGH Medical Center.