Thursday, March 10, 2016

Celebrate National Nutrition Month

Fulton County’s Departments of Health and Wellness and Cooperative Extension Services offer a wide range of programs that teach citizens about healthy food, how to shop for it, how to grow it and how to prepare it. Cooperative Extension delivers tons of fresh food each summer to communities most in need through its popular Fulton Fresh Mobile Farmers Market program. 

Cooperative Extension

Under the umbrella of its Family and Consumer Science, Master Gardening and Urban Gardening programs, Cooperative Extension takes a holistic approach to nutritional education. Families learn the principles of basic nutrition and weight management and food preparation. They learn that many of the foods they’ve eaten all along can be just as tasty when prepared in a healthful way. Food safety, how to store food properly and the art of thrifty grocery shopping are skills also taught in Cooperative Extension classes.

Fulton’s Master Gardener training program introduces citizens to practical gardening that they can take back to their neighborhoods to grow fresh vegetables. Community gardening is now thriving at several of the County’s health centers and in neighborhoods nearby. Interested persons must sign up to plant and care for a garden. . A master gardener can provide guidance and assistance as needed. Plots have already been leased in the North and South Fulton gardens. Call Cooperative Extension at 404-332-2400 to check on the availability of garden plots in other locations.

Health and Wellness-WIC

In addition to nutrition counseling, the program provides support for breastfeeding and food vouchers for infant formula, milk, eggs, cheese, cereal, juices and other healthy foods. In 2011, Fulton County’s WIC program received a commendation from the state for having a 100% redemption rate for the vouchers it distributed.

Residents in need of any of these services and programs are urged to visit www.fultoncountyga.gov. The schedule for WIC classes is attached. For more WIC information, call 404-612-6750; for information on the programs offered by Cooperative Extension, call 404-332-2400 or visit www.ugaextension.com/fulton.

Fulton County’s WIC program is so successful; it has been used as a model for other programs around the state. WIC is the federally funded Women and Infant Children’s program available to pregnant women and to women who are breastfeeding up to 12 months after their deliveries. The program also is open to non-breastfeeding women up to 6 months post-partum and to children up to 5-years-old who risk not thriving for medical or nutritional reasons. All families must meet income eligibility requirements.

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