Program provides nutritional information to students
Health myths, quick fixes, extreme diet habits and a variety of medications have erupted into existence as a result of the public’s wish to feel better, but lack of money to do it correctly.
Fortunately, there are programs in place to help. Food $ense was started by the USU Extension Office to give the community awareness of certain eating practices.
“Our main goal is to give nutrition information to people who are on food stamps, so that they may use their food stamps more wisely,” said Ashley Linschoten, a nutrition education assistant for Food $ense.
“I know when I was a cashier at Wal-Mart I would see people come through my line that were paying with food stamps, but were purchasing chips, cookies, frozen dinners, etc. We want to show them that it’s actually less expensive and healthier to buy fresh ingredients,” she said.
According to their official website, the Food $ense nutrition education program aims to help those low-income families budget properly and get the best nutrition out of what they can afford. Food $ense has been working to prove the community wrong about their ideas of cheap affordable food and to provide the necessary education to improve their diets and habits. They also provide instruction on how to prepare nutrient-dense food.
“All of our lessons are based on MyPyramid and the Dietary Guidelines as determined by the USDA,” said Candi Merritt, the Food $ense supervisor for Cache County.
Merritt said the Food $ense curriculum covers the details of MyPyramid and Dietary Guidelines addressing the different food groups, physical activity and disease prevention. She said other curriculum cover things like cooking basics and when different vegetables are in season and how to use them.
Merritt said now the project was initially designed for lower income families on food stamps or other welfare programs. However, Food $ense has expanded and been proven to be useful to more than just welfare recipients.
“Our program is a good fit for people who are eligible for Food Stamps or who are Food Stamp recipients,” said Merritt. “Particularly, our program serves well the needs of married students who live in Aggie Village … or other married student housing because we already have a class set up and running for this group.”
Merritt said they teach the first and third Tuesday of each month in the Aggie Village Community Kitchen, located in the same building as the MASA office. She said their resources aren’t limited to this group of people, and can set up a class or individual instruction with anyone who qualifies for the program.
Only 50 percent of the people taught have to qualify for the program, Merritt said. She said they do have the freedom to teach to individuals or groups even if they don’t qualify, and determine whether or not the group is a good fit for the program on a case by case basis.
Anyone who would qualify for such assistance, such as students of lesser income, can have the same benefits as those on food stamps.
“Since our program is catered toward lower income individuals, I think students would really benefit from these classes,” said Linschoten. “All the lessons that we teach have great nutrition information that clears up a lot of misconceptions about nutrition that are currently out there. Also we give out a ton of recipes at every lesson and we also make at least one of those recipes at the class for the individuals that attend to try.”
Food $ense is free resource available to students. To take advantage of this program or to find out dates, times and topics of these classes, call 435-752-6263.
– jess.wallace@aggiemail.usu.edu