Office of Outreach & Engagement

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Community Partner(s): Multiple community partners in Willimantic, Windham Counties, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New London County, New Britain, Vernon, West Harford, Bristol

Demographics: Low-income individuals, families, children of all ages

School or College: College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources

Campus Affiliation: UConn Storrs

Ashford, Bristol, East Hartford, East Lyme, East Windsor, Ellington, Enfield, Groton, Lyme, Manchester, New Britain, New London, Norwich, Old Lyme, Putnam, South Windsor, Tolland, Vernon, West Hartford, Windham, Windsor, Windsor Locks

Program Description

SNAP-Ed builds on successful activities within our target communities to assess the affordable healthy food and physical activity environments affected by the pandemic. SNAP-Ed has identified food deserts and food swamps and is working with community members to increase awareness and involve additional community stakeholders in groups (e.g., additional community HAT teams) to decrease food insecurity and improve consumption of healthy foods by SNAP recipients. This will also include assessing our target audiences’ awareness and understanding of online SNAP ordering, educating WIC audiences on redeeming USDA vouchers for fruits/vegetables and doubling EBT benefits at farmers’ markets to enhance access and purchasing power.
SNAP-Ed empowers audiences to improve diet quality within the context of budget strategies (e.g., pantry foods for adults to cook at home, recognizing local farmers’ produce in grocery stores, and being aware of “good buys,” healthy foods offered to kids in Title I school meals). The program couples effective online and face-to-face nutrition education with opportunities for readily available online interventions and social media platforms accessible through Smartphones.
USDA/NIFA/AFRI: The overall goal of this integrated project is to improve diet quality and decrease chronic disease risk factors in low-income adults using a multi-level, equity-oriented intervention, combining personalized nutrition education (PNE) enhanced with digital food and nutrition literacy (DFNL), digital food access, and communication (“Smart Nutrition”) and community collaboration to improve access to nutritious, culturally acceptable, and affordable diets.