NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State
University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
January 29, 1998
The Family Nutrition Program (FNP) is designed to teach food stamp recipients about nutrition, food safety and how to stretch their food dollars.
"FNP is one of the pieces that leads toward self-sufficiency," says Barbara Holes-Dickson, FNP specialist with the North Dakota State University Extension Service. "The educational programming we offer provides our customers with transferrable skills. They can take the lessons they've learned about saving money on groceries and use them for buying other consumer goods."
Holes-Dickson cites many examples demonstrating FNP benefits. One customer in McHenry County, for instance, relates how she recently learned to save money by buying a large roast and cutting it into smaller pieces, thereby making a higher-priced piece of food go further. She is also shrinking her grocery bill through the use of coupons. Small steps such as these each contribute to success in the move from welfare to self-sufficiency.
FNP is funded by USDA's Food and Nutrition Service, administering all USDA nutrition-assistance programs, the cornerstone of which is the Food Stamp Program. The North Dakota Department of Human Services secures FNP's federal funds while the NDSU Extension Service delivers the educational programs.
"We see it as a real enhancement of overall extension programming because it tends to reach a customer that other areas of extension haven't seen," says Holes-Dickson.
Besides partnering with county social service offices, FNP works with other community agencies and organizations, explains Holes-Dickson. For example, the Salvation Army is providing classrooms, child care, kitchen space and transportation for FNP customers in Stutsman County.
At present, FNP education is available to customers in 35 counties, an area that encompasses about 70 percent of the state's eligible food stamp recipients. As additional social service and extension offices partner, more eligible recipients will be able to take advantage of the FNP educational opportunities. By forming partnerships in just a few more key counties, more than 95 percent of the state's food stamp recipients could be reached, says Holes-Dickson.
Those providing FNP customers with the educational programs are county extension staff, some of whom have firsthand experience with the Food Stamp Program. Much of the information FNP program instructors present is enhanced by demonstrating actual recipes, says Holes-Dickson. So, the training provides FNP customers with hands-on experiences, and many of the lessons can be personalized to meet individual needs.
Classes focus on many topics, including how to eat well while spending less money, choosing healthy snacks, how to keep food safe, and how to meet a growing family's nutritional requirements. For more information about the programs and services available through FNP, contact your local office of the NDSU Extension Service.
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Source: Barbara Holes-Dickson (701) 231-7256
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136