The expanded food and nutrition education program (EFNEP) in oregon assists low-income families and youth in acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and changed behaviors necessary for…

The Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture awarded Oregon State University $618,783 under the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (CFDA 10.514) on October 1, 2025, for delivery through September 30, 2030.

Oregon State University will deliver nutrition education to low-income families and youth in Oregon, with priorities on improving food resource management skills in adults and improving adult participant handwashing skills. The program emphasizes teaching participants purchasing, meal planning, food preparation, and storage techniques for healthy, low-cost foods; training nutrition educators on cooking tips and techniques to help participants stretch food resources and reduce food waste; and improving handwashing practices as a foundation for food safety and disease prevention. The work is performed in Corvallis, Oregon.

EFNEP operates through land-grant universities in all states and territories to support participants' efforts toward self-sufficiency, nutritional health, and well-being through hands-on learning, applied science, and program data evaluation.

The expanded food and nutrition education program (EFNEP) in oregon assists low-income families and youth in acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and changed behaviors necessary for nutritionally sound diets and contributes to their personal development and the improvement of total family diet and nutritional welfare. EFNEP focuses on helping families gain knowledge, skills, and confidence in making informed decisions about diet quality and physical activity, food resource management, food safety and food security. Priorities include 1: improving food resource management skills in adults while participating in oregon EFNEP classes, adults learn new skills in food resource management practices, including purchasing, selecting, or otherwise obtaining, preparing, and storing healthy foods. We will emphasize introducing participants to new low-cost, healthy foods, planning meals in advance, and preparing foods at home. Particular attention will be given to training nutrition educators on cooking tips and techniques that can help EFNEP participants stretch food resources and reduce food waste. Improving practices and skill sets in food resource management will enable EFNEP participants to put healthy food on the table and run out of food less often before the end of the month. 2: improving adult participant handwashing skills regular handwashing is one of the best ways to remove germs, avoid getting sick and prevent the spread of germs to others. IT is also one of the most important things to do to prevent food poisoning when preparing food. In 2020, the CDC launched life is better with clean hands, a new national campaign designed to help raise awareness about the importance of handwashing at key times in both homes and public settings, such as before cooking or after using the bathroom. Based on participant data from FFY2023, handwashing continues to be one of the skills with the smallest progress across EFNEP's core areas, with only 41% of adults washing their hands more often before preparing food. 3: improving adult participant physical activity regular physical activity improves strength and endurance, helps to control weight and improves blood pressure and cholesterol levels. Oregon EFNEP adult participants reported positive changes above the 48% reported on the national tier data for 2022 we would like to continue this upward trend. 4: increase outreach and program delivery to emerging adults (AGES19-29) with limited financial resources in coordination with the western region, oregon EFNEP will prioritize increasing outreach and program delivery to emerging adults with limited financial resources. This goal focuses on engaging individuals within this age group (who do not currently have children) since they have an immediate potential to start a family. Some examples of this audience could include low-income students at two and four-year universities, youth who have aged out of foster care, or youth participating in workforce development programs or leadership programs like job corps. We will work with key partners on the local level to ensure eligibility. 5: increase reach of youth in 6-8TH grades a program priority over the next five years for oregon EFNEP, is to shift our youth reach to focus on older grades. This goal comes from the success obtained with the western region goal from the previous 5-year plan, in which we focused on increasing reach to 6-8TH grades. Strategies to meet our goal include utilizing curricula from california: eat move win and exercise your options, and cornell's choose health: food, fun and fitness (CHFFF). We will also pilot test a new north carolina state curriculum for high schoolers, fuel for life. Having a new curricula option for this particular age range will strengthen our recruitment and retention efforts with this target population.