WVU Extension - Family Nutrition Program

10/12/2025

The Mountaineer Mile is one initiative. Officials could help with nutrition and exercise with several strategies researched for years.

09/30/2025

Federal Legislation ended funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) after federal fiscal year 2025. This has been the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program's largest source of funding. As a result of the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding, public health projects and programs such as the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge, Kids Market @ the Store, and Rethink Your Drink, will no longer be offered through the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program after September 30, 2025. The cuts have led to the elimination of 33.5 SNAP-Ed funded positions, which includes 27 health educators and program administrators, as well as 6.5 FTE nutrition outreach instructors.

So, let's talk about which programming will still be available. The program's other major source of funding is the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). The current year’s EFNEP funding will allow the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program to retain 15 part-time nutrition outreach instructors who will continue to serve 21 counties. The instructors will not be available to serve their communities full time due to the loss of SNAP-Ed funding. Moving forward, the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program will be restricted to providing nutrition education classes for youth and adults with limited resources, such as those that are eligible for SNAP and WIC.

Thank you to everyone who has participated in our SNAP-Ed programming over the years. You've helped us make an impact in communities across West Virginia.

09/29/2025

Today, we're celebrating the pop-up kids markets that our health educators have helped facilitate across West Virginia. These farmers markets, often hosted at schools, give kids an opportunity to "shop" for free fruits and vegetables. These events are a great opportunity to empower kids to add healthy new foods to their diets. Our educators provide connections with local farmers and education to go along with the produce that will be offered.

Here are some of the accomplishments of this programming over the last few years:

🥕 These pop-up markets have reached over 23,000 youth since 2024.
🥕 In 2024, 52 sites maintained or implemented food distribution systems to reach high-risk populations such as the elderly and youth.
🥕In 2024, 5 sites collected excess produce to donate to charity.

Federal Legislation ended funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) after federal fiscal year 2025. This has been the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program's largest source of funding. As a result of the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding, public health projects and programs such as the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge, Kids Market @ the Store, and Rethink Your Drink, will no longer be offered through the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program after September 30, 2025.

If you've participated in a pop-up market, we'd love to hear about your experience! Please leave your stories in the comments.

09/28/2025

Today, we're celebrating our Harvest of the Month program! We feature a different fruit or vegetable each month and incorporate it into our programming. Our team provides taste tests for the Harvest of the Month, works with schools to add the item to their menu, and shares recipes and education around that food's health benefits at events and on social media.

Here are some of the program's accomplishments over the last few years:

🥕 Over 27,000 youth have participated in our Harvest of the Month programming since 2024.
🥕 Over 5,000 adults have participated in this programming since 2024.
🥕 In 2024, 15 sites in West Virginia implemented the use of fresh or local produce in their menus as a result of this program.

Federal Legislation ended funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) after federal fiscal year 2025. This has been the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program's largest source of funding. As a result of the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding, public health projects and programs such as the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge, Kids Market @ the Store, and Rethink Your Drink, will no longer be offered through the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program after September 30, 2025.

If you've participated in a lesson or event that incorporated our Harvest of the Month programming, we'd love to hear about your experience! Please leave your stories in the comments.

09/28/2025

We're celebrating Rethink Your Drink today! Our health educators teach participants about the importance of drinking water and reducing sugary drink consumption. Since 2024, this program has reached over 6,700 adults at Rethink Your Drink events. Participants often have the opportunity to sample fruit-infused water. If you've participated in this programming, we would love to hear about your experience in the comments.

Federal Legislation ended funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) after federal fiscal year 2025. This has been the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program's largest source of funding. As a result of the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding, public health projects and programs such as the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge, Kids Market @ the Store, and Rethink Your Drink, will no longer be offered through the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program after September 30, 2025.

09/27/2025

Today, we're celebrating our Rethink Your Drink program! Our health educators have been working to teach their communities about the importance of choosing water over sugary drinks. Quench, the Rethink Your Drink mascot, has made appearances in classrooms, at events and even in social media videos.

Here are some of the program's accomplishments over the last few years:

💧Since 2024, over 30,000 youth have participated in Rethink Your Drink events across West Virginia.
💧In 2024, 17 sites in West Virginia implemented or maintained free water access as a result of the Rethink Your Drink program.
💧Since 2024, the program has reached over 1,400 youth during Rethink Your Drink week.

Federal Legislation ended funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) after federal fiscal year 2025. This has been the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program's largest source of funding. As a result of the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding, public health projects and programs such as the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge, Kids Market @ the Store, and Rethink Your Drink, will no longer be offered through the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program after September 30, 2025.

As we prepare to wrap up this programming, we would love to hear about your experience participating in Rethink Your Drink events! Please leave your stories in the comments.

09/26/2025

Today, we're celebrating our Kids Market @ the Store Program. This program allows kids to “shop" for fresh fruits and vegetables — for free — at local retailers.

Here are a couple of this program's accomplishments from 2024:

🌱 683 parents/guardians completed a survey after participating in Kids Market @ the Store in 2024, and there was a 10% increase in the number of kids who participating in making meals and snacks.
🌱 In 2024, the Benedum Foundation provided funds to expand cold storage at 19 Kids Market @ the Store locations across the state. The refrigerators are loaned to sites, who agree to use them to promote healthier foods.

Federal Legislation ended funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) after federal fiscal year 2025. This has been the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program's largest source of funding. As a result of the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding, public health projects and programs such as the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge, Kids Market @ the Store, and Rethink Your Drink, will no longer be offered through the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program after September 30, 2025.

As we prepare to wrap up this programming, we would love to hear about your experience participating in Kids Market @ the Store! Please leave your stories in the comments.

09/26/2025

Today, we're celebrating Kids Market @ the Store, a program that allows kids to "shop" for fresh fruits and vegetables — for free — at local retailers. This program helps kids learn money skills, and gives them the opportunity to try new, healthy foods.

Here are some of the program's accomplishments over the last few years:

🌱 Most of the produce you see on our Kids Market @ the Store stands is locally grown. Since 2021, our program has pumped over a quarter of a million dollars into the local food economy by paying West Virginia farmers up front for their produce.
🌱 In 2024, over 7,000 kids participated in 34 counties across West Virginia. Since 2021, the program has reached over 18,000 kids and nearly 8,000 families.
🌱 683 parents/guardians completed a survey after participating in Kids Market @ the Store in 2024. On average, children added one fruit and vegetable serving per day.

Federal Legislation ended funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) after federal fiscal year 2025. This has been the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program's largest source of funding. As a result of the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding, public health projects and programs such as the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge, Kids Market @ the Store, and Rethink Your Drink, will no longer be offered through the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program after September 30, 2025.

As we prepare to wrap up this programming, we would love to hear about your experience participating in Kids Market @ the Store! Please leave your stories in the comments.

09/25/2025

09/24/2025

Federal Legislation ended funding of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-Ed) after federal fiscal year 2025. This has been the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program's largest source of funding. As a result of the elimination of SNAP-Ed funding, public health projects and programs such as the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge, Kids Market @ the Store, and Rethink Your Drink, will no longer be offered through the WVU Extension Family Nutrition Program after September 30, 2025.

As we prepare for these changes to take effect, we wanted to spend the next few days celebrating the impacts that our public health programs have made in West Virginia over the years. If you've participated in any of our programs, we'd love to hear about your experience in the comments. We'll be sharing your stories with the rest of the team and may feature some of them here on our page. Tomorrow, we'll be highlighting the Grow This: West Virginia Garden Challenge, which has been one of our largest programs.

09/19/2025

This fruit parfait is a great healthy snack to try this fall. To make one, you just need pineapple, mandarin oranges or peaches, vanilla and yogurt. We topped ours with a piece of candy corn, just for fun. 😁 You can find recipes for a variety of healthy meals on the MyPlate website. Here's the link: https://www.myplate.gov/myplate-kitchen/recipes.