Food & Nutrition

The Carroll County Food and Nutrition Program provides research-based programming in:

  • Healthy food choices and the importance of physical activity
  • Resource management to get the most nutritional bang for your food dollar
  • Food safety
  • Food Preservation

These programs include, but are not limited to, Train the Trainer for and direct education on the topics of:

Nutrition Education, Healthy Food Preparation, Resource Management, Safe Food Handling, Food Preservation and the Importance of Physical Activity. Target audiences include: youth, young adults, adults, senior citizens and developmentally disabled adults.

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

Carroll County Snap-Ed

The Maryland Supplement Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP-Ed) is a nutrition education program that targets individuals and families eligible for SNAP (EBT).  The SNAP-Ed educator in Carroll County provides resources to help people lead healthy lives through increased food access and improved overall health through nutrition and physical activity.  SNAP-Ed partners with community organizations to change the policies, systems, and environments of those sites and offer education programs to support positive changes in those communities.

SNAP-Ed programming reaches participants in a variety of ways including:  Classroom-based, in-person nutrition education for youth, which features tastings and food preparation opportunities.

  • Face-to-face education for parents/caregivers to encourage healthy role modeling and healthy food preparation at home.
  • Onsite gardens and gardening for nutrition programs, which encourage the use of locally-produced foods for tastings, snacks, and meals.
  • Text4HealthyTots, a text-messaging program for parents of preschool-aged children, which features weekly texts with actionable information on nutrition and physical activity.
  • Shoppers at farmers’ markets and other direct-marketing venues.
  • Technology efforts, including social media, websites, and videos, which connect parents to lessons and educational activities occurring in the classroom.
  • Training for staff and volunteers at standalone and school-based food assistance sites to provide healthy food options, package healthy choices to make nutritious meals, assist clients in selecting healthy choices, procure healthy foods to distribute, and motivate pantry managers to become healthy food champions for their site.

For more SNAP-Ed resources, visit:

-- Eatsmart    -- Facebook Page

 

To become a SNAP-Ed partner, contact:

Terry Serio, tserio@umd.edu, 410-386-2760

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Financial Education

We also offer research based financial education with topics like :

  • Understanding college costs and student loans
  • Understanding credit reports and scores
  • Strategies for saving
  • Managing debt
  • Understanding how your health insurance works
  • And more!

For more information or to schedule a class for your group or organization, contact Carrie Sorenson by emailing cjrsoren@umd.edu or calling 410-386-2760. Carrie is an Extension Educator who is an Accredited Financial Counselor with 5 years of experience in financial education.

For additional resources, you can visit:

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) - https://www.consumerfinance.gov/

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) - https://www.irs.gov/

The U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) - https://www.sec.gov/