Veggies for ME!

 

Project Description

‘Veggies for ME!’ is a program designed by USM Muskie School, the Maine WIC Nutrition Program and the University of Maine Cooperative Extension that promote vegetable consumption among WIC participants and their families by addressing barriers identified from a needs assessment survey. The survey identified cost, limited preparation skills, inability to manage family likes/dislikes, and low familiarity with a variety of vegetables as major barriers to vegetable consumption. To identify appropriate program curriculum, the planning workgroup created a survey to assess the vegetable consumption, preparation and purchasing barriers faced by WIC clients at large from the participating agencies. The workgroup pilot tested the survey at a local WIC agency to determine readability and comprehension in the target audience. The telephone survey (n = 400) was conducted by contacting WIC clients at the aforementioned agencies.

Analysis of the telephone survey results indicated that:

• 58% of the clients have been making efforts to increase their vegetable intake.
• 52% of the clients indicated that knowing how to prepare vegetables would help them serve vegetables more often.
• 62% indicated that “the cost of vegetables” is a barrier to purchasing vegetables (When ranking barriers, 29% of clients noted that cost was the biggest problem in serving more vegetables).
• 41% indicated that “the quality of vegetables” is a concern when purchasing vegetables.
• 48% of clients indicated that they cook vegetables for their family that they don’t personally eat.

Methods

Veggies for ME provides cooking demonstrations for WIC moms and kids at six local WIC agencies in Maine. A demonstration using one vegetable in a variety of recipes is held every other month throughout the year, resulting in six total demonstrations. Participants are recruited during their regularly scheduled WIC visits. WIC counselors invite the clients to participate, use posters at the clinic advertising the next demonstration and call clients at home to remind them. At the demonstration, the participants watch recipes being prepared, sample them, and engage in discussions focused on six topics:

1. Meal planning
2. Finding the best buys at the grocery store
3. Making cooking easier
4. Making family meals more enjoyable
5. Being a healthy role model
6. Exploring seasonality in vegetables

MNN staff:

Matt L’Italien; Lori Kaley


Staff Contact:

Matt L’Italien MS RD LD
45 Commerce Drive, Suite 11
Augusta, ME  04330
P: 207/626-5219
F: 207/626-5210 mlitalien@usm.maine.edu