Across the state, University of Nebraska-Lincoln extension associates like Brenda Sale educate people who are eligible for SNAP benefits through community gardening and outreach programs.
“We do food demonstrations, and we have seasonal produce guides that provide education to participants when they get things that they might not know,” Sale said. “Not all participants are familiar with kohlrabi or beets or Swiss chard, and we've seen a lot of success over the years of participants not taking produce or not selecting it because they don't know what it is or know how to use it.”
The SNAP education program exists in a dozen counties across Nebraska. It’s called the Growing Together Nebraska project, and it helps establish community gardens and offers nutritional education to people in those areas.
Its goal is not only to feed people in the community, but to ensure they know the nutritional value of the foods they’re growing.
“It provides education to individuals that are eligible for SNAP so we also focus on policy, system and environmental efforts that help to make the healthy choice the easy choice,” said Natalie Sehi, registered dietitian and extension educator with Nebraska Extension Nutrition Education Program. “We're improving the health of Nebraskans by doing projects like the Growing Together Nebraska project, which is improving the access of healthy fresh fruits and vegetables in communities across the state.”
Last summer, gardeners produced nearly 50,000 pounds of fresh produce, all of which was donated back into food systems across the state. Sale, who has worked in Dakota County, said the high numbers come from a strong network of volunteers.
“We have a really large, engaged group of volunteers and master gardeners, and all of that produce is harvested by a team of people, then it's delivered into the food system by a different group of volunteers, and then it's distributed to the participants by another group of volunteers,” Sale said. “We have a large engaged network of people that are working in addressing food insecurity here in Dakota County.”
Collaboration with local businesses is important too, Sehi said, which donate mulch, plants and other supplies. In some communities cities cover the cost of water.
Sale knows that it’s not just providing food to people, but also a place of community and education.
“You can see real concrete changes in the food system, concrete changes in the lives of people,” Sale said. “And, you know, you actually are putting fresh food into the hands of people that otherwise could not afford it.”