University of District of ColumbiaCooperative Extension Joins APLU, Emphasizes Role of Federal Nutrition Programs at Public Universities 

In honor of National Nutrition Month, Kelly Dalton, APLU’s Executive Director of the Board on Health & Human Sciences (BHHS), recently organized a workshop for staff highlighting Cooperative Extension from the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), APLU’s local land-grant university.  

Dalton, a former UDC Extension Agent herself, began the workshop by providing background on federal nutrition programs including SNAP-Ed and EFNEP, Cooperative Extension, related federal legislation and funding lines, and how these all come together to address health disparities through nutrition education and community engagement, tying in APLU’s BHHS and Board on Agriculture Assembly’s role in supporting these efforts.  

Staff were then treated to a typical SNAP-Ed healthy cooking demonstration led by Chef Herb Holden, Extension Agent at the University of the District of Columbia, Cooperative Extension Service, Center for Nutrition, Diet and Health. With a focus on underserved DC communities, Chef Herb and the UDC SNAP-Ed program engage with DC communities to provide nutrition education for all ages.  Chef Herb immersed staff in an interactive healthy cooking session as he led the audience through cooking black bean quinoa and brown rice soup.  

The workshop and demonstration were a fun and illustrative showcase of how public and land-grant universities impact the communities they serve on a day-to-day basis.