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Harvesters’ Healthy Eating Initiative includes the Project Strength program to help adults create healthy meals with limited resources, plan meals and comparison shop. Project Strength is a 6-week nutrition class. Class participants receive important information for their health, hands-on cooking instruction, and a free bag of groceries to take home. Each class provides a forum for social interaction, inspiration and problem-solving. Harvesters consulted with Kansas City Area Education Research Consortium to evaluate the effectiveness of Project Strength. Key findings from FY16 Project Strength evaluation include the following:
43 percent of participants increased their fruit and vegetable consumption
45 percent reduced their consumption of sugary beverages
38 percent increased their daily water intake
44 percent increased reading nutrition labels
51 percent increased looking for whole grain products
48 percent increased looking for low-fat dairy products
93 percent of participants met either an eating or activity goal in Project Strength
90 percent changed something about the way they eat because of Project Strength
41 percent increased their comfort level with cooking healthfully because of Project Strength
During FY16, classes were offered at 25 sites in both the Kansas City and Topeka area. In total, 459 participants participated in Project Strength classes.