Welcome to Virginia Cooperative Extension’s Family Nutrition Program (FNP). We help low income families and children learn to eat healthier and move more throughout the state of Virginia in a variety of ways. The mission of FNP is to teach limited-resource families and youth to make healthier food choices and become better managers of available food resources for optimal health and growth. All programming and materials are free of cost!
These wonderful professionals can help you figure out how to feed you and your family foods that taste good and are good for you in ways that don’t cost a lot of money. All of our recipes have been tested on a variety of people so they taste good, are low in calories, don’t cost a lot to fix and can be prepared in 30 minutes or less. That’s quicker than driving through a fast food line!
To qualify, you have to be eligible for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) or WIC.
If you would like to be trained to provide nutrition education to your own groups or student population contact our Nutrition Outreach Instructor, Shevonne Newby at snewby@vbgov.com.
Nutrition Education
The youth component of the Family Nutrition Program is part of the overall 4-H program that focuses on providing food and nutrition education and personal development opportunities for youth, ages 4-19 (grades pre-k to 12). It emphasizes healthy eating as well as personal development of the youth from limited resource families. These youth acquire the knowledge and skills to enable them to make wise food selections and to prepare nutritious simple meals and snacks.
Family Nutrition Program Lessons include:
- Exploring the "My Plate" Food Guide
- OrganWise Guys Curriculum
- Learning a variety of Foods
- Label reading and advertising
- Healthy snacks and eating out
- Food preparation and safety
- Fitness, physical activity, and appearance
Youth with Limited Resources
The objective is to help youth with food and nutrition education and opportunities for personal development. One of the long-range goals is to encourage youth to pursue other opportunities in 4-H.