UMES Extension’s Nutrition and Health Program, led by Dr. Virginie Zoumenou, is the recipient of recent international awards for its impact in the high food insecurity community that it serves. The program was honored with the Nutrition Education Program Impact Award from the Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior and the Excellence in Creative Solutions for Food and Nutrition Security Award for the United States regional network by the NNEdPro Global Institute, both awarded in July 2023.
The award-winning work is based on a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Well Connected Communities-Healthy Street Healthy Me initiative, a 10-year community engagement project launched in 2017. Zoumenou, professor of dietetics and nutrition at UMES, and her team of extension specialists, along with university and community partners, established mini-orchards on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland.
“The idea is to provide outreach activities and support for community members to learn about backyard fruit cultivation and sustainability while addressing food insecurity,” Zoumenou said. “The project has proven that in a small area, a substantial amount of fresh, local fruit can be produced.”
For example, said Dr. Naveen Kumar Dixit, a co-principal investigator on the grant, a 3,600-square-foot plot at an area recreational park with a 46-tree orchard has the potential to yield 5,000 pounds of fruit per year for the community to pick and consume.
The methodology for the project included the Culture of Health Action Framework, involving coalition building, initiation of a multisector health council, a community health assessment, issues identification, action plan development and implementation. Approximately 250 youth, 50 adults, 12 community-based organizations, seven businesses and eight government agencies initiated the coalition, Zoumenou said. To date, more than 300 youth and 100 adults have participated in the project. Dr. Marie-Therese Oyalowo, a professor in UMES’ Department of Pharmacy Practice and Administration serves as the other co-principal investigator.
“Empowering the community may lead to more positive and sustainable health behavior changes and move all involved toward achieving health equity among all groups of people,” Zoumenou said. She reported that 50 percent of the youth in the program improved their grades, while college students in nutrition and agriculture gained skills in community nutrition education and mini-orchard maintenance, respectively. Community members experienced increased knowledge of agriculture practices, and mental and physical health.
Above: UMES Extension Nutrition and Education Program team members at the Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior annual meeting, from left, are: Timothy Kasella, Senea Arrington-Kasella, Dr. Virginie Zoumenou (director), Susan Jayne and McCoy Curtis.
Gail Stephens, agricultural communications, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, School of Agricultural and Natural Sciences, UMES Extension, gcstephens@umes.edu, 410-621-3850.
Photos submitted.
