UW staff members and volunteers at the James C. Hageman Sustainable Agriculture
Research and Extension Center help bag potatoes for donation in September 2022. The
annual potato harvest is coordinated by the Cent$ible Nutrition Program as part of
the Growing Together Multi-State Collaboration. (UW Photo)
As part of a multistate team, University of Wyoming Extension’s Cent$ible Nutrition
Program (CNP) recently earned national recognition for its efforts to connect people
facing food insecurity with local produce.
In collaboration with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) programs in eight other states, CNP has contributed
to the Growing Together Multi-State Collaboration. The group’s mission is to improve
access to healthy food and provide nutrition and garden education to people experiencing
food insecurity.
Over the past three years, Growing Together has collectively donated more than 600,000
pounds of food, equivalent to 1.8 million servings of fruits and vegetables, to 878
food distribution sites serving 375,000 clients.
In recognition of these efforts, the multistate team received the 2023 National Excellence
in Extension Team Award from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Cooperative
Extension and the Association of Public and Land-grant Universities.
The award recognizes an extension team for excellence in extension research, technical
assistance and outreach education.
In addition to UW, the 2022 Growing Together team included collaborators from Iowa
State University, Michigan State University, Montana State University, South Dakota
State University, Purdue University, the University of Illinois, the University of
Nebraska and the University of Wisconsin.
The collaboration is ongoing and has continued to gain momentum as more states join
the initiative and existing programs expand.
“Our contribution to the national award has been an impressive collaboration between
many Wyoming partners, especially the Wyoming Hunger Initiative-Grow a Little Extra,
UW Extension, Master Gardeners, UW Agricultural Experiment Stations and Food Bank
of Wyoming,” says Mindy Meuli, CNP director. “In partnership, we were able to contribute
over 35,000 pounds of nutritious foods (in 2022) to people in Wyoming facing food
and nutrition insecurity, in addition to providing research-based education.”
CNP educators based in county extension offices across Wyoming helped weigh and distribute
food at the county level, working with local food pantries, community gardens and
other anti-hunger organizations. They also led cooking demonstrations and distributed
recipes, food preparation tips and food safety guidelines.
In CNP’s state office in Laramie, staff members worked with the Wyoming Agricultural
Experiment Station to coordinate donations of potatoes and dry beans from several
UW research and extension centers. They also conducted recipe testing on the donated
foods and developed food pairings to encourage food pantry patrons to choose healthier
options.
“These efforts help to contribute to nutrition security for those in need, which is
a program goal,” Meuli says. “Thanks to all of our partners for joining us in addressing
food access for people with limited resources in Wyoming.”
To learn more about CNP programming, visit www.uwyocnp.org.
About the Cent$ible Nutrition Program
Wyoming’s CNP serves people with limited resources through nutrition education and
local partnerships that help make the healthy choice the easy choice. CNP is funded
by the USDA SNAP-Ed and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program. CNP is
available in every Wyoming county as well as the Wind River Indian Reservation and
offers free in-person and online classes for those whose incomes qualify.