PALM BEACH - Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program - University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences

About EFNEP in Palm Beach

Situation
 Being poor in Palm Beach County often means being hungry or malnourished. Low income, minority, and educationally disadvantaged people are most at risk for diet-related diseases. Poor nutrition from the lack of sufficient quantity and/or quality of food and lack of sufficient physical activity have been identified as two of the top risk factors for serious health issues. Many of these families in poverty lack the knowledge and skills to select and prepare more nutritious diets, manage their limited food budget, and increase physical activity.

EFNEP provides 
By using nutrition educators in local community group settings, Adult EFNEP aids limited-resource families in acquiring the knowledge, skills, attitudes, motivations, and behaviors necessary to improve their diets and overall well-being. We have a strong partnership with the Palm Beach County Food Bank and offer a program called Nutrition Driven. In this program, the Palm Beach County Food Bank offers EFNEP participants take-home groceries at the end of each EFNEP class.

Programs Offered

Adult Programing

Adults

EFNEP offers adult programs, typically nine sessions long and held in a community setting.

Adult programs incorporate relevant nutrition information to help families eat better food for less money. Small group sizes allow EFNEP educators to tailor each class for their audience. Participants connect with one another in hands-on activities and group discussion.

All EFNEP classes include interactive food demonstrations of easy and delicious recipes. Also, each lesson comes with a lesson enhancement and a tool designed to help participants adopt a healthy lifestyle.

Danielle De Vries-Navarro, MS, RDN, LDN

EFNEP Agent I, Palm Beach County

Danielle joined EFNEP more than seven years ago. Her most notable work is a nationally recognized program called Marjorie S. Fisher Nutrition Driven, with the Palm Beach County Food Bank. The program provides EFNEP education and fresh produce to the most food-insecure families in the county. Danielle is on the United Way of Palm Beach County Hunger Relief Infrastructure Committee, chair of the Nutrition Education Sub-committee, and an active member of the Society of Nutrition Education and Behavior. She completed her BS in Nutrition at the Pennsylvania State University, her dietetic internship at the New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center, and her MS in Nutrition at the University of Saint Joseph.

Email: ddevries@ufl.edu