For more than 50 years, nutrition education through UConn Extension’s Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) has quietly shaped what happens at kitchen tables across Connecticut, how families shop, cook, stretch their food dollars, and make everyday decisions that affect their health.

Since its launch in the late 1960s, EFNEP has adapted alongside shifting family structures, economic pressures, food systems, and learning environments. What began as highly personal, hands‑on education rooted in home kitchens has grown to include group instruction, adaptable curricula, and virtual learning. Yet the program’s mission has remained constant: providing practical, research‑based nutrition education that helps families build healthier, more food‑secure lives.

Early Nutrition Education: Filling a Knowledge Gap

In EFNEP’s early years, nutrition education focused largely on addressing foundational gaps in food knowledge. Zoraida Velazquez, a longtime UConn Extension EFNEP professional who retired earlier this year after 47 years of service recalls that simply understanding why nutrition mattered was often new for many families.

“When I first started with UConn Extension, it was hard for me to help people see and believe how much education and knowledge about nutrition was crucial,” Velazquez says. “Many families were just trying to get through the day.”

EFNEP professionals frequently encountered households navigating food insecurity, limited cooking skills, and widespread confusion about food safety. Nutrition education extended far beyond what to eat, it included how to store food properly, budget from paycheck to paycheck, and understand how daily food choices affected long‑term health.

“Too many families with young children had no clue how important understanding nutrition was,” Velazquez says. “Not just eating when you’re hungry but understanding how food affects your health overall.”

Early EFNEP work was highly personal and immersive. Educators conducted home visits, cooked alongside families, and addressed immediate concerns directly within households. Progress was often incremental but meaningful.

“Even if families changed one or two things, it mattered,” Velazquez says. “It was a change for their own wellbeing.”

Hands‑On Learning as a Cornerstone

From the beginning, EFNEP distinguished itself through hands-on, skill-based education. Cooking demonstrations, grocery budgeting exercises, and food safety practices formed the program foundation.

Teaching families how to cook from scratch, plan meals, and stretch food dollars became central to EFNEP’s identity. Educators didn’t just share recommendations, they taught practical skills that families could replicate at home in hands-on sessions, either one-on-one or in group learning. This experiential approach continues to define EFNEP today.

“Telling someone to eat more fiber is abstract,” says Heather Pease, an EFNEP professional based in the Hartford County Extension Center. “Showing them how to cook a black bean taco in their own kitchen is a life skill.”

Adapting to New Tools and New Realities

As family life, technology, and information access have evolved, so too has nutrition education. Virtual programming now complements in person instruction, allowing EFNEP to meet families in new and flexible ways.

“Virtual programs can transform nutrition education by moving the classroom directly into the family home,” Pease says. “When families cook using their own stoves, tools, and ingredients, those habits are more likely to stick.”

The program’s virtual offerings like Cook and Chat have turned nutrition education into a collaborative family experience. Virtual formats also remove persistent barriers such as transportation, childcare, and scheduling, leading to stronger attendance and sustained participation.

At the same time, the digital age has introduced new challenges.

“Families today are overwhelmed with nutrition information, much of it contradictory or misleading,” Pease says. “Our role as educators is to help them filter the noise.”

EFNEP now pairs nutrition education with digital literacy, helping families interpret food labels, evaluate online claims, and identify red flags in viral nutrition trends.

“We don’t just want families to know what to eat,” Pease says. “We want them to feel confident making informed choices.”

Trust‑Based Education

Another major evolution in nutrition education is the increased emphasis on adaptable, bilingual programming. Educators recognize that effectiveness increases when teaching builds on, rather than replaces, families’ food traditions.

“When we honor participants’ backgrounds and traditions, we all learn from each other,” Pease says. “We are most effective when we act as facilitators, not lecturers.”

EFNEP professionals listen first, learning how families shop, cook, and share meals, then adapt lessons to fit real‑world contexts. Teaching nutrition through familiar foods helps reinforce that healthy eating does not require abandoning cultural identity.

“What makes EFNEP different is consistency. We don’t show up once and disappear; we build relationships over time. That trust creates space for families to try new skills, ask hard questions, and make changes at their own pace,” Dianisi Torres, an EFNEP professional based at the Windham County Extension Center says.

While EFNEP’s approach is deeply relational, it is also firmly rooted in accountability and research. Through pre‑ and post program evaluation, educators measure changes in food safety practices, shopping behaviors, and dietary quality. EFNEP focuses on sustained behavior change, not one-time workshops.

Data shows that 96% of EFNEP participants demonstrate positive improvements in food behaviors, a testament to the program’s long‑term, relationship‑driven model.

Looking Ahead: The Future of Nutrition Education

As EFNEP looks ahead, the next chapter of nutrition education will require balancing innovation with its longstanding values: integrity, excellence, teamwork, and respect for diversity.

“I hope the next generation of educators continues to reach young children and families early,” Velazquez says. “Education and hands-on skills give families confidence.”

Today’s EFNEP professionals are increasingly addressing nutrition as part of a broader system, connecting food safety, budgeting, waste reduction, and food security into a cohesive foundation for family wellbeing.

“EFNEP’s strength has always been its ability to grow without losing its heart. As tools and technologies change, our purpose remains the same: helping families build confidence, skills, and healthier futures through education,” Torres says.