HRI Blog

When was the last time you thought about your food? Where it came from, how it grows, or what makes it healthy? While it often goes unnoticed, food is an important piece of family life. Families eat their evening meals together, and many caregivers provide for themselves and their children by growing, cooking, or selling food. Unfortunately, many families also find themselves worrying about how they will get the food they need.

The Family and Consumer Sciences section of the North Carolina Cooperative Extension is focused on teaching people what they need or want to know about healthy eating and living. Rooted in NC State University and North Carolina A&T University, the Cooperative Extension provides local community members with land-grant research information without the need to register or pay for a class. These information sessions can involve nutrition education, cooking demos, lessons food preparation, or where to find local food organizations. The Cooperative also provides education on agriculture, horticulture, and livestock for farmers seeking new certification or just those interested in knowing more about the farming process.

Financial literacy is another important part of family and consumer sciences. Workshops on everything from planning a budget to starting a business can be found at the Cooperative Extension. Their mission is to empower people through research-based education, and the best way to do this is by providing the community with opportunities to engage with the research being explored at two of our local universities. As Vince Webb, one of the extension agents for family and consumer sciences, puts it, “We want to get the research into the hands of the people.”

There are always events going on at the Guilford Cooperation Extension that are open to anyone curious about learning something new. This month, extension agent Vince Webb will be teaching a class on canning apples for future use. Registration for the class ends on October 8th. Details can be found on the Cooperative’s website, https://guilford.ces.ncsu.edu/.

There’s never a bad opportunity to learn about the world we live in, and the Guilford Cooperative Extension helps people in the Greensboro area become informed about how to live their best, healthiest lives. To learn more, visit https://guilford.ces.ncsu.edu/ or call them at (336) 641-2400.