Applying FURI to Work

Strategies that Guide the Network

Increase the focus, urgency, reach and impact of nutrition education for low income people in Michigan.

Focus: SNAP-Ed money is meant to fund nutrition education and identification and promotion of appropriate physical activity. Michigan Nutrition Network is working to increase SNAP-Ed focus by:

• Carefully administering an application process that ensures that selected partners fit the eligibility requirements of the funding
• Assigning Liaison’s to each partner who are charged with working to help the partner stay on target
• Administering the Compliance Review Program to provide a regular, organized process for ensuring Partner accountability for their focus
• Identifying and developing partners that have natural opportunities to incorporate nutrition education into their work
• Building collaborative partnerships with other USDA FNS programs to ensure the best use of cross-program resources

Urgency: There are over 1.3 million people on nutrition assistance at any time in Michigan. Every person who receives assistance without having any nutrition education is a loss in terms of health and prevention of chronic disease. MNN is increasing urgency by:

• Administering broad campaigns like “Grow Your Kids with Fruits and Veggies” Social Marketing Program
• Developing new broad-based approaches to service delivery like “school garden nutrition education” (SGNE)
• Working with the partners who have the most direct links with the target population – food banks, Center for Civil Justice, ElderLaw
• Work with health organizations to emphasize the urgency of preventing chronic diseases.
  

Reach: A key determinant of SNAP-Ed success in Michigan is the percent of the people eligible for SNAP-Ed who receive it. MNN is working to increase reach by:

• Extending the opportunity to participate in providing SNAP-Ed to as many partners, and partners with as broad a reach, as possible
• Working to provide resources that enable partners to reach diverse populations, otherwise limited by language, cultural competency
• Connecting resources with schools where youth, a high percentage of nutrition assistance recipients, can be reached
• Organizing statewide approaches that target nutrition assistance recipients in non-traditional locations like grocery stores.
• Providing a central resource for products that support statewide efforts at nutrition education
  

Impact: SNAP-Ed needs to be achieving behavior change to be of value. MNN is helping ensure that SNAP-Ed is achieving behavior change by:

• Working with partners to build their organizational capacity to have impact
• Linking SNAP-Ed partners and projects with University based evaluation resources
• Provide communities the opportunity to become engaged in nutrition education in a manner that best serves their communities
• Providing recognition for excellence in the SNAP-Ed program