The Eat Well, Eat Local, Eat Together (Eat³) Nutrition Education Campaign

Abstract

Nutritionists have been criticized for taking diet out of the context of lifestyle in their professional practice. Eat Well, Eat Local, Eat Together (Eat³) aimed to combine objectives related to nutrition and health with the social and ecological aspects of eating in an educational campaign. The multicomponent campaign was developed by the Healthy Start Partnership Coordinating Committee, a group of health and nutrition professionals from 6 rural counties in New York State, with Cornell University faculty serving as conveners. In 2009, with funding from Cornell Cooperative Extension, well over 10 000 individuals from 20 counties were reached. Self-reported behaviors on campaign themes shifted significantly (P < .0001) in a positive direction after Eat³.

Keywords:

• local foods
• family meals
• fruits and vegetables
• nutrition education

Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the US Department of Agriculture Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service, National Research Initiative Grant No. 2005-35215-15427. The authors thank all of the members of the Healthy Start Partnership and Cornell Cooperative Extension Educators and Administrators for their commitment and enthusiasm for Eat³. The authors also thank Myla Strawderman for her guidance on the statistical analysis.