ISU goes digital to promote healthy eating

BY BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Spending money wisely, while simultaneously eating healthy is often hard to do, which is why Iowa State University Extension has developed the online program, ?Spend Smart. Eat Smart.? to help people get started on the right foot.

Designed primarily for on-the-go 20 to 40 year olds, ISU Extension officials say the program was developed to keep in step with the social networking age.

Social networks, blogs, how-to cooking videos, couponing tips, meal planning guides, dining out tips and much more can be found within the free program, which is housed completely online through ISU Extension?s website.

?We wanted a way to try and teach young people healthy living principals through technology,? said Patricia Steiner, human sciences specialist of nutrition and wellness for ISU Extension in Henry County. ?It?s a fun, on-demand and portable way to access this type of information.?

In addition to being completely digital, the ?Spend Smart. Eat Smart.? program is also accessible in Spanish, with new information being uploaded and shared every day.

For local health organizations like Healthy Henry County Communities (HHCC), the now fully developed program is appealing, as it integrates many of HHCC?s values into one portable and accessible website.

?One of the strategies that HHCC?s healthy eating committee is working on is to help people learn how to prepare meals that are healthy, easy, and low cost. The ?Spend Smart. Eat Smart.? website is a great tool because it covers all of that,? said Kelly Carr, HHCC coordinator. ?The website?s videos show you how to prepare simple recipes, like roasting vegetables, that people may not be comfortable doing otherwise. We are always trying to promote fruits and vegetables, and we know that if you don?t know what to do with it or how to cook it, you?re not going to try it.?

And while the program in certainly marketed towards 20 to 40 year olds, Steiner says it?s meant to be useful to people in a wide variety of life stages and situations.

?Whether living on a tight budget, cooking for young children, meal planning for someone with food allergies, or simply learning how to cook, we wanted the program to be useful ? no matter what a person?s particular needs are at the time,? says Steiner.

In an effort to fully promote the program, Steiner says many of ISU Extension?s nutrition and family classes use the program as part of their class curriculum. In fact, according to ISU data, there has been a 139 percent increase in people who have visited the online program over the last three years, which now has over 2,700 social media followers on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter. Google Analytics also estimates that the website?s blog has a readership of roughly 3,000 per week.

?People that visit the program, I think, can get something out of it. Once they visit the website, they usually find something that interests them, and they continue to come back,? said Steiner.

Carr also certainly agrees, and says the growing popularity of the program is not only encouraging, but a clear indication that Iowans are excited about eating healthy and developing a financially responsible lifestyle.

?HHCC hopes the website will give people the confidence to try new things,? she says. ?It?s a great free resource to people.?

Visit the website anytime at www.extension.iastate.edu/foodsavings.