Since the Food Stamp Act passed in 1964, qualifying low-income Americans have had access to benefits to buy groceries. Known now as SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program also provides nutrition education and obesity prevention under its SNAP-Ed component. The goal of SNAP-Ed is to improve the likelihood that persons eligible for SNAP will make healthy food choices within a limited budget and choose physically active lifestyles consistent with dietary guidelines. Oregon SNAP-Ed supports this goal by providing evidence-based educational programming, using social marketing, and supporting or implementing policy, systems, and environmental changes that affect the food and activity environments where people live, learn, work and play.

The Oregon State University Extension Service developed the Food Hero initiative to support the State’s SNAP-Ed program. On the Food Hero website at www.FoodHero.org you can find information on food safety, how to cook for a crowd, cultural toolkits, activities for kids, instructional videos, recipes and much more. All recipes on the website go through testing.  In addition to being tested for overall flavor, color, and texture, recipes with low-cost and easy to find ingredients, easy to follow instructions, and a reasonable preparation time are selected. Each recipe is tasted and rated by several people before making its way to your kitchen.

In addition to the Food Hero site, a monthly newsletter called Food Hero Monthly has great information that is helpful for the season like how to freeze garden veggies in the summer, or healthy holiday dishes in the winter. OSU’s SNAP-Ed also provides in-person classes and talks.  Take a moment to check out the site and you can become your own Food Hero.

See an example of a monthly newsletter here: