Making food dollars count

by Martha A. Poolton

Activities Continue In Many Areas . . .

At a regional workshop in Chicago early last summer, Soneeta Grogan heard USDA's lsabel Wolf talk about helping families stretch their food dollars. Flanked by a grocery cart full of food she had shopped for the day before, Wolf told Grogan and other workshop participants how with careful buying, a family of four could eat nutritious well-balanced meals for $58.00 a week.

Wolf, who is administrator of USDA's Human Nutrition Information Service, introduced a new booklet from USDA with menu plans and recipes to help families who want to economize make the most of their food dollars. The booklet and the workshops--both called "Making Food Dollars Count'--were part of a national food buying education project launched last year with regional workshops in seven cities.


The goal of the workshops was to draw attention to local nutrition resources and to encourage nutrition professionals and paraprofessionals to use ideas and information from the workshops in their own communities. That's exactly what Soneeta Grogan and many other nutrition professionals have done.

Taking the ideas to the local level

Grogan, who was a member of the planning committee for the Chicago workshop, is coordinator of the Illinois Cooperative Extension Service's Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP). In preparation for the workshop, she talked with her field staff and asked them how they could use the menus and recipes from USDA in their work with families.

"In Illinois, there are about 10,000 homemakers who participate in EFNEP,' says Grogan. "These women are learning how to buy food and prepare economical meals for their families. We felt the recipes, menus, and shopping tips in the Making Food Dollars Count booklet could be very helpful to them.'

According to Grogan, the materials have been used by Extension home economists throughout the state. County EFNEP staff have used the materials to train the nutrition aides who work with homemakers in local communities, and they've come up with a variety of creative ways to reach families.

In some counties, local grocery stores have pitched in with special promotions. Champaign County currently has a contest underway to see how many homemakers can feed their families for $58 a week for an extended period--4 or 5 months. There will be awards from local stores for the homemakers who are most successful, with the top award of $58 going to the winner.

About one-tenth of EFNEP participants in Illinois are Spanish-speaking, and Grogan's staff felt special efforts needed to be made to tailor Making Food Dollars Count to this group. Elsie Gonzalez, Extension EFNEP advisor in the north Chicago area office, translated all the recipes from the booklet, listing them side by side in English and Spanish in the revised version.

"Having the recipes printed side by side in both languages is especially helpful to Spanish-speaking persons in cases where they are unfamiliar with ingredients,' says Gonzalez. "They can show the food store clerk the corresponding name of the ingredient in English and learn what the item is.'

EFNEP aides see changes

According to Gonzalez, EFNEP aides have found Making Food Dollars Count materials useful in the lessons they give Spanish-speaking EFNEP participants. The aides say the homemakers are now making grocery lists more often, buying in larger quantities for economy, and making more price comparisons between stores and brands.

They're also including some different items on their grocery lists to learn about them. Cottage cheese is one of the new foods they are trying, and EFNEP aides suggest ways to use it.

"Many of the women come from countries where they shopped daily to get the food for meals,' says Gonzalez. "Here in the United States they had to learn about storage containers and correct storage methods. They used to throw away leftovers. Now they divide them up into portions and freeze them.'

EFNEP homemakers now try generic products more, Gonzalez says, and when they find the quality comparable or satisfactory for the planned use, they will purchase them.

"Comparing prices has been very helpful,' she says. "Homemakers find they can save 25 to 30 cents or more on generics. Many didn't realize the nutritive value is as good. We also tell them to watch for sales on name brands, since there may be times when they are as good a buy as the generics.'

Making Food Dollars Count materials have been particularly useful in teaching homemakers how to follow recipes. Aides report that more of their clients are now using recipes to add variety to their meals. Instead of using the recipes exactly as they appear, however, aides suggest homemakers add seasonings to taste.

"Many recipes in Making Food Dollars Count are very bland to Hispanics,' says Gonzalez. "The aides suggest adding ingredients like tomato sauce, garlic, onion, pepper, and oregano, which are typical ingredients in Hispanic dishes.'


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