Food and Health

Food is a daily need that all Mississippians have in common—we all need to eat, and most of us love to eat! But food choices also have a significant impact on health, from getting a breakfast boost that powers up our brains for a successful day to fighting heart disease. The MSU Extension Service strives to make sound, science-based information available and understandable to help Mississippians of all ages make positive decisions about their health and wellness.

Extension is the home of the Office of Nutrition Education, which administers two federally funded nutrition education programs—the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and the Family Nutrition Program (FNP), known nationally as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-ED).

Extension also offers the ServSafe training for personnel working in our state’s restaurants, school cafeterias, and food businesses. We also provide the TummySafe training for those working in child-care centers.

“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of infirmity.” — World Health Organization, 1948

Publications

Publication Number: P0220

Pickles, Relishes, Jellies, Jams, and Preserves

Publication Number: IS1351

Preparing Food During a Power Failure

Publication Number: M1384

How Long Will It Keep?

Publication Number: M1385

Safe End Point Temperatures for Foods

Publication Number: M1386

TummySafe - A Correct Hand Washing Procedure

In order to make Starkville a more walkable community, bike lanes and sidewalk additions were constructed downtown on August 15, 2017. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Jessica Smith)

Walkability can improve health, community

August 15, 2017 - Filed Under: Health and Wellness, Community, Food and Health, Landscape Architecture

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Walking is an easy, enjoyable way for individuals to be more physically active and for communities to improve healthy living.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there are many potential health benefits of physical activity: weight control, cardiovascular health, cancer prevention, stronger bones and muscles, improved mental health and mood, and reduced risk of type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

MSU Extension adds three regional registered dietitians

August 9, 2017 - Filed Under: Food and Health, Food, Nutrition, SNAP-Ed, Herb Gardens, Vegetable Gardens, Youth Gardening

RAYMOND, Miss. -- The Mississippi State University Extension Service hired three regional registered dietitians to help in the fight against obesity and chronic disease in Mississippi.

Samantha Willcutt, Kaitlin DeWitt and Juaqula Madkin have joined the Extension Office of Nutrition Education. They oversee the Extension Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education, or SNAP-Ed, curriculum and delivery in their regions.

Natasha Haynes, Mississippi State University Extension agent in Rankin County, advocates choosing one local ingredient to spotlight in a menu, such as this squash growing at the Southern Heritage Garden at the Vicksburg National Military Park on June 13, 2017. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Bonnie Coblentz)

Highlight local foods in bed-and-breakfasts

July 12, 2017 - Filed Under: Commercial Fruit and Nuts, Farmers Markets, Agri-tourism, Food, Nutrition

VICKSBURG, Miss. -- Foods grown on Southern farms should end up on Southern tables, especially when those tables are in the state’s many historic bed-and-breakfasts.

That was the message Mississippi State University Extension Service personnel sent home with participants in a recent workshop.

“Nobody wants to go to a Southern B&B and not experience the food, so think about serving local foods,” said Brent Fountain, Extension nutrition specialist.

Christine Coker, a horticulture specialist with Mississippi State University, began sowing the seeds for her career in elementary school as a 4-H member. Now, she helps put food on Mississippians’ tables with her research and Extension projects.

MSU scientist finds her calling in horticulture

July 5, 2017 - Filed Under: Commercial Horticulture, Women for Agriculture, Food, Flower Gardens, Vegetable Gardens

BEAUMONT, Miss. -- For 16 years, Christine Coker has been doing what she loves: putting food on people's tables.

"In college, I really liked the study of plants, but I knew I wasn't going to be the world's greatest botanist," she said. "What I really wanted to do was feed people."

Erika Glenn of Starkville, Mississippi, does not neglect using sunscreen before exercising around Chadwick Lake on the Mississippi State University campus on June 26, 2017. (Photo by MSU Extension Service/Linda Breazeale)

Skin cancers pose threat to everyone

June 27, 2017 - Filed Under: Health

STARKVILLE, Miss. -- Sunny, summer days and fair skin tones are not the only risk factors for skin cancer. Cold days, cloudy weather and dark complexions do not eliminate to risk of skin damage and cancers.

"Basically, anytime the sun is below the horizon is the only time any of us are safe from the damaging effects associated with ultraviolet rays," said David Buys, health specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service.