What are the State agency's responsibilities in ensuring that nutrition education is provided? The State agency must establish an overall nutrition education plan and must ensure that local agencies provide nutrition education to participants in accordance with the plan. The State agency may allow local agencies to share personnel and educational resources with other programs in order to provide the best nutrition education possible to participants. The State agency must establish an evaluation procedure to ensure that the nutrition education provided is effective. The evaluation procedure must include participant input and must be directed by a nutritionist or other qualified professional. The evaluation may be conducted by the State or local agency, or by another agency under agreement with the State or local agency.

What type of nutrition education must the local agency provide? The local agency must provide nutrition education that can be easily understood by participants and is related to their nutritional needs and household situations. The local agency must provide nutrition education that includes the following information, which should account for specific ethnic and cultural characteristics whenever possible:

The nutritional value of CSFP foods, and their relationship to the overall dietary needs of the population groups served;

Nutritious ways to use CSFP foods;

Special nutritional needs of participants and how these needs may be met;

For pregnant and postpartum women, the benefits of breastfeeding;

The importance of health care, and the role nutrition plays in maintaining good health; and

The importance of the use of the foods by the participant to whom they are distributed, and not by another person.

To whom must local agencies provide nutrition education? The local agency must make nutrition education available to all adult participants and, if applicable, to parents or caretakers of infant and child participants. Local agencies are encouraged to make nutrition education available to children, where appropriate.

May CSFP foods be used in cooking demonstrations? Yes. The State or local agency, or another agency with which it has signed an agreement, may use CSFP foods to conduct cooking demonstrations as part of the nutrition education provided to program participants, but not for other purposes.