Community Programs

Cooperative Extension programs in nutrition, gardening, and food preservation and safety promote healthy lifestyles and optimal health. UCCE’s Community Nutrition and Health Program includes CalFresh Healthy Living (CFHL) and Expanded Food and Nutrition Education (EFNEP). These programs foster a healthy community through education on preventing chronic diseases and obesity, reducing health disparities, improving consumer food safety practices, and reducing hunger and food insecurity. The CFHL program will sunset at the close of 2025-2026 due to a loss of federal funding. While this will result in a substantial reduction in outreach, the Community Nutrition and Health Advisor and EFNEP program will continue to deliver nutrition education to support community wellness.

Through a unique partnership with the San Joaquin County Public Works Department, the Master Gardener (MG) Program promotes sustainable gardening practices, including composting and green waste diversion, gardening for pollinators and beneficial insects, edible gardening, drought-tolerant landscaping, water conservation and water quality, and pest management. 

The Master Food Preserver (MFP) Program is a public service and community outreach initiative that provides science-based curriculum and hands-on skills on food preservation and safe food handling practices. The program is managed by volunteer coordinators and operates without County or UC funding, relying solely on fees from workshops. 

Program highlights include:

• CFHL partnered with community groups, preschools, and after-school programs to reach over 3,700 youth with nutrition education.
• EFNEP supported over 180 families with programming on food safety, resource management, and diet quality.
• Nutrition education was offered in English, Spanish, and Hmong.
• 130 active MG volunteers contributed over 6,400 volunteer hours to support community wellness through gardening.
• The MG Coordinator started collaborating with San Joaquin County Health Care Services on garden design for the BeWell Campus.
• 17 certified MFP volunteers contributed over 1,100 hours of outreach to support optimal health through food preservation, food safety, and food waste reduction education.
• MFP Program pioneered outreach in Spanish. It was the first MFP program in the state to offer education in Spanish.
• MFP Program partnered with San Joaquin County Office of Emergency Services to provide food safety and preservation trainings for emergency preparedness.