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The University of California Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor for San Luis Obispo County, Shirley Peterson, retires June 29 from an organization that defined her childhood and her life.

Peterson grew up on an egg ranch and participated in 4-H before joining the “Farmerettes” at her Perris, Calif., high school. At that time, Farmerettes were a girls’ auxiliary to the Future Farmers of America, which was limited to boys. The valedictorian of her high school class, Peterson earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo, in 1972, a master’s degree in Consumer Sciences at UC Davis in 1975, and a second master’s degree in public administration at Cal State Northridge in 1986. In 1990 she completed an internship and national exam to become a registered dietitian.

In 1975, she joined UC Cooperative Extension in Ventura County as a 4-H advisor/home economist. In 1999, Peterson transferred to San Luis Obispo County, where she served as nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor for 12 years.  For the last three years, Peterson extended her area to include northern Santa Barbara County.

During her career, Peterson focused on childhood obesity prevention and improving financial literacy in low-income populations. One of her most enduring projects was a pre-school lunchbox survey and education program. With parents’ permission, Peterson and her staff cataloged the contents of pre-school children’s home-packed lunches.

“Many parents thought they were doing a good job packing lunches,” Peterson said. “But instead of whole wheat bread, we found brown bread, instead of fruit juice, we found fruit drinks. There were granola bars that are really nothing more than candy bars, and fruit roll-ups rather than whole fruit. Vegetables were nonexistent.”

One boy, she said, brought a prepackaged lunch with pancakes, syrup, icing, Life Savers and a fruit drink.

“There was nothing in that lunch but sugar and a couple dollar-sized pancakes,” Peterson said. “The child didn’t have anything nutritious for lunch that day.”

The research findings prompted Peterson to develop a lunchbox curriculum, which has been updated and reissued four times over 25 years to reflect changes in the USDA dietary guidelines. The curriculum won national honors and served as a model for lunchbox programs in other states.

Another successful collaborative project during Peterson’s career was “Money Talks,” a statewide curriculum that is used to teach teenagers about money management in every state and many other countries. From its inception, the team of developers was dedicated to creating a program that meets needs expressed by teenagers.

“We focused on what and how the teens wanted to learn,” Peterson said. “It’s very teen friendly. That’s why I think it is so successful.”

Money Talks, available in Spanish and English, includes a curriculum presented in a lively, colorful, teen magazine-style format and leaders’ guides. The online component includes videos, games and other activities.

Money Talks won multiple awards. It was named the outstanding financial curriculum by the National Extension Association for Family and Consumer Sciences, the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences and the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education. Two years ago, the curriculum received the Western Extension Director’s Award for Excellence.

Over the course of her career, Peterson said her job changed dramatically. At first she wrote newspaper columns on topics ranging from nutrition to home interior design to money management. As the county home economist, she fielded hundreds of calls from consumers with questions.

“I remember one week, the weather warmed up very quickly in Ventura County and all the apricots came in at once,” Peterson said. “I answered 300 calls on what to do with apricots.”

As Cooperative Extension moved to applied research with an emphasis on program impact in the late 1980s, Peterson changed her focus, becoming a resource to local agencies looking for research-based information and materials on such topics as food safety, financial literacy and parenting.  She said the change in focus helped her to make a wider impact, which was personally rewarding and satisfying.

Peterson has decided to refrain from making firm plans for her future for the next six months. An avid hiker, she has a book listing 112 hikes in San Luis Obispo County.

“I’ve done 96 of them. I’d like to get the last few completed,” she said. “The book also has 16 hikes in Monterey and Santa Barbara counties and I’ve only done 7.  I hope to have done all of them in the next couple of months.”

A summer road trip to Alberta, Canada, and then a trip to Georgia will also give her time to consider opportunities for the next phase of her life.