Key Points
- Cooperative Extension System (CES) empowers farmers, ranchers, and communities of all sizes to meet the challenges they face, adapt to changing technology, improve nutrition and food safety, prepare for and respond to emergencies, and protect our environment.
- CES is operated through the nation’s land-grant university system in partnership with federal and state and local governments.
- CES is a nationwide, noncredit educational network that addresses public needs by providing nonformal higher education and learning activities to farmers, ranchers, communities, youth, and families throughout the nation. With an organization that has been operating for over a century, CES is well positioned to efficiently get tools and knowledge into the hands of the people who need them.
- University faculty members, who are disciplinary experts, translate science-based research results into language — written, verbal, and electronic — appropriate for targeted audiences.
- County-based educators work with local citizens and interest groups to solve problems, evaluate the effectiveness of learning tools, and collect grassroots input to prioritize future research. By living and working in communities, county educators are able to rely on existing relationships to respond to local needs, build trust, and engage effectively with citizens.
FIM Opportunities
Food Is Medicine interventions are often paired with a nutrition education component. Food Is Medicine program implementers may want to partner with the Cooperative Extension System in their community to solve challenges and extend educational opportunities to program participants.
