WSU Extension programs partner on food access initiative, win regional award

Washington State University's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed), a part of WSU Extension, was recently honored on a regional level for its role in increasing community access to healthy foods in Chelan and Douglas Counties.

SNAP-Ed hosted its first Family Story Walk, which featured books highlighting nutrition-related themes, in spring 2023. The National Extension Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (NEAFCS) highlighted the event's impact, recognizing WSU with the Western Region Award for Innovation in Programming.

"This program has increased access to nutritious food for some of our most vulnerable, low-income populations," said SNAP-Ed Educator Margaret Viebrock, who also serves as WSU Extension director in Chelan and Douglas Counties. "The story walk is a great family activity. It's free, bilingual, and fun."

Government agencies, state organizations, and educational institutions rank low literacy levels and lack of food access as high-priority issues. According to the Washington State Department of Agriculture, nearly 10% of Washingtonians experience food insecurity in 2024, an increase from 2022 levels. Meanwhile, the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction reported in 2022 that nearly 40% of kindergarten through fourth grade youth are reading below grade level.

"Separately, initiatives focused on literacy, exercise, and nutrition can be successful, but there are few efforts to combine them for a more lasting effect starting at younger ages," Viebrock said. "This NEAFCS award underscores the partnerships and people who made the story walk successful."

Several groups worked together to make the event a hit. WSU Chelan-Douglas County master gardener volunteers offered the WSU Community Education Garden as a setting for the inaugural Family Story Walk, while the Friends of the North Central Washington Libraries helped identify nutrition-focused, large print books for youth in English and Spanish.

For the kickoff story walk, SNAP-Ed featured the book "I Will Never Not Ever Eat a Tomato." In preparation for the event, SNAP-Ed educators cut out and laminated the pages, with English on one side and Spanish on the other, then mounted the pages chronologically in a zigzag throughout the demonstration garden.

The first story walk also coincided with the master gardener volunteers' Tomato Tasting Gala, where the public voted on the best tomato variety grown in the WSU Community Education Garden that year.

"We had over 150 story walk participants on the tomato taste-testing day," said Viebrock. "People kept asking about the next one."

The event garnered 100% positive reviews from those who partook, and Viebrock and the SNAP-Ed team were invited to utilize Wenatchee city parks for future story walks. The second story walk in the summer of 2023 attracted over 200 participants, with Spanish-speaking Latine families representing around a quarter of the group.

"Our counties have a large community of Spanish speakers, so it is important to find new ways of reaching them," said Viebrock.

SNAP-Ed educators are present at each event to answer questions and share resources that increase access to nutritious foods and offer ways to become active. This fall, they will collaborate with local elementary school cafeterias and libraries for additional nutrition programming outreach.

"We've come full circle engaging our audiences and partners with this program," Viebrock said. "It's opened doors for further partnership and engagement community-wide."

Further information

Learn more about the ways that WSU Extension SNAP-Ed is supporting thriving communities across the state.