Story in Brief
Foods prepared outside the home, whether it's from a fast-food restaurant, take out counter or a table-service restaurant, are very common in the American diet. Households now spend 43.7 percent of their food dollars outside the home, compared to 25.9 percent in the 1970s. Though it is possible to eat healthfully away from home, on average, the USDA ERS found that meals and snacks outside the home yielded significant effects on calorie intake and overall diet quality. The UGA Extension agent in Rockdale County presented four hour-long, workshops on meal planning, snack preparation and food label literacy. Attendees learned about MyPlate, how to streamline meal preparation and food spending, the 5-and-20 rule for reading nutrition facts panels and different resources, including University of Georgia Cooperative Extension's Food e-Talk website, for finding healthy recipes for the whole family. She reached 56 clients over four sessions with resources and strategies to make meals and snacks prepared at home more. Following the class, 65 percent of participants expressed increased confidence in their ability to make balanced meals for their families. One participant stated, “The most important thing I learned was how to pre-plan a menu for the week and how to get the kids involved in meal prep.”