Food and Health
Food is a daily need that all Mississippians have in common—we all need to eat, and most of us love to eat! But food choices also have a significant impact on health, from getting a breakfast boost that powers up our brains for a successful day to fighting heart disease. The MSU Extension Service strives to make sound, science-based information available and understandable to help Mississippians of all ages make positive decisions about their health and wellness.
Extension is the home of the Office of Nutrition Education, which administers two federally funded programs—the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP-ED).
Extension also offers the ServSafe training for personnel working in our state’s restaurants, school cafeterias, and food businesses. We also provide the TummySafe training for those working in child-care centers.
“Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of infirmity.” — World Health Organization, 1948
Publications
News
The holiday season is the perfect time to share homemade food gifts, but it’s essential to ensure they’re safe to eat.
Whether you’re gifting cookies, jams, breads, or savory treats this holiday season, here are a few quick tips for keeping your food gifts safe.
Extension Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Qula Madkin offers tips to help you maintain healthy blood sugar levels.
Incorporating healthier eating habits into your daily routine can help prevent and manage diabetes by helping you maintain healthy blood sugar levels. Check out these tips to help you get started.
STARKVILLE, Miss. -- As the holidays approach, consider three ways to share the joys of the season by supporting local food pantries. Gifts of money, time and food items are all welcome.
Success Stories
In Rolling Fork, the Mississippi town in Sharkey County devastated by a twister on March 24, 2023, despair was not an option.
You don’t have to have diabetes to benefit from the principles of the Dining with Diabetes (DWD) program.
Dining with Diabetes covers healthy eating, physical activity, disease monitoring, medication compliance, and risk reduction, and the course empowers participants by giving them access to nutrition knowledge and resources for food preparation. Classes include research-based education, cooking demonstrations, and healthy recipe tasting. These tools can help people make positive changes by planning menus, counting carbohydrates, controlling portions, and reading labels.