FoodWIse
By partnering with schools, coalitions, childcare centers, and community organizations, we make healthy choices accessible for individuals and families with low-income. FoodWIse promotes changes for individuals, communities, and systems to make healthy choices easier, improving diet quality, physical activity, food resource management, food safety, and nutrition security.
Our educators introduce children to new fruits and vegetables, teach parents to buy and prepare healthy meals, and support communities in making daily healthy choices where they live, learn, work, and play. Beyond nutrition education lessons, we assist community leaders in developing strategies, systems, and policies for improved health outcomes in schools, farmers markets, food pantries, and more.
FoodWIse is federally funded by the USDA Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) and the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP).
In the Classroom
We teach classes: Community partners invite FoodWIse educators to teach nutrition classes for individuals in local schools, community centers, churches, food pantries and other settings in local communities across Wisconsin.
These classes range from youth programming to family programming.
StrongBodies
This program is designed for adults as they age, focusing on strength training and health education. Participants attend sessions twice a week, led by trained instructors in a supportive environment, where they engage in exercises that target all major muscle groups. StrongBodies follows a structured approach that helps participants gradually increase the weights they use, leading to improved strength, better mobility, and a reduced risk of chronic conditions like osteoporosis, heart disease, and diabetes.
Safe & Healthy Food Pantries
Making fresh food safe and accessible for food pantry guests is critical for Wisconsin families turning to food pantries to meet their food needs. Food pantries play an important role in supporting Wisconsin’s health and well-being by offering safe and healthy food.
The Safe and Healthy Food Pantries Project was developed to provide food pantries with guidance on how to improve the nutritional quality and safety of their food inventories. You can adopt these strategies and tools as appropriate for your pantry and guests.
Farmers’ Markets
SNAP (called FoodShare in Wisconsin) provides nutrition assistance to people with low income. FoodShare users can use EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) at local farmers’ markets to buy fresh, healthy food and connect with people who produce it.
Using SNAP/FoodShare at farmers’ markets not only enhances access to nutritious food, but also supports local economies by boosting sales for small-scale farmers. The variety of markets accepting EBT is growing, making it easier for users to find and access fresh, local food.
USDA Nondiscrimination Statement
https://www.usda.gov/non-discrimination-statement
Contact Us
Laci Monroe
FoodWIse Coordinator
608-297-3137
laci.monroe@wisc.edu
