Harvey County

Category: Nutrition & Family Finance

Warm Weather Food Safety Tips

The weather is getting warmer, which is wonderful, but that means we are going to be thinking about eating outside. Whether that is camping, a picnic, family get together, or whatever pulls your meal outside, we need to make sure we are following safe procedures to ensure our food stays safe. Here are a few tips:

  • Use an insulated cooler filled with ice or frozen gel packs to keep your picnic safe. Foods that need to be kept cold include raw meat, poultry and seafood; deli and luncheon meats or sandwiches, summer salads such as chicken or tuna salad; cut up fruit and vegetables, and perishable dairy products.
  • Keep sack lunches and snacks safe by adding a frozen juice box or small ice pack to an insulated lunch box.
  • Going out to eat? Consider planning ahead and bringing an insulated bag with an ice pack to safely carry home your leftovers.
  • Summer grocery shopping can be challenging when temperatures are high. Pack your cold or frozen items together in an insulated bag for the ride home (be sure to separate raw meat from

National Nutrition Month

March is National Nutrition Month; which means I will be talking a little bit about how to better your health with a few simple steps.

Physical fitness is very important! Adults need 150 minutes a week, which seems like a lot, but really isn’t. Breaking that down it could be 21 minutes a day, 50 minutes 3 times a week or 30 minutes 5 times a week. To achieve the 150 minutes you can run, walk, bike, dance, strength training, Zumba, yoga or anything that gets your heart rate up for more than 10 minutes at a time. My favorite is to run and/or walk.

How do you start this habit? Well, Walk Kansas starts March 19th and it would be a great way to start making physical fitness a habit. Contact the office for more information about Walk Kansas!

Nutrition, eating well, eating better, and fresh are all terms used to describe how you should eat, the other part of living a healthier life style. Everyone should be following MyPlate from the USDA on what you should eat and how much of it. Half your plate should be fruits and vegetables every meal! Also we should eat a little less meat than we do. I love my beef and it is hard to eat less of it!  For more information about portion sizes and how much you should be eating contact the office at 316-284-6930.

It really boils down to nutrition and physical fitness on how to lead a healthier life style. Start small and build as you become comfortable with your new habit. I believe everyone can live a healthier life style by just changing a few simple things.

Farming SUCCESSion Conference

Join us for The Key to Farming SUCCESSion Conference on March 20th from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM featuring Keynote Speaker, Roger McEowen!

Attendees will leave with new knowledge and strategies to grow their business and secure farm assets for future generations to come. $40 Registration Fee for First Individual, $30 Registration Fee for Additional Family Members or Students. Registration includes: Conference, Resource Notebook, Lunch, Refreshments. Registration is due ASAP. Payment is due to the McPherson County Extension Office at 600 W. Woodside, McPherson KS 67460 on or before March 20th.

Online Registration: https://tinyurl.com/KeyToFarmingSUCCESSion2018

(note: more information is at this link)

Teen Dating Violence Awareness

February was Teen Dating Violence Awareness Month and in honor of that, I thought I would talk about teens and dating relationships.

Teens are starting to have dating relationships sooner rather than later and we as adults need to teach them how to show respect in a relationship and treat each other in a healthy way.

So what is a healthy relationship when it comes to a teen? It looks similar to an adult healthy relationship, but with a lot more respect. Teens are at a vulnerable age where they are trying to figure themselves out and to do that they will try anything! They will try every sport, music trend, fashion trend, driving fast, talking back, etc. They are learning what they like, what they don’t like and what they really hate during their teenage years. When it comes to a dating relationship, teens need to trust their partners and respect their partner’s decisions if it doesn’t match their own.

We as adults need to teach them how to speak up for what they want, how to compromise with their dating partner, how to be supportive, and how to respect their partner’s privacy. The last one is a major one. Teens can become infatuated when in a dating relationship and can forget that their dating partner needs space sometimes. I know my husband needs space from me sometimes, but the difference is that I do not have a teenage brain anymore and I understand that is normal. Sometimes teens do not understand that and will constantly text their dating partner.

How can we teach teens these important dating “rules”? By talking to them and demonstrating it in our relationships. Teens watch us every day and mimic what we do, so we need to pay attention to what we are teaching our future generations.

Walk Kansas is Here!

Want to feel better and have more energy?

Maybe you need to blow off some steam from a stressful day or need to get better sleep. Regular exercise can help you achieve this and more. The health benefits from regular exercise and physical activity are hard to ignore, and they are available to everyone, regardless of age, sex, or physical ability. Another fantastic thing about exercise — it’s fun!

Walk Kansas is based on Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans, which recommend a minimum of 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week OR 75 minutes of vigorous exercise/week, and strengthening exercises at least 2 days per week. Walk Kansas also promotes a warm-up and cool-down time and stretching to improve flexibility.

How to join Walk Kansas? Register your team of 6 at www.walkkansasonline.org.

Check out our website www.harvey.ksu.edu for more information about Walk Kansas in Harvey County and the activities we will be doing this year!

Can’t wait for you to join!