This article provides a historical review of the FCS profession beginning with the Progressive Era and founder Ellen Swallows Richards. The review includes a summary of significant historical events and legislation, that reveal how the FCS profession addressed the needs of individuals, families, and communities from inception to the present. From…

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Cooperative Extension professionals, like many others, were tasked with quickly adapting to accommodate limited face-to-face interactions. The pandemic necessitated that Extension educators leverage online resources to deliver tailored programming in informative and innovative ways while providing engaging, hands-on…

While strategies may differ across geographical regions, FACS Extension professionals work to enhance nutrition education and increase food security in their communities. The four dimensions of food security developed by The Food and Agricultural Organization were reconceptualized to understand food security on an individual or at a community…

Canning and home demonstration clubs played an important role in improving agriculture and home life shortly after the turn of the 20th century. Organized in local communities, these clubs for young girls and their mothers provided the opportunity for females to engage in experiential learning through the growth and canning of vegetables. Club…

The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to understand the perceptions Extension professionals have about healthy food retail programs (HFRPs). Family and Consumer Science (FCS) agents from one state in the southeastern United States were interviewed about their definitions of HFRPs, what challenges and benefits existed, and strategies for…

Poverty is a pervasive issue impacting many areas of human sciences and Extension. Individuals living in the United States may have varying attitudes toward poverty. Research has shown that poverty simulations are effective in modifying attitudes toward poverty. The Community Action Poverty Simulation (CAPS) program is one such example that…

Extension programming must continue to evolve by meeting the changing needs and interests of residents. Family and Consumer Sciences agents in Cooperative Extension often utilize community needs assessments to inform future programming. However, a needs-based approach alone may not incorporate residents' interest, which is important for…

Successful Extension programming relies on strong relationships between campus-based Extension faculty/specialists and the field-based Extension agents they support (Shaklee et al., 2014). Strong connections facilitate bi-directional communication, enabling specialists to understand the needs of agents and their communities. The COVID-19 pandemic…

Based on the research by Reid in 1997, the needs of the County Extension Agents in the agriculture/natural resources/forestry, family consumer sciences, and youth programs were addressed. The Alabama Cooperative Extension System (ACES) has since expanded their educational efforts into fourteen program-specific areas. Along with expanding the…

Between 2000 and 2013, the suburbs in the country's largest metro areas saw their low-income population grow twice as fast as primary urban cities. In 2018, the Pew Research Center reported that poverty increased more sharply in suburbs than in urban and rural counties (Parker et al., 2018). The rise in suburban poverty coincides with an…

Today, institutions of higher education enroll rural students, and specifically rural women, at rates lower than their urban counterparts (Flora et al., 2018). Additionally, the disciplines of teaching and home economics continue to dominate the curricular choices of rural women. As higher education scholars continue to explore these phenomena, a…

Sustainable eating may benefit both the environment and human health. Currently, no Extension programs addressing healthy and sustainable eating are available that target adults in communities. Since sustainable eating is a sensitive topic, this project engaged Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Extension agents in Kentucky, to garner their…

A Health in All Policies approach engages cross-sector stakeholders to collaboratively improve systems that drive population health. We, the members of the Extension Committee on Organization and Policy (ECOP)'s Health in All Policies Action Team, propose that adopting a Health in All Policies approach within the national Cooperative Extension…

Public health efforts have emphasized changes to policies, systems, and environments (PSEs) to improve health behaviors for individuals and communities. Extension has increasingly emphasized these approaches, particularly for the work of Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) agents. In part, this emphasis on PSEs in Extension has been driven by…

Many parent and family education programs lack a clearly articulated program theory that is solidly founded in the social science literature and used to guide rigorous evaluation. This article describes the program theory for Parents Forever, a divorce education program developed by the Minnesota Extension to serve divorcing parents. The Parents…