History

First conceived in November 1996, the Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Network provides a forum for public and private agencies and other groups working with the food stamp population of Pennsylvania to share information about current nutrition education efforts and to plan and implement innovative strategies.

Originally a program of Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences, the Network was administratively transferred to Penn State's College of Health and Human Development in October 2003. In early 2005, PA Tracks awarded a management subcontract to the Pennsylvania Hunger Action Center.In October of 2009, PA NEN awarded the Request For Proposal (RFP) for fiscal and human resources services to the Public Health Management Corporation (PHMC) of Philadelphia, PA.

PA NEN Mission

The Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Network facilitates communication among those individuals, organizations, and agencies concerned with community nutrition education. The Network mission is to ensure that effective and appropriate nutrition education is available, primarily for low-income populations, across the state. Click here to download PA NEN's bylaws.

PA NEN Initiatives

The PA NEN staff, with the help of committees, is actively involved in promoting and implementing nutrition education throughout the Commonwealth. Each year we apply for funding to conduct ways to improve and enhance the nutritional health (through educational efforts) of low-income families. Click on the links below to find out more about some of the activities we are working on this year:

New! Nutrition Education Database
Social Marketing
Community Briefings
Food Stamp Nutrition Education Information and Resource Packets
School Breakfast Nutrition Education/Promotion

Beyond these activities, we have provided PA NEN Members with resource list related to nutrition education including SmartLinks as well as a listserv where members share the latest news in nutrition information and research; we have a member-based quarterly newsletter which highlights nutrition information, PA NEN member initiatives, and PA NEN news; we also coordinate the Pennsylvanian State Nutrition Action Plan, a vegetable-of-the-month promotion with free downloadable nutrition education materials. A new section on Digital Photo Receivers has just been added!

Network Activities Include

• Convening statewide forums where public and private agencies, working with low-income Pennsylvanians, share program information and resources.
• Designing and implementing social marketing campaigns that promote the adoption of healthful food-related behaviors.
• Facilitating the compilation of the PA Nutrition Education Program plan, optional funding from the Food Stamp Program that supports nutrition and food education for low-income people.
• Encouraging and supporting the development and activities of local coalitions addressing food and nutrition issues in their communities.
• Providing opportunities for nutrition professionals and paraprofessionals to learn more about the design and delivery of effective nutrition education to food stamp eligible audiences.
• Collaborates with Pennsylvania State Agencies to implement and evaluate the Pennsylvania State Nutrition Action Plan (S.N.A.P.).

Funding

Funding for the Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Network is provided by the Pennsylvania Nutrition Education Program and United States Department of Agriculture's Food Stamp program