Cass County
Cass County Extension
120 N. Broadway, Suite 209, Cassopolis, Michigan 49031 /

P: 269-445-4438F: 269-445-4418

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September 2005

The Pied Piper summer walking program

It is no secret that childhood obesity has become a serious national health concern. Fifteen percent of children between 6 and 19 years of age and over ten percent of preschoolers in the United States are overweight. The prevalence of overweight children has doubled within the last three decades, and this phenomenon crosses gender, race and geographic boundaries. Sedentary lifestyles where children spend 2 to 4 hours a day watching television, and eating habits that include regular consumption of fast-foods and soft drinks, are contributing factors to our overweight problem.
To address this issue, MSU Extension received a Community Food and Nutrition Program grant in partnership with the Southwest Michigan Community Action Agency. A six-week community walking program designed to promote physical activity was designed to provide family-oriented fun, healthy snacks and nutrition information. Known as the Pied Piper summer walking program, the goals included encouraging families to become more active by participating in an evening walk twice a week, and promoting healthy life styles through sustainable habits of regular exercise and healthy eating.
From June 21 through July 28, participants had a choice of two walking locations, Dowagiac or Cassopolis, with guided routes of 1.7 to 2.0 miles. Twice each week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) groups would go out in the evening to conquer the terrain at a vigorous, but not strenuous pace. To reward their / efforts, healthy snacks, such as veggie trays (with low-fat dips), fruit ka-bobs and healthy drinks, were waiting for them at the end of the trail. Those who completed the entire six-week course were rewarded with exercise equipment such as jump ropes, volleyballs and badminton sets, along with a recipe book of the healthy snacks that they consumed during the program. The groups averaged about 18 in number and included children, families, parents and grandparents. Their ages ranged from 3- to 81-years-old.
At the conclusion of the program, the group offered comments on their experience. Eighty percent thought the program was great and that they benefited from their experience. Some of these benefits included feeling better, becoming more motivated to exercise and having more energy. Their future plans included using this experience to continue walking on a regular basis, and hopes for continuing the program next year. The healthy snacks were a big hit with the entire group and stimulated ideas for home use.
An unexpected benefit was the social interaction that people shared. All participants commented on how much they had enjoyed meeting and talking with new people throughout the program.
- Cynthia Warren, Extension educator
/ Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities. Offices in counties across the state link the research of the land-grant university, MSU, to challenges facingcommunities. Citizens serving on county Extension councils regularly help select focus areas for programming. MSU Extension is funded jointly by county boards of commissioners,the state through Michigan State University and federally through the US Department of Agriculture. /

Youth pork producers provide a safe and wholesome pork product

Providing a safe and wholesome pork product is a responsibility unbiased of age when it comes to producing a food supply product for the consumer. This is the strong message youth pork producers of Cass County received by participating in the Youth Pork Quality Assurance program. This program, delivered by Michigan State University Extension personnel, is modeled after the Pork Quality Assurance Level III program that was developed in 1989, following the demand by packers for a safe and healthy pork product. With constantly growing numbers of youth pork producers in the United States, the Youth Pork Quality Assurance Certification program was developed in 2004 by the National Pork Board for young producers 8- to 18-years-old.
“Presenting this educational material to the youth of Cass County promotes the responsibility to produce the safest, highest quality pork product in order to meet consumer and packer demands,” said Beth Franz, Cass County MSU Extension Educator.
In order to maintain Cass County’s reputation of producing top quality pork products, MSU Extension promoted and expanded on the program, reaching over 250 Cass County youth along with 50 parents during three separate educational programs held between April and July 2005. The program emphasized producing safe, wholesome and nutritious pork for consumers based on ten good production practices:
  1. Identify and track all treated animals.
  2. Maintain medication and treatment records.
  3. Properly store, label and account for all drug products and medicated feeds.
  4. Use a valid veterinarian/client/patient relationship as the basis for medication decision-making.
  5. Educate all employees and family members on proper administration techniques.
  6. Use drug residue tests when appropriate.
  7. Establish and implement an efficient and effective herd health management plan.
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  1. Provide proper swine care.
  2. Follow appropriate on-farm feed and commercial feed processor procedures.
  3. Complete the quality assurance checklist every year and the education card every two years.
The unique hands-on presentation provided an educational opportunity to enhance the knowledge and skills of today’s youth that are involved in pork pro-duction in Cass County. “By laying the groundwork for using good management practices, we hope to maintain this level of responsibility as the youth grow and begin mainstream pork production that will enter into the food supply chain,” said Franz.
Plans are already underway for next year’s program. Based on positive feedback, MSU Extension is working to improve and develop this highly successful curriculum to include even more skills to benefit the young producers, while maintaining effective teaching styles for different age groups. Plans include further development of sessions with humane treatment of animals, herd health assessment, bio-security, proper use of medical equipment and livestock safety.
By instilling the youth of today with the knowledge and training needed to produce the highest quality pork product possible, MSU Extension is helping to ensure that Cass County’s pork be safe and wholesome, and tomorrow’s producers will be attuned and aware of the ever-changing demands of consumers and packers.
- Beth Franz, MSU-Extension educator
MSU is an affirmative-action, equal opportunity institution, Michigan State University Extension programs and materials are open to all without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation, marital status, or family status. Issued in furtherance of MSU Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Thomas G. Coon, Extension Director, Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI 48824