Evaluation of the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program as an antipoverty strategy was undertaken in 1977 by examining activities of paraprofessional Nutrition Education Assistants (NEA's) in the Ozark Foothills area of Missouri to determine how they helped their clientele families become self-sufficient and integrated into the mainstream of society. Previous studies had looked essentially at the program's internal effectiveness, not at its effectiveness in helping rural poor escape poverty. Data for 179 families who had participated in the program about two years showed that while only five percent had escaped poverty or were on their way, all but 31 families were making progress. Of the five percent, more than half had obtained better paying, more secure jobs through further education. Twenty-five percent had made some improvement in eating patterns by switching to home-cooked meals and eliminating snack foods; 34 percent had improved their diets by growing their own vegetables and, in some cases, raising livestock; 35 families had begun to pay off accumulated debts or were making home improvements. Paraprofessional help through encouragement, budget training, and involving homemakers as volunteer leaders were cited as vital to the progress made, and effectiveness of the program could be tied to helping families help themselves. (RS)