The cottage food industry has become a significant part of the food supply in Minnesota, most likely as a result of the growing consumer demand for locally produced, minimally processed and value-added foods. Using post-training evaluations, we characterized the cottage food producers in Minnesota and assessed the impact of our food safety course.…

Housing education is critical in the context of today's economy. !is article details the current need for rental education for both consumers and practitioners. We discuss the importance of housing education resources for Extension educators across the United States, describe the updated curriculum RentWise, and provide information related to…

Social scientific research has demonstrated that increasing racial or ethnic diversity can reduce overall levels of social solidarity in a community. Yet many community development organizations, including Extension, are deeply committed to creating a broader sense of cohesion in rural communities. This article highlights a recent interagency…

Within University of Minnesota Extension's health and nutrition program area, we created and are using a decision-making tree to prioritize our work with communities of color through equitable decision-making practices. The tool is currently used to help grant administrators winnow down a pool of applicants for a participatory grant-making program…

Extension-led leadership programs provide economic benefits. Historically, evaluators have struggled to quantify these benefits as compared to costs. Further, leadership programs have both public and private value, which are difficult to quantify. To address gaps in understanding the value of leadership development programs, we quantified the…

Extension professionals need easy access to published research and the means to translate it in meaningful ways. They also aim to engage community partners in applying research findings. The "Children's Mental Health eReview" serves as an example of a process for engaged writing with community partners as well as a product that…