Dear Editor,

The Family and Consumer Sciences (FCS) Unit of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System is not just cooking and sewing.

Instead, it is a premier, cutting-edge profession sharing expertise in human nutrition, diet and health; consumer science and personal financial management; family and child development; and food safety and quality.

Approximately 150 FCS educators, agents and specialists work throughout the state representing Alabama Extension, an educational outreach arm of Alabama A&M and Auburn Universities. They help fulfill the cooperative extension mission of using research-based information from its land-grant universities to show families and individuals how to make informed choices in simple, practical ways.

On any given day, what might visitors to an extension office find?

• Individuals altering recipes for better health to decrease childhood obesity

• Families identifying ways to improve credit scores and decrease the likelihood of identity theft

• Couples working toward healthy marriages and relationships

• Food processors learning to expand businesses out of their homes

Cooperative extension’s FCS profession is constantly evolving as we discover new knowledge and new ways of thinking to aid our communities. Contact your county extension office or visit www.aces.edu for more information. Escambia County Extension Office’s phone number is 251-867-7760, or visit their office at 175 Ag Science Drive in Brewton.

We are here to make a difference in the lives of families we serve.

For the love of the FCS profession,

Carolyn F. Bivins

Regional Extension Agent