The goal of this program is to provide people in Orange County with information on healthy eating. It is apparent that people in Orange County face challenges to eating healthy, such as cost of food, lack of nutrition knowledge, and lack of time. These trainings, provided by Orange County Health Department and partners, will vary but can include information such as budget friendly healthier foods and shopping skills, including using programs like food pantries, SNAP/EBT and WIC, learning how to read nutrition labels, and learning healthier cooking techniques. 

These trainings will be open to all people in Orange County. Participation in assistance programs usually requires an eligibility and registration process. 

Many people say that "food is medicine." By providing information on healthier eating and budget friendly options, the hope is that people will be able to apply the skills and improve their nutrition while also managing their budgets. 

Healthier eating related program planning efforts began in the fall of 2024. Health Department staff began collaborating internally and with community partners on ways to offer healthier eating information and education to the community beyond the already existing diabetes-related classes offered by the health department. Due to this being a new project, there is no data to enter for the year of 2024. Aside from these future classes and opportunities, healthier eating related information has been shared in various community settings like community events and through health department social media pages and websites.

Health Department staff provided 17 presentations related to healthy eating in 2025. A total of 342 people participated in these presentations. Highlights of presentation topics include food safety, older adult nutrition, general nutrition, packing healthy lunches, and diabetes nutrition topics.

In 2025, the Health Department collected limited information for the performance measures of (1) percentage of participants reporting benefit gained from participating in training and (2) percentage of participants with to apply information learned. The Health Department is working to improve tracking of these items in the future.