Eating healthy while traveling can be a challenge, but one hotel is hoping to help on-the-go travelers make easy, healthy food choices. Marriott Hotels, the flagship brand of Marriott International, Inc. launched its first healthy vending machine, featuring handcrafted salads, sandwiches and snacks made fresh everyday using local ingredients. The first working prototype debuts in the lobby of the Chicago Marriott O'Hare, offering travelers healthy food options available all day and night. The healthy vending machine was inspired by Anjana Kallarackal, a 21-year old college student, who offered her healthy idea to Marriott Hotels as part of the company's Travel Brilliantly campaign. In looking to bring Anjana's idea to life, Marriott Hotels reached out ...
Food access advocates in Alabama hope that the state will pass legislation that would create a fund that would support bringing grocery stores to areas around the state that are considered food deserts, low-income areas without easy access to a full-service grocery store. The fund would be modeled after The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, which began in 2004 and has since developed or improved almost 90 grocery stores in underserved communities. VOICES for Alabama's Children, a statewide nonpartisan, non-profit child advocacy organization, is the leading the charge. They hope that by bringing healthy foods into neighborhoods in need, rates of diet-related illness like diabetes and obesity will go down. Read more about the grocery fund in this news ...
What good is physical activity if you fuel up with junk food and sugary drinks? One leader in Arlington County, Va., realized that the absence of healthy drink and snack options at parks and public buildings was sending an unclear message to the community about the importance of proper nutrition for an active lifestyle. With overwhelming community support, he drove good-for-you options into vending machines in county-owned property and local schools, creating an environment that weaves both nutrition and physical activity into the fabric of neighborhood health.
EMERGENCE
Awareness: Families in Arlington County, Va., come from many different cultural backgrounds.
Among the county’s 16% Latino population, this diversity is apparent. “The Latino population is probably a bit ...
Healthcare systems across the country are reevaluating the types of beverages served on their campuses, and the Johns Hopkins Health System (JHHS) is the latest institution wanting to help their community make smarter, healthier drink choices. This September, five JHHS-affiliated facilities—Johns Hopkins Hospital, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Howard County General Hospital, Suburban Hospital, and Sibley Memorial Hospital—will implement the Healthy Beverage Initiative, a program meant to help faculty, staff, and guests choose healthy options. Stickers will categorize every drink sold in vending machines, cafes, and cafeterias and at hospital-sponsored events. The lowest-calorie beverages, like water and unsweetened tea, will have a green sticker next to them. The sugary ...
Small-scale farming in the city is risky business, especially if you don't own the land you're farming. Low profit and high rent can leave these urban spaces to grow healthy food to dry up. Brooke Budner and Caitlyn Galloway, the co-founders of San Francisco’s Little City Gardens, understand this better than anyone. They don’t own the three-quarter acre lot they farm and scrape by on a month-to-month lease. A new law proposed by California Assemblyman Phil Ting (who represents San Francisco and San Mateo) might give Little City Gardens a bit more security so the small business can thrive. The idea is simple: Property owners who commit to leasing their land to agricultural enterprises for at least 10 years will be able to receive a re-valuation of their parcels that will ...
U.S. adult obesity rates remained high overall, and highest among Latino adults and children, according to a new report. The report, The State of Obesity: Better Policies for a Healthier America by the Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), found that adult obesity rates did not decrease in any states, increased in six states, and now exceed 35% for the first time in two states, and are not below 21% in any. Highest rates: Mississippi and West Virginia (35.1%), Arkansas (34.6%), and Tennessee (33.7%). Lowest rates: Colorado (21.3%), Hawaii (21.8%), Washington, D.C. (22.9%), and Massachusetts (23.6%). Disparities persist, with adult obesity rates the highest in the South and among Latinos, Blacks, and lower-income, less-educated ...
California recently attempted to pass a bill in the state legislature that would put a health warning label on certain sugary drinks. Although the bill did not pass, it has generated interest nationwide, and New York is the next state to try for such a measure in hopes of reducing diabetes-related sugary drink consumption. New York Assembly Bill 10172 would require sugar-sweetened beverages to be labeled with a safety warning that would read: "SAFETY WARNING: Drinking beverages with added sugar contributes to obesity, diabetes and tooth decay." The bill defines a "sugar-sweetened beverage" as any sweetened nonalcoholic beverage, carbonated or non-carbonated, sold for human consumption that has added caloric sweeteners and which contains seventy-five calories or more per twelve ...
Many San Jose neighborhoods rely on local corner stores and mini marts for their food purchases – businesses where snack foods and sugary beverages are plentiful while fresh fruits and vegetables are scarce. The Health Trust, the same group behind "Fresh Carts" mobile food carts, will showcase the first healthy conversion of a San Jose corner store on September 17th, 2014, 10am-11am as part of the launch of the Good. To Go. initiative. The Health Trust Good. To Go. initiative is increasing the number of places where fresh and healthy foods can be conveniently and affordably purchased. Equally important, Good. To Go. will market these new “fun, fast, fresh” foods as a superior competitor to packaged convenience foods. Emit Mini Mart is one of dozens of stores participating in ...
A study published in August 2014 in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine found that a tax on sugar-sweetened beverages such as sodas, energy drinks, sweet teas, and sports drinks would reduce obesity in adolescents more than other policies, such as exercise or an advertising ban, and would also generate significant revenue for additional obesity prevention activities. Read about the study here. ...
