The Food Trust recently released the new report Healthier Corner Stores, which outlines the positive impacts of their Healthy Corner Store Initiative from 2010 to 2012. Started as a pilot program in 2004, the Healthy Corner Store Initiative began with a simple premise, that everyone deserves access to healthy, affordable food, and that the ubiquitous corner store -- often thought of as a source of unhealthy foods -- can actually be a key partner in this effort. Read about their successes and think about how you can get healthier snack options into corner stores near ...
Representative Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut introduced a national soda tax bill on July 30, 2014. The bill would amend the I.R.S. code and charge a penny per teaspoon of sugar, high-fructose corn syrup or other caloric sweeteners — “to be paid by the manufacturer, producer or importer of such products.” The law would not include drinks like milk and 100 percent fruit juices. DeLauro believes the tax would help curb sugary drink consumption, a source of excess sugar and calories in many Americans' diets, leading to various chronic disease issues like obesity and diabetes. According to a Chicago Tribune article, DeLauro knows the chances of the bill passing are slim, but she wants to bring the debate to Washington, perhaps bolstering local efforts to curb sugary drink ...
In the city of Waco, TX, where almost half the population is Latino, healthy food access is a real problem. Elizabeth Ross is a member of the Heart of Texas Urban Gardening Coalition and she hopes that getting kids excited about agriculture and bringing more gardens into the city will help eliminate areas with low food access. She's responsible for Farm Camp, a new summer camp for kids just outside Waco that is teaching kids how to live sustainability. “The reason why it started was to address the issue of food deserts in the community,"
Ross said in a radio interview. "There are so many areas, especially with a couple of grocery stores that have closed, leaving places without healthy food access.” Besides the educational camp, she hopes that urban gardening can be ...
PolicyLink, The Food Trust, and The Reinvestment Fund launched the Healthy Food Access Portal in 2013 to be a resource to the movement to improve access to affordable, healthy foods in underserved communities. Based on user feedback, they've recently redesigned the website to better serve the needs of food advocates, researchers, and other stakeholders. On the newly redesigned website you can: Use a new searchable map to find policy efforts and resources in your state
Find available funding opportunities in our updated database
Learn from your peers via new profiles, webinars, and stories
Check out new videos of healthy food leaders from around the countryCheck out the Healthy Food Access ...
The California State Board of Food and Agriculture will discuss urban food access issues at its upcoming meeting on August 5th, 2014 in Southern California. Meetings like these are happening across the country, bringing together neighbors business leaders, and decision-makers to brainstorm how to get fresh food into underserved areas. "In visiting Compton, the board will hear about some of the great efforts underway to improve food access in intercity communities," said Craig McNamara, president of the CA State Board of Food and Agriculture. In California, almost two million individuals live in a USDA-designated food desert, according to an article in the Imperial Valley News. Read more about the ...
The New York State Council on Food Policy is touring across the state, holding listening sessions so local community organizations, food advocates, and anyone interested can come listen and engage in conversations about healthy food access in New York. Most recently, the council was in Buffalo. The meeting, titled Farm, Food and Policy: Getting It Right in New York State, aimed to address issues associated with food access and availability. The panel was comprised of members appointed by the governor and is responsible for advising state leaders on the value of safe, fresh, nutritious and affordable food for New Yorkers. The group works with various organizations that provide food, including pantries, schools, hospitals and senior living communities. The council also updated ...
Houston, Texas is a thriving urban city, yet many families struggle with a frustrating problem: access to fresh, healthy foods. The City has been working towards finding solutions for this lack of access, and one local organization hopes urban farms can be part of the mix. PLANTED: HOUSTON, a project of Edible Earth Resources, exists to bring food closer to its consumer through restaurants, retail subscription sales, and donations. They hope to put fresh food back into neighborhoods by growing, selling and donating in areas that are classified as food deserts. The organization is in the process of developing a network of urban farms on city-owned underdeveloped lots in food deserts throughout Houston. They intend to initially develop 3 acres of urban farmland, with 10% of the ...
In the eastern Coachella Valley, a place many Latino families call home, clean, safe drinking water
can be hard to find. The California Endowment, a statewide health foundation that runs community initiatives throughout California, is hoping to bring better access to water in the region. In step with the Drink Up initiative championed by the Partnership for a Healthier America and First Lady Michelle Obama and in collaboration with Pueblo Unido CDC and the Rural Community Assistance Corp, the California Endowment announced plans to install dozens of water stations for filling reusable water bottles in the valley. The project, called Agua4All, will start with 60 tap systems in 10 schools and other community centers in the unincorporated communities of Thermal, Oasis and ...
Germaine Jenkins is a certified master gardener in North Charleston, an area of Charleston, South Carolina that is low income and lacks access to a full-service grocery store. She's got a big vision for a new way to bring healthy, fresh food into her neighborhood.
Jenkins wants to establish a nonprofit urban farm, Fresh Future Farm, on 0.75 acres of the grounds of a former elementary school. It would be more than just a place to grow and buy fruits and vegetables: It would be an entire community food operation, with an on-site store to sell produce, toiletries and other groceries. School groups and residents could come to tour the facilities or take classes on farming, cooking and the food industry, and underemployed people in the area could be trained on the skills they'd ...
