California certified farmers’ markets and farm stands can help bring fresh fruits and vegetables directly to the communities that need them most. It can be difficult—if not impossible—to find fresh, affordable healthy food in many urban and rural low-income communities. These fact sheets from ChangeLab Solutions explain how state law works to encourage more farmers’ markets, farm stands, and community supported agriculture (CSA) programs, where farmers can sell their produce directly to ...
The town of Telluride, Colorado voted in November 2013 against placing a one cent per ounce tax on sugar
Earlier in the year, the Town Council voted 5-2 to let voters decide if they want to place a tax on sugary drinks sold in Telluride. Sugary drinks would have included regular soda, energy drinks, sports drinks, and packaged sweetened teas and coffees.
The new revenue, roughly estimated between $200,000 and $400,000 annually, would have funded scholarships, physical activity-centered after school programs and gardening programs to educate children on growing fresh vegetables.
This issue was initially proposed by a citizen’s group called the Partnership for Lifelong Active Youth (PLAY). Check out their op-ed in the Telluride Daily Planet to learn more about the soda tax.
In ...
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity (DNPAO) is excited to bring a great resource to people working in communities that face health disparities. The CDC's Health Equity and Obesity Toolkit’s primary focus is on how to create policy, systems, and environmental changes that will reduce obesity disparities and achieve health equity. Specifically, it aims to help state health departments and their partners to work with communities to implement effective responses to obesity in areas that are facing health disparities, like many Latino communities across the country. With how-to information followed by real-world examples, the toolkit is a valuable resource for anyone, not just health departments, looking to ...
A study published in the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics found a link between regular consumption of sugar-sweetened beverages and higher body mass index scores in 2- to 5-year-olds. Drinking sugary drinks, like juice and soda, at a young age increases a child's risk of unhealthy weight gain in the years to come, the study ...
Many doctors in New York City will now be prescribing more than just medicine. The Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program is being brought to New York City for the first time in a pilot program at Lincoln Medical Center in the Bronx and Harlem Hospital Center in Manhattan. The Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program (FVRx) is a nationally-recognized program by Wholesome Wave under which a doctor and nutritionist assess the health and nutritional habits of patients and families at risk for obesity and give patients “prescriptions” to consume more fruits and vegetables. FVRx patients at the two hospitals will then receive Health Bucks, which are coupons from the Human Resources Administration and the Health Department that can be redeemed for fruit and vegetables at all of New ...
The majority of Latinos who live in Green Bay, live downtown. Recently, the U.S. Department of Agriculture as named downtown Green Bay a food desert, an area that lacks access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food. There are many great ways to improve a neighborhood's food access, and the Green Bay community has gotten really creative: they have decided to invest in a community-owned grocery store. The store, New Leaf Market Cooperative, will feature local, healthy and fair-priced food for the community, not only improving access to healthy food but also strengthening the market for local farm and food products and creating new jobs. Everyone is welcome to shop at New Leaf Market, and the store is run by various community members who contribute a small initial investment. ...
ChangeLab Solutions, a group that works with neighborhoods, cities, and states to transform communities with laws and policies that create lasting change, has created This Land is Our Land: A Primer on Public Land Ownership and Opportunities for Recreational Access to assist individuals and communities in understanding the complexity of public land ownership and some of the related legal and policy issues that may arise when partnering with public entities to create opportunities for physical recreation. Whether you want to transform a vacant lot into a community garden or create a sports field on state-owned land, this primer will show you how you can make your neighborhood a place where kids can ...
Texans Care for Children launched Drink Well Texas in 2012 to educate Texas children and their parents about the hazards of drinking too many sugary drinks. Drink Well Texas also strives to mobilize folks to take action against big soda companies and supports taxing sugar-sweetened beverages. Kids and their parents can get involved by pledging to drink less sugary drinks and by signing up for news and policy updates. Drink Well Texas also submitted a video to the Center for Science in Public Interest (CSPI)'s Pour One Out Contest, a contest to combat the advertising of sugary drinks by creating fun, innovative videos that outlined the risks of drinking too much ...
