Market on Wheels Will Bring Fresh Food into Twin City Neighborhoods



Twin Cities Mobile Market is a grocery store on wheels that brings affordable, healthy food directly into underserved neighborhoods. It fills a gap between food pantries and full-service supermarkets by providing a wide selection of fresh foods at below-market prices. Leah Driscoll was finishing her master's thesis paper on urban food deserts when she came up with the idea to create a mobile grocery store for the Twin Cities, she said in a local newspaper article, while also working for the Wilder Foundation. But the idea became a reality after her idea won $41,000 from the 2013 Colonial Church Social Enterprise Competition. Their project also received a federal grant from the Healthy Food Financing Initiative which helped to fund the purchasing of the bus and they partnered ...

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New Way to Track Bike/Ped Trips May Foster Greater Support For Trail Projects



A new initiative led by the Rails-to-Trail Conservancy (RTC) may soon provide a better way to track bike and pedestrian trips. With more concrete data available, bike and pedestrian supporters might be able to make a stronger case before policymakers for funding alternative transportation projects. According to a Streetsblog USA article, current data on how often people bike and walk is limited. In May 2014, the U.S. Census Bureau released data showing that walking and biking to work increased 60% over the last decade. While this helps paint part of the picture, planners often need more specific data on how people use trails. That's why Tracy Hadden Loh, Ph. D., Director of Research at Rails-to-Trails, is spearheading the Trail Modeling and Assessment Platform (T-MAP) ...

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Report: Bicycling and Walking to Work in U.S. 2008-2012



According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of individuals biking to work increased by 60% between 2000-2010. See the May 2014 American Community Survey report: Modes Less Traveled—Bicycling and Walking to Work in the United States: 2008–2012 to learn more about recent pedestrian & biking trends among various cities, regions, and socioeconomic demographics. According to the report Hispanics/Latinos had some of the highest rates of bicycling to work at 0.8 ...

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Report: What Are the Biggest Issues Facing Latinos?



What issues affect the nation's 54 million Latinos? Several leading Latino-oriented organizations described the importance of various issues, including education, health care and immigration in a new report, Voxxi News reports. The report, called the American Latino Agenda Report and developed by the New American Alliance Institute (NAA Institute), was released this week. The report introduces several topics and offers recommendations for improvements. For example, in health, the National Hispanic Medical Association suggested focusing on these areas of needs: Educating Hispanics about the need to change lifestyles in order to increase healthy nutrition and physical activity through a variety of programs. Increasing Hispanics representation in the federal ...

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‘Live Well Sioux Falls’ Studies Barriers to Fruit and Veggie Consumption



The City of Sioux Falls was recently ranked as one of the cities with the worst rates of daily recommended fruit and vegetable consumption. Public health advocates in this South Dakota city with a growing Latino population want to figure out why folks aren't eating healthy and how to encourage them to do so. Live Well Sioux Falls, a community-based initiative designed to help improve the health and well-being of Sioux Falls residents, announced in early August that they received a $25,000 grant from the Wellmark Foundation to help study issues related to the accessibility and affordability of healthy foods in the city. Working with South Dakota State University Extension and the newly formed Sioux Falls Food Council, Live Well Sioux Falls plans to identify needs in the ...

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CATCH Factsheet: Physical Activity Fits Into Every Day


Latino health physical activity school CATCH

According to a blog post from the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation Center for Healthy Living, there's a way to incorporate physical activity into our everyday lives. Sometimes it just takes a bit of planning and creativity. In order to encourage kids and families to fulfill daily physical activity recommendations, the CATCH foundation has created a fun fact sheet. Learn more ways to help kids stay active and access the fact sheet ...

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Boston Hospital Goes Sugar-Free



A hospital is a place for healing illness, and promoting health for new moms. However, many hospitals across the country still offer a wide range of sugary drinks in vending machines, gift shops, and cafeterias. Latino kids on average drink more of these sugary drinks their White peers. One hospital in Boston used a beverage policy to not only help patients make healthy drink choices, but also hospital administration, staff, patients’ families, and the local community. The Obesity Crisis Dorchester is a diverse inner-city community in Boston, Mass., where almost 20% of residents are Latino. Many of Dorchester’s low-income, high-risk factor patients get their medical care at Carney Hospital, a member of Steward Health Care, the largest fully integrated community care ...

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Community Members Seek Improvements For LA Streets, Bike Lane Project On Hold…



Bringing street improvements like bike lanes to a community can sometimes be a challenging process, but it can also be well worth the wait. In Los Angeles, community members gathered at Nightingale Middle School and Franklin High School in May and June 2014 to show support for a bike lane to be installed on North Figueroa street. At one of the meetings, members of the Figueroa For All coalition and supporters of the bike lanes wore green shirts and held signs to speak up for bike lanes. One sign read: "Bike lanes + Crosswalks = Healthier Streets." Despite their efforts to get bike lanes installed, in a July 2014 statement, first district councilmember, Gilbert Cedillo announced that the bike lane project would be delayed until he could determine what the safest option for ...

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Resource: Protected Intersections for Bicyclists



Protected intersections may be one way of encouraging more active transportation and keeping bicyclists safe on the road. See academic papers, videos, and pictures to learn more about the different types of protected intersections and their designs at this blog produced by Nick Falbo, Urban Planner and Designer at Alta Planning + Design in Portland, Oregon. Access the blog here: Protected Intersections for ...

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