The City Council of Stockton, California (32.5% Latino) has unanimously passed a new ordinance to reduce sugary beverage consumption among kids. The ordinance will require all restaurants in the city that offer kids meals to offer water and low-fat milk as the only default beverages. Cities across the country, in Davis, Calif, Philly, Illi., Denver, Colo., Virginia and more, are working on reducing sugary beverage consumption among kids and teens, as soda's and energy drinks with high sugar content have been shown to be the products that contribute most to added sugars in a child's daily diet. Research shows that about 74% of Latinos have had a sugary drink by age two. Having measures that reduce sugar consumptions at early ages of childhood, may help the healthy choice become ...
Currently at Bozeman High School in Bozeman, Montana, students are still able to reach for their favorite soda or sports drink at lunch. According to a local news article, earlier this year, the high school was selling 2,000 bottles of Gatorade a month. Now, healthier beverages and school food recommendations from the schools' 15-member Food Service and K-12 Nutrition Education commission will be heard on June 12th, 2016. Soda's and sugary beverages high in sugar and have been shown in studies to be linked to higher risks of tooth decay, diabetes and heart disease. The commission committee hopes to change the beverage options at lunch, to allow healthier carbonated waters and juices, but take out the soda and sports drink options from the high school's cafeteria and vending ...
Students in Virginia are weighing in on the impact of soda and sugary beverages through the local public health "Rev Your Bev" campaigns. The campaign that aims at fighting obesity in kids and teens, where, according to a local article, 30% of teens are either overweight or obese, and according to the state's campaigns site, 33% of 5-19-year-olds consume at least one sugary beverage a day. The Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth (VFHY) representatives have been visiting schools with the "Rev Your Bev" educational campaign informing students of the high amount of sugar in their favorite sugary drinks and having students taste test other healthier options, like infused waters. Even youth are getting in on the movement, where Virginia's largest youth-led movement, "Y-Street" ...
After certain business's like Providence Health & Services removed sugary beverages in 2015 as part of a healthier dining initiative, the city is now discussing it's view of sugary drinks. A once cent per ounce tax on sugary beverages is being proposed by a portland nonprofit, hoping to fund $22 million a year for children's health and education programs. Like the proposed tax in Philly, the funds from taxes would be for programs that promote healthier foods in schools, more physical activity and Pre-K for low-income families. Mel Rader, Upstream Public Health's Executive Director, explained in a recent article, that the tax would not only fund critical initiatives but also help reduce consumption of empty calories, linked to diabetes and other health conditions. To ...
According to a recent news article, the U.S. District Judge Edward Chen is now backtracking on his agreement for sugary beverage warning labels. Recently, Chen denied American Beverage Association (ABA) any more time in holding off in implementing the new warning label law, to take place on all ads by July 25, 2016. Now, Chen is placing the appeal on hold, considering not the ABA's free speech argument, but more so the San Francisco-based 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), Chen granted an injunction pending appeal allowing the Ninth Circuit to weigh in on the issue as this was the first warning label on food products. Chen told the WSJ, that the time proposed on final say of the law's implementation date may be months away. To ...
Westwood Unidos and Re:Vision, two local organizations in the Westwood neighborhood of Denver, Colo. (31.2% Latino population) were already working to make the area a healthier place for families. Westwood Unidos organized local community members, like Fany Mendez, to teach fitness classes in their spare time wherever they could, such as schools, churches, and even bars. When Westwood Unidos learned about a small building that was going to be torn down on a piece of land recently purchased by Re:Vision, Westwood Unidos raised the money to transform the building into a community center named La Casita, with educational and physical activity classes taught by Mendez and local community members.
Westwood Families Not Active Enough
Fany Mendez, before she became the Coordinator of La ...
What are California Thursdays? A new wave of fresh farm-to-school lunches is popping up in California schools- serving fresh fish tacos and kale slaw among other locally sourced foods to a dozen school districts in the San Diego County, Calif., including San Ysidro School District. California Thursdays are a new farm-to-school program focused on creating healthier school meals from local ingredients within California. Students have enjoyed the new options of fresh guacamole with fish tacos or "pollo local," a Southwestern salad with barbecue chicken, stating that they enjoy the more nutritious options and that they are tastier than the usual fare of hot dogs and hamburgers. Thirty-three of the 42 school districts took part in some type of farm-to-school activity during the ...
Whoever said school lunches had to be boring? Schools in Mountain Lake, Minn. want to make sure students not only enjoy healthier school lunches but also hope to let kids experience different cultural foods and flavors from around the world. The new flavors come from Taher Regional Chefs who have visited other parts of the world and then visit the schools to recreate the flavors within school lunches. Students are intrigued by the flavors, as the Chefs have brought back inspirations from France, Turkey, India, Vietnam, Singapore and Jakarta to the schools lunches. Fresh fruits that have been a popular hit among students are jamaica and mango. Having culturally diverse lunches could be a fun and innovative way for kids to try new fruits and vegetables to their diets, ...
Schools across eight Kentucky counties now get to enjoy fresh food from local farmers in their school lunches. The counties involved are Grayson, Boyle, Clark, Oldham, Harlan, Martin, Morgan and Pike. All are now part of the new initiative for healthier and tastier school lunches. Chefs worked with local food service staff in March to launch the "Chefs in Schools Collaborative", where six schools were trained with local Chefs to come up with their own way of spicing up traditional fairs like tacos and meatballs. Kristy Hodges, the school district food service director has worked with Chef Chris Byrd to create lunches that include produce from local farms and are lower in sodium, less processed and use more natural seasonings. According to Hodges, as stated in a ...
