Bag the Junk brings a easy guide to being prepared for the new snack changes that start this 2014-15 school year. Good News – Healthier Rules for School Snack Food are Now in Place and We’ve Got the skinny on How They Can Work for You and Your Students! The USDA “Smart Snacks” rule applies to all foods sold for consumption at school that are not part of the national school breakfast and lunch programs (vending machines, a la carte items, school stores, fundraisers, etc.). Using the resources below can make changing your school’s food environment as easy as eating an apple. Top 5 Resources to help you prepare for new Smart Snacks rules: Find Smart Snacks guidelines HERE.
Find complete USDA Smart Snacks materials HERE.
To know whether a particular food ...
The Summer Nutrition Programs ensure that low-income children have access to healthy food throughout the summer. Most Summer Nutrition Programs occur in tandem with educational and enrichment programs that keep children learning, engaged, and safe during the summer months. The Summer Meals Act hopes to have a better integration of summer education and meals in programs that provide summer enrichment, as well as improve nutrition in rural, under-served, hard to reach areas throughout the US. You can find out more information on the legislation ...
The science that links excess sugary drink consumption and obesity is clear, especially for Latino kids. As the summer seasons draws to a close, have you and your kids been hydrating with healthy drinks? There is still time to make healthy changes before school starts! PreventObesity, an online national network of people dedicated to reducing childhood obesity, is currently running a campaign to ask folks to pledge to cut out sugary drinks this summer. They ask: What will you do to give your community a sweeter summer with fewer sugary drinks? Some individuals have already committed to: - Ask community leaders to improve water quality in parks and schools.
-Serve or bring no-sugar drinks to the next community event.
- Ask a local business to offer more healthy drink ...
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 ...
We all know that healthier school meals improve kids' diets. But did you know kids' like them? The first national surveys of school leaders show that the majority of students like the new healthier lunches schools are offering after USDA’s improved nutrition standards went into effect in fall 2012. This study is done by Bridging the Gap, a nationally recognized research program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation dedicated to improving the understanding of how policies and environmental factors affect diet, physical activity and obesity among youth, as well as youth tobacco use. In elementary school the study finds that there hasn't been a significant impact on participation in the school lunch program. Sixty‐five percent of public elementary schools reported no overall ...
The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides low-income moms with young children and moms-to-be with nutrition education, health care referrals, and vouchers for food. Latinos make-up 41 percent of WIC participants nationwide. The guidelines for buying food with WIC benefits can be tricky, and that's one of the reasons Andrea Little says she and her classmate at the University of Southern Florida and business partner Hector Angus wanted to open 1Apple Grocery in Plant City, Florida. In Plant City, almost 20% of the population is Latino. Besides helping to bring healthy food access to the community, Little and Angus say they wanted to make it easier for WIC participants to purchase nutritious food that followed federal ...
14% of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits recipients are Latino families. Many of these families in the Columbus, Ohio area will soon be able to buy more fresh fruits and vegetables at their local farmers' market, thanks to new funds from the County. The Franklin County commissioners are expected to approve spending $10,000 to help low-income county residents buy goods at local farmers markets. Modeled after a program that began last year at the Downtown Pearl Market, the program will allow people who receive SNAP benefits, to use them at six area farmers markets, including Pearl Market. The program, called Veggie SNAPs, also will provide a matching amount of up to $10 for buying fresh local food with food-stamp benefits. Benefits are loaded onto an ...
Policy solutions aimed at the prevention and management of type II diabetes are often similar to those involved with obesity prevention. This report prepared by the Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation of Harvard Law School provides useful information related policy for both obesity and diabetes prevention. Access the report ...
When families don't live by a full-service grocery store, it can be hard to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, leaving many kids hungry and without proper nutrition. But what if you could grow fresh fruits and vegetables right in your back yard and sell them to a neighbor in need? In Atlanta, some zoning code changes are allowing folks to do just that. Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed signed legislation in June 2014 that establishes the city’s first urban gardens and market gardens ordinance to address food deserts. The ordinance, which was approved by the Atlanta City Council on June 2, will help to eliminate food deserts and expand access to healthy and affordable produce by allowing urban gardens and market gardens to operate in residential zoning districts. Prior to the ordinance, ...
