Back in 2011, Stephen Lucke was a student at University of Incarnate Word (UIW) when his idea of Gardopia started to grow.
"I was studying biochemistry and I took a nutrition class, and I just really became educated about the obesity epidemic in the United States, " said Lucke, "You know San Antonio was the most obese city in 2007."
While at UIW, Lucke decided he could do his part to help bring access to healthier foods and urban agriculture education to his community.
After fundraising in 2013 to start gardens at UIW and then helping to build gardens at the Ella Austin Community Center, Lucke soon realized that he needed to also start gardens in places that need healthier food access, most of them being places of lower socioeconomic status with high minority populations.
Where ...
The 87 Marin schools in Marin County, CA ( 16.0% Latino) are increasing school gardens, farm-to-school education, and local produce to provide kids a healthier school food environment. Kids have various salad options that include fresh vegetables like cabbage, kale, bok choy, cilantro, carrots, spinach, lettuce, cucumbers, and strawberries at Lynwood Elementary. Also, local organic milk is offered in Laurel Dell Elementary School. The healthy fresh food options vary from district to district but offer various fruits and vegetables into school lunches and snacks. Miguel Villarreal, the director of food and nutritional services for Novato Unified School District, is also working on helping their schools offer healthy options by working with different local farmers, providing ...
Latino parents have increased the amount of 100 percent fruit juice that they allow their children to consume, according to a recent study by the University of California at San Francisco. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) states that 100% fruit juice can provide the body with essential vitamins and minerals, but this should not be confused with fruit drinks that are often made with unhealthy amounts of added sugars and flavoring syrups. Additionally, if a child consumes more juice than recommended they could experience weight gain, cavities and tooth decay, and be at risk of type II diabetes. Infants and toddlers that get more than the recommended amounts of juice have additional risks of experiencing diaper rash and diarrhea. Fruit juice should not be used when ...
From the start of one senior citizen's small backyard garden in Holladay, Utah, to now a flourishing program of over 28 gardens throughout Salt Lake City area, Green Urban Lunch Box helps senior citizens use their back yards to grow fresh vegetables for their community. It all started when Katie Nelson, the nonprofit's Back-Farms program coordinator asked 84-year-old Chiyoko Chiba if they could grow vegetables in her backyard. After much faith and some cultivation from the nonprofit's volunteers, the garden has helped senior citizens access healthier foods. In fact, over 12,000 pounds of fresh vegetables have been harvested since 2015 straight from various backyard farms. "This is a great opportunity to help out some folks who can no longer grow their own food," Nelson told ...
Incubator grant opportunities are open for up to $30,000 dollars to support innovative advocacy approaches that align with Voices for Healthy Kids policy priorities. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the American Heart Association, and Voices for Healthy Kids are collaborating with a team of experts across healthy eating and active living with the initiative to mobilize people to help all children grow up to a be a healthy weight. Applications should align and support at least one Voices for Healthy Kids' policy priorities. The grants will be looking for innovative efforts in schools, communities and out-of-school time/early care and education and funds will be awarded 100% non-lobby funding. Deadline for the grant application submission is Thursday, August 18, 2016. Also, ...
Elementary schools in Miss. will now offer healthier school meals as new combination oven steamers will help prepare foods once made with deep fryers,according to local news. The two local elementary schools, Warrenton and South Park, had received funds to change the fryers to combi ovens with a 2106 Nutrition Integrity grant from the Miss. Department of Education office of Child Nutrition and The Bower Foundation. The school district had applied for the grant worth $18,000 per school, allowing them to upgrade older kitchens and outdated cooking appliances. Healthier school meals are vital for kids, who consume most of their daily calories at school.
Join our site and connect with others who care about healthy school food! The new ovens not only create healthier ...
According to new research from the American Journal of Public Health, Latino majority schools are more likely to be located near fast food and tobacco outlets than their white peers. In fact, researchers found that every 10 percent increase in the proportion of a school’s Hispanic students was associated with a five percent higher likelihood the school was within walking distance of places to buy both tobacco and fast food, researchers told Reuters. According to researchers, this is the first study to consider the availability of fast food and tobacco in regards to students' socioeconomic and racial characteristics. They also found that lower income students had a three percent higher likelihood that the school was in walking distance to both fast food and tobacco. To ...
The Advocate Sherman Hospital in the city of Elgin, Ill. (43.6% Latino) is the only hospital in the area that is offering the community healthier options, and now they are also taking a step forward to educate the community about the health risks of drinking sugary beverages. Since 2015, Advocate Sherman Hospital joined all hospitals in the Advocate Health Care system to offer healthier drinks in their hospitals giving patients, visitors and employees more low-sugar or no-sugar options. As part of the efforts to reduce consumption of sugary beverages like soda, energy drinks, and sports drinks, community outreach efforts to educate the public on the amount of sugar in beverages have also taken effect. People like Luis Villalobos, a nursing assistant with Advocate Sherman Hospital ...
A new city ordinance for healthier vending machines was approved by the Fayetteville mayor, requiring all city vending machines to comply with nutrition standards and label calories. The calorie content will be displayed on all products in vending machines across all buildings and property owned or operated by the city. According to Voices for Healthy Kids, the city of Springdale, Ark., was the first city to implement changes towards healthier vending machines on city property. In 2014, Arkansas was the number one state in the top ten most overweight states with (35.9%) being overweight, and nearly 760,000 adults being obese in 2013, costing the state millions in obesity-attributable expenditures. Universities, Hospitals, and businesses have also been working across the state to ...
