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 ...
Mom and registered dietician in Columbus, Ohio, Sally Kuzemchak, calls herself a "soccer mom on a mission" after she found out that her kids were eating junk food and sugary beverages at all their sports and after school events. Sally saw the need to have her two kids fuel up on more than the usual sports drinks, juice boxed drinks and chips that are offered to kids. She wanted to create a grassroots effort to stop unhealthy snacking patterns for the sake of her and other kid's health. So Sally created a healthier snack movement, by asking other moms to take a stand towards healthier snacking at local school, church, and sports team events by becoming, "Snacktivists". Snacktivists moms are empowered to tell their kids coaches, and camp directors about their concerns with snacks ...
Neighborhood leaders and residents like Paul D. López and Fany Mendez in the Denver, Colo., neighborhood of Westwood worked together with local organizations to tackle safety concerns on Morrison Road, an arterial street that bisected their neighborhood. In addition to safety issues, they were also concerned about health, because kids can’t play and people can’t walk on busy, unsafe streets. Their efforts led to a pedestrian-activated traffic light, traffic calming features, medians, and aesthetically-pleasing infrastructure and landscaping to make the road more accessible to all. Unsafe Street Scares Kids and Families
Paul D. López, the District 3 City Councilmember in Denver, Colo. (31.8% Latino), grew up a few blocks from his current office on Morrison Road, a busy main ...
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 ...
After council discussions, the first policy of it's kind in Las Cruces, New Mexico, passed on June 6th, 2016, by the city council for urban agriculture (UA). The new Urban Agriculture and Food Policy plan, developed by La Semilla Food Center, will help the 16.8% food insecure community to have more access to healthier foods through food distribution in towns, cities schools and communities. How? The plan includes three goals including supporting healthy and food-secure communities, having stronger and more vibrant local food economies and supporting healthier ecosystems, and smart environmental stewardship resources. Driven by the community, the plan was prepared by the Urban Ag working group of the Mesilla Valley Food Policy Council (MVFPC). The MVFPC created in 2012 was ...
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, ...
