Popular TV host and Chef, Tyler Florence, is trying to bring fresh produce to the greater population with his #DrinkGoodDoGood campaign. Florence says that people who are concerned about food deserts, should be brave and inspire each other to do something about food insecurity. All social media users are asked to take selfies and put them on social media with the hashtag #DrinkGoodDoGood, Naked Juice will then donate 10 pounds of produce to Wholesome Wave. To learn about this movement more, read the article on Civil ...
Working on helping schools connect with farming and growing fresh foods, the National Farm to School Network (NFSN) is asking staff and all early care education schools to take a survey for feedback for future work. This survey will help NFSN with future projects in networking and advocacy for communities looking to bring local food sourcing and food and farm education to schools and pre-schools. To take the survey, click here. To learn more about NFSN, click ...
Over 15 million American children—approximately one in five—live in households that are food insecure at least some months of the year, according to a recent article. Feeding America reports that more than one in four Latino children (29%) live in food-insecure households as compared to one in seven (15%) White, non-Hispanic children. The risk for food insecurity is even higher for Latino families. More Latino families are learning about SNAP and WIC to assist with food insecurity, but many families are still struggling to have access to fresh fruits and vegetables. What can be done? Awareness is a great way to help families in need find out about resources and to help encourage those in support of food security to rise up and advocate for those in need. To learn ...
Did you know your child could consume up to 31,260 calories of unhealthy school foods and beverages in just one year! That is approximately 8.9 pounds of weight gain per year, according to a new graphic called "Food At School Parties", produced by the Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living. This graphic estimates the number of foods kids eat during one school year of school parties. It gives parents, teachers, and schools a closer look into how many unhealthy snacks are being served. Revealing that if students have more than forty plus parties in a school year, they will most likely consume at least one of everything ( a cookie, pizza slice, cupcake, juice box, serving of chips, etc.) at each party. Many families are not concerned with a few school festivities here and ...
A $200,000 grant was given to the Latino Economic Development Center to help low-income Latino and Hmong farmers by providing direct training and assistance to increase land ownership, profitability, and sustainability within Minnesota and western Wisconsin. This is just one grantee of many millions of dollars that is being given to support a future of diverse farmers and ranchers through the Farm Bill. Helping socially disadvantaged, tribal and veteran farmers and ranchers, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) is making the healthier choice the easier choice in providing jobs for farmers and access to healthy foods for families across America. New farmers markets' provide fresh fruits and vegetables to Latinos across the nation. Helping support local farmers and ...
Since November 1st, 2014, school districts in Broward County (27.5% Latino) have been making healthy changes in regard to what is offered in vending machines and school lunches. Sodas, candy bars and the like are not allowed according to nutrition standards set in place. The new healthier snack items or competitive foods must follow at least one of these rules to be sold: At least 50 percent of grains are whole grains.
The first ingredient must be fruit, vegetables, dairy or protein.
Contain at least ¼ cup of fruit and vegetables.
Contain at least 10 percent of the recommended daily amount of calcium, potassium, vitamin D or fiber. Work is still needing to be done, according to nutrition advocates that criticise the district to still allow fundraising efforts that sell ...
Massachusetts is known for having some of the country’s oldest fishing communities. Local schools are aware of this fact and now over 30 school districts are providing a new healthy protein to school plates, fresh fish. Gloucester Public School District and a local fishery, Cape Ann Fresh Catch (CAFC), are working together to bring fresh seafood into schools and offer students a healthy local food. This new movement is also helping local fishermen have sustainable businesses, as many fishermen need a way to sell unfamiliar and underutilized fish. But that doesn’t mean the fish does not taste good. School food service staff, help make sure students catch on to these new offerings, by hosting student taste tests and offering promotional materials for the district to use. North ...
Some people may have thought after watching the latest movie, The Martian, that a trip to Mars and growing food on Mars might be possible, but not till many light years from now. The movie is not far from real science. NASA revealed on October 5th in a recent article, that growing plants in space is an actual reality while also announcing a growing partnership with USDA. This partnership, signed by Deputy Secretary Krysta Harden from USDA and Deputy Administrator Dava Newman from NASA, declares that both the organizations are committed to inspiring young minds toward future careers in science, technology, engineering mathematics and agriculture. What is the science behind growing veggies in space? NASA’s plant-growth system, called Veggie, has allowed astronauts to use ...
Bringing together the San Antonio community (63.2% Latino), Hemisphere Park opened up a portion of the planned park, the Yanaguana Children's Park, to celebrate their 3 day grand opening and ribbon cutting on October 3rd, 2015. The new park was filled with smiling faces of children enjoying the beautiful Texas weather this weekend, climbing, running, digging and splashing in the water fountains. Providing access to active areas, where little is found in regards to green space or places for children to play in downtown, the newly designed urban park provided open areas for kids to enjoy playgrounds, sand pits, and plenty of free music and interactive games for families. Free parking, is available over the weekend, allowing families who cannot walk to the park, a way to afford a ...
