Every year San Antonio's Siclovia, put on by the YMCA helps turn major city streets into safe spaces for active exercise and play for the community. This years event on September 27th, 2015, will again encourage families to run, ride bikes, and enjoy free exercise classes in the streets, but one thing will be different, families will enjoy free water too. San Antonio Water System (SAWS) will be providing a healthy alternative to sugary beverages, with a 5,000-gallon water truck, encouraging families in attendance to drink up and stay fit. Also attending will be San Antonio's Healthy Beverage coalition, encouraging people to drink more water, and educate them with their Sugar-Packed campaign. Combining fitness, water consumption and education on sugary-drinks, is a healthy ...
A new study by NOURISH (Nutrition Opportunities to Understand Reforms Involving Student Health) studied bans for junk food in schools, reporting that Massachusetts schools are able to implement standards with “very little technical assistance”, according to Jessica Hoffman, a Northeastern associate professor, and the study’s lead author. Reporting that only 13 percent of middle schools foods met the state’s standards for federal health standards before bans, and now the studied schools have risen to 69 percent of healthier food and beverage options. Also, 28 percent of beverages in high schools met standards before, and one year later (2013-2014) has reportedly risen to 80 percent. Before, vending machines across schools may have been filled with sodas, candy bars, chips ...
Farms, gardens, and schools are connecting in northeastern Pennsylvania. Working to incorporate more fresh vegetables and healthy food access to the area, schools are partnering with local farms and applying for Farm-to-School Grants. Lehigh Valley Chapter of Buy Fresh Buy Local (BFBFLGLV) works with schools and farmers to improve children's diets. Many free summer lunch programs were not able to offer more than a slice of tomato and lettuce for a sandwich. Knowing this, the organization started making connections with school administrators, farmers, and local activists. Bringing in samples of fresh vegetables to classes, farmers invited kids to try new vegetables and informed the kids about the life of a farmer. Show and tell didn't stop there, as farmers and teachers then worked ...
“If Iowa can do it, I believe that other states can as well,” said Teresa Wiemerslage in a recent article. Wiemerslage is the Program Coordinator with Iowa State University (ISU) Extension and Outreach. For over 7 years the Northeast Iowa Food and Fitness initiative has helped local school systems focus on wellness, activity and local food. However, with new federal government nutritional requirements and funding from the Leopold Center for Sustainable Agriculture at (ISU), the initiative has come up with a local menu for six school districts. The grant has allowed the initiative to create and implement seasonal menus to help schools incorporate various locally grown fruits and vegetables including, watermelon, cabbage, summer and winter squashes, just to name a few. Foods like ...
Growing gardens in schools shows impressive results, reports a recent NPR article. Students in Texas, Washington, Maryland and Virginia, are part of REAL School Gardens, a non-profit that proves their efforts through REAL numbers of changes made through their efforts of planting learning gardens in schools. Many of the schools are in low-income areas, or urban areas considered "food deserts". The organization reveals on their website that school who had "learning gardens" had increased test scores, and were more equipped in science and math. The Learning Gardens encourage students to have a hands on learning approach to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) all while promoting healthy foods. Helping kids to be active in the garden is proving itself for ...
Walking the 606, students in the summer school program in the Belmont Cragin Community, learn how the city made more active spaces out of a retired elevated train line. Fo many of the students in the community this was the first time they had ever been on the 606 park trail, according to a recent article. Students in the month long trial summer program within the Prieto Math and Science Academy, walked every other day along parts of the trail, interviewing locals on the trail about various topics. The program was allowing students to study any topic related to the trail, some students chose to interview local police officers of the trail and make a video about the do's and don'ts of the trail. Staying to the right of those who are running or biking is a good rule, according to ...
Announcing back in June, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) stated that over the next three years, food companies needed to get rid of the overuse of trans fats in their products, emphasizing the threat on health and obesity. However, companies like the Grocery Manufactures Association are trying to petition trans fats in some products like cereal and pie crusts. The good news is that many of these food companies have already lowered trans fat in their foods by more than 86 percent. Bad news is that even small traces of these fats are unhealthy, only used for progressing shelf life and in the long run causing high cholesterol and possible heart disease. In fact, trans fats are worse than any other fats for your heart and some studies even say that these fats can alter your ...
One of the world's first vertical farms will be set in Jackson, Wyoming. It is reported that Wyoming is home to over 40,000 people living in food deserts. The company, Vertical Harvest plans to produce 100,000 pounds of produce per year. Rotating vertical pillars of vegetables like a dry cleaning system, the vegetables spend optimal time getting nutrients from the sun's south side area in the three story vertical greenhouse. Coconut husks will help keep the garden strong along with hydroponic systems to keep the plants hydrated. Focusing on helping the community and being a sustainable re-source for the city, Vertical Harvest plans on hiring many of the unemployed adults living with disabilities, assisting them in lives of independence. Best of all, the company aims at ...
In June 2015, Minnesota lawmakers passed a measure requiring the state to examine and develop statewide swimming resources for kids. The commissioner of education must establish a working group of stakeholders to assess statewide access to swimming resources and provide recommendations "on the curriculum, resources, personnel, and other costs needed to make swimming instruction available in all Minnesota public schools for children beginning at an early age" by February 2016. The ultimate goal is to pass a mandate requiring swimming for all Minnesota children; however, the state must first address drastic inequalities in access to pools. For example, there is one pool for every 28,000 people in St. Paul (9.6% Latino and 15.7% African American) compared to one pool for every ...
