Looking for the next best place to eat or buy the freshest local veggies? Eat Well Guide app can help you do just that. A movement to know were your food comes from and eat sustainable products is becoming increasingly popular. Technology may help build the bridge for consumers with looking for healthier options. Created by GRACE Communication Foundation, the app allows users to find local farmers market or the closest restaurants with sustainable products. Leslie Hatfield, GRACE’s communications director in a recent article stated, “We want to show people that there are places that are better than McDonalds.” On their website, Eat Well Guide state that it help's people "eat local, even when your not" a local. Access to healthy options through free or easily applicable ...
South El Monte High School is a predominantly Latino High School located in Los Angeles, California. The School is located in a Latino working class community, with little access or education on obesity prevention. A chart from the local public health report shows the school as the highest ranked city with prevalence of diabetes at 34.5% for children. The students at South El Monte High School wanted to leave a lasting impression for future students in regards to having a healthier future. Working with Youth voices and the PTA, six students quickly grew an idea of how to help future students have better eating habits through a school garden, the SEMHS Greensleeves: Garden Project. The Team GreenSleeves, consists of six students: Vienna Z., Jocelyn R., Adriana T., Francisco ...
A recent study shows that two key factors -- taste and choice -- are instrumental in improving school childrens' lunchtime nutritional choices. You need both, the researchers found. Absent tasty food, choice alone is doomed to fail.The study was published in the March 2015 issue of JAMA Pediatrics. When children exercise their small measure of independence in the school lunch line, they do respond well to choice, according to the study. So giving kids a range of options for fruits and vegetables -- and presenting the healthiest options in attractive ways -- prompts these tough customers to pick them more often. But when it comes to getting kids to not just pick but actually eat more fruits and vegetables over the long haul, there's no substitute for a tasty food, the ...
Looking for free breakfast or lunch for your children during the summer? Summer meal programs are increasingly more available at convenient locations. Click here for an interactive map to find free nutritious summer meals throughout the ...
Ensuring that children enter school at a healthy weight or maintain a healthy weight over the summer can be a challenge for Latino parents. Especially in states with large rural populations or in areas with poor transportation infrastructure. In Colorado (21% Latino), only 1 in 10 eligible children visit a summer lunch site for free summer lunch. Lunch Lizard is Colorado’s eighth mobile summer food program in attempts to increase the percentage of low-income children that receive free summer meals. When left to make do on their own during the summer, children go hungry or resort to quick, cheap and calorie-dense foods lacking in nutritional value; therefore, many children gain weight over the summer. Mobile food trucks provide access to free, nutritious summer lunches for ...
Biking and walking are great ways to get the daily exercise that many Latino kids need. However, many of the areas in Latino neighborhoods lack safe playgrounds, or safe spaces to walk and bike. Florida is changing their states landscape with the plan of their new SunTrail Network, which will provide new biking and walking trails statewide. Governor Rick Scott signed and approved House Bill 2514-A for the new statewide Suntrail Network in Florida, bringing funding for $25 million for the new biking and walking trails for the area. The Suntrail Network, will be shared-use pedestrian and biking trails that are physically separated from roadways. Senate President Andy Gardner has supported the Suntrail Network and other trails in the area including the Coast-to-Coast connector trail, ...
Texas takes two steps back in childhood nutrition. Texas Agriculture Commissioner (1) repealed a decade-old ban on deep fryers in public schools and (2) is lifting restrictions on sugary drinks in school vending machines. The American Heart Association says “the changes fail to provide a healthy school environment”. This reversal will affect over 5 million Texan children (51.3% Latino). Click here to read more about the reversal of two healthy initiatives in Texan ...
It's known that all Americans need to increase consumption of fruit and vegetables in their diet, especially those in underserved areas. USDA announced in a recent article, that residents from Philadelphia are using their benefits from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), to purchase more locally grown food. In fact, an six-fold increase of purchases have been calculated since 2008. This means that previous food deserts and low-income populations, are eating fresher, locally grown foods. The Latino population in Philadelphia is just over 13%, with many living in low-income neighborhoods or "food deserts". Increased access to locally grown foods in farmers markets, with USDA's SNAP program is beneficial to having access to healthy food for the Latino ...
GrowNYC hosted a special guest to NYC Farmers' markets in hopes to bring awareness about the need and productivity farmer's markets provide to communities. A video on YouTube shows Krysta Harden, the USDA Deputy Secretary visiting GrowNYC's farmers markets, walking from booth to booth, tasting and experiencing what New Yorkers are doing to provide healthy foods to their neighborhoods. GrowNYC has created or rejuvenated over 70 community gardens. They work with schools, public housing associations, and neighborhoods in an ongoing effort to revitalize vacant land into urban agriculture destinations. Many of these gardens are in urban places where garden and green spaces are rare and large populations of Latinos live. An article from 2011 showed New York City being the number ...
