Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest North Carolina has been mindful about supplying nutritious food to the hungry in the past, but the staff wanted to do more. Supplying healthy food can be tricky for a food bank, which relies on donations. Sometimes it does receive cash instead of food. When buying food, the food bank always chooses items that fall within the USDA’s nutritional guidelines. But what about when the food bank has to rely on someone else’s generosity? Saying no isn’t easy. But Second Harvest has taken a big step in the right direction by hiring a full-time nutritionist; they are the only food bank in the state that has one. She handles such tasks as reviewing purchase plans to make sure the food bank is buying the healthiest foods it can. She also teaches ...
Maryvale on the Move works to influence and bring about healthy changes to Maryvale and Canyon Corridor--two predominantly Latino neighborhoods in Phoenix. Residents from the Maryvale neighborhood of Phoenix met for a series of workshops to provide input as to what improvements needed to be made in their community. Some expressed concern over a lack of lighting and a need for more physical activity and less junk food in their neighborhoods. Residents also made recommendations like installing a roundabout to calm traffic and establishing Farmers' Markets. After meeting with groups of local residents from these neighborhoods, and community organizations, Maryvale on the Move identified four goals. The four goals are: (1) create community gardens; (2) increase availability of ...
Minneapolis schools are changing their food offerings to provide a healthier environment for students. They have hired three extra kitchen employees to create a new menu and offer more variety to students. New menu items include orange chicken, wheatberry salad, black bean burgers, and roasted red potatoes- instead of fries. The way the food is prepared is the biggest and greatest change being made in Minneapolis schools. Instead of using all prepared and packaged foods, they are making more food fresh in their kitchens. Previously they only heated up pre-made pizzas, but now they now make pizzas by hand with a variety toppings like roasted vegetables and pepperoni. In order to create a new menu, and keep up with the preparation and cooking, the district had to hire two new prep cooks ...
Mississippi State House members approved legislation in February 2013 that would give state support to owners of supermarkets and convenience stores so they could sell healthful foods in areas where fresh alternatives to fried foods are not available. The Healthy Food Retail Act would require the Mississippi Development Authority to set up a loan program for market owners who want to give customers healthful food alternatives. The bill died in committee at the beginning of April ...
Supermarkets and pharmacies are well-positioned in their communities to encourage folks to make healthier food and drink choices. However, some stores continue to promote sugary drinks over healthier options, like water. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) along with other advocacy groups and health professionals are calling on store owners to rethink how they market sugary drinks and to consider giving no and low calorie drink options more prominent shelf space. Little decisions like placing a case of bottled water at the check out line instead of soda is a small but effective way for a store owner to promote better beverage choices in the community. CSPI and others have crafted letters to send to large supermarket and pharmacy stores urging them to consider making ...
Healthy Kids Choice is a Healthy Shasta initiative to partner with restaurants in Shasta County to offer and promote healthy options for children. The goals of the Healthy Kids Choice program are to have healthy options available on kids' menus, to encourage children to eat more fruits and vegetables, to decrease children's fat and sugar intake, to spotlight and promote healthier options for kids, and to assist restaurants in making the healthy choice appealing, available and affordable. Live in Shasta County? Are any of these restaurants in your area? Have you asked restaurants in your area what they are doing to help the community ...
Farmers' markets around the country have tougher rules and regulations than your average supermarket. While these rules are intended to protect customers from unsafe food, sometimes the rules limit what a farmer can sell and how they can sell it, making it harder on the farmer to make money and harder for the customer to get fresh, healthy produce. A Texas bill signed into law in June 2013 hopes to relax some of these rules. H.B. 1382, introduced by Rep. David Simpson (R- Longview) relaxes some existing regulations and fees making it easier for sellers at farmers’ markets to provide cooking demonstrations and food samples to patrons. More samples and cooking demos means more folks are able to learn how they can use fresh, healthy produce to enhance their family's ...
Since 2008, students enrolled in Texas Public Schools have had their fitness levels assessed using FitnessGram--a tool that provides useful information to parents, teachers, and administrators and helps inform decisions about physical education and physical activity requirements for students. FitnessGram is an annual fitness test that yields a fitness report card, with information about a student's aerobic capacity, muscular strength, muscular endurance, flexibility, and body composition. It can help decision makers decide what type of physical activity programs are needed and where funding for programs should be allocated. Lauren Dimitry of Texans Care for Children speaks on why it is important to keep FitnessGram in Texas ...
In early April 2013 Lakeview Community Schools added salad bars, called fruit and vegetable bars because of their various offerings, at not only their junior and senior high schools, but also at some of their elementary schools. These salad bars help increase the consumption of fruits and vegetable for young students. Without salad bars, students are only given a certain option for fruits and vegetables, resulting in many foods being wasted. Often times young students who do not like a food or cannot eat it due to lost teeth or lack of ability (example: young students often do not know how to peel oranges or other fruits that are prepped at homes by parents) will throw away foods, not getting any of the nutrients they need from those foods. "Fourth-grader Cassie Rathbone had applesauce ...
