Equipping farmers' markets to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits is one way to encourage low-income families to purchase more healthy fruits and vegetables. In Nashville, TN in late April 2014, The Tennessee Department of Human Services, the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and the USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service hosted the Farmers’ Market On-Site Application and Approval Event for markets interested in receiving free wireless point-of-sale (POS) devices equipped to accept SNAP benefits. Through this event, eligible participants were also able to receive approval to process SNAP transactions within the day, versus the normal processing time-frame. Last year, SNAP recipients spent an average of $175 million in benefits per month. ...
Is your city an active town or a strong town? Recently, the City of San Antonio Metropolitan District hosted its second annual Public Health & The Built Environment Conference. The Healthy Communities by Design conference, which was held at the University of Texas at San Antonio's downtown campus, brought together planners, architects, public health professionals, students and community members to discuss ways to make streets, neighborhoods and public spaces more inviting and conducive to physical activity. At the meeting, key note speaker, Chuck Marohn, Co-Founder and President of Strong Towns, spoke of the need to take a different approach to creating safe, healthy, and financially insolvent communities. Instead of investing on road infrastructure that costs millions and ...
As part of a community effort to combat obesity, in May 2014 the Leesburg Farmers Market in Leesburg, Virginia began accepting Supplemental Nutritious Assistance Program (SNAP), dollars for purchases of fresh produce. It's the first farmers' market in the county to accept SNAP benefits. Customers using SNAP at the market also will receive Double Dollars, meaning for every $10 spent at the market, they will get an additional $10 toward their purchase. The Northern Virginia chapter of healthy food resource Buy Fresh Buy Local, sponsored by Inova Health Systems, is contributing $1,500 for that effort and fundraising efforts are ongoing to help sustain the matching program. To get the community to the market, county health officials are arranging transportation to the farmers' ...
Thanks to recent funding from the U.S. Department of Education's Carol M. White Grant, students in grades K-12th from 67 communities across 32 different states will benefit from new and improved physical activity and nutrition programming. This year, over $33 million was awarded to schools and community organizations across the US in efforts to help students meet state standards in physical education. In order to be considered for the award, grantees must provide instruction on healthy eating habits and physical fitness activities. In addition, funded organizations must provide students with one or more of the following: instruction on how to assess physical health;
motor skills to enhance students' physical, mental, social and emotional well-being;
information on how to ...
Studies have found that Latino kids drink more sugary drinks a day than their White peers, putting them at a higher risk for diet-related diseases, like obesity.The City of Livingston, CA has a Latino population of over 70%, and health activists in the city were looking for a way to reduce sugary drink consumption and promote healthier drinks. In April 2014, the city officially adopted a healthy beverages policy. The healthy beverages policy was introduced to the city by the California Health Collaborative, a program that focuses on promoting wellness through community education The Police Department, Department of Public Works and City Hall employees have begun participating in the program. Healthy beverages choices that are now served at meetings and events include ...
In 2012, the Kentucky Youth Advocates (KYA) worked to encourage the passage of SB110, a bill that promotes the shared use of school facilities during after school hours, through shared use agreements (SUAs). Because Latino neighborhoods often lack safe places to be active, SUAs can help encourage physical activity, by providing a nearby space for recreational activities. In 2011, the KYA conducted an on-line survey among school principals to learn more about the current state of SUAs across Kentucky. The results found that:
1. Close to 74% of the principals surveyed allowed some form of shared use without a formal agreement;
2. That 97% of principals acknowledged the benefits of shared use agreements like improved community relationships;
3. That issues with liability, ...
At some farmers' markets across the country, folks who use federal food assistance like SNAP (Latinos make up 15% of participants) are able to purchase market produce by swiping their Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards in exchange for tokens they can use for farm-fresh fruits and veggies. The Dane County Farmers' Market in Madison, WI took in the most federal food assistance dollars of any market in Wisconsin in 2013, according to a statement from the mayor’s office. But this year, the group that had covered the cost of the EBT machines in the past can no longer afford it. So the city and the county are stepping in. Dane County Executive Joe Parisi and Madison Mayor Paul Soglin are joining forces to keep the program going by seeking a new operator for the ...
Travis Park in San Antonio, TX has gone from "barren to beautiful" according to the Project for Public Spaces. In a recent effort to revitalize the park, the City of San Antonio's Center City Development Office (CCDO) partnered with the Project for Public Spaces (PPS). PPS, a non-profit organization dedicated to building stronger communities by creating safe public spaces, recently launched a national placemaking campaign called Heart of the Community. As part of this initiative, the PPS and San Antonio's CCDO worked together on an action plan to revitalize one of San Antonio's formerly run down parks. They envisioned Travis Park as a place where people could gather to relax, have fun, be active, and socialize. Now with some teamwork and careful planning they've ...
Boosterthon Fun Run has been promoting healthy fundraising across the United States since 2001. This Atlanta based company has worked with over 1000 schools in 22 states to bring healthy, active fun runs to students as a form of fundraising for schools. Their services provide a nine day program including three main components; a pep rally, Team Huddle days, and a Fun Run. These activities give students ways to be active and have fun at the same time, while doing character building and school pride activities. Fundraising occurs at these events when parents, families, and friends pledge money to students, giving them a set amount for each lap they take around a track set up by Boosterthon on the day of the Fun Run. A Mom's Rising Blogger from the Tampa Bay Area, Denise ...
