Chinese food take-out can be a quick dinner option on nights where families are too busy to cook, but the high sodium content in these foods works against a kid's healthy diet. The Healthy Chinese Takeout Initiative brings restaurant owners and health professions together to slim down the sodium in these popular meals. The city of Philadelphia has gotten over 200 Chinese food restaurants to agree to reduce sodium in their meals by 10-15 percent. Organizers offered a series of low-sodium cooking classes last summer with the goal of changing the ingredients but not the taste. Nine months later, salt content in those two dishes was down 20 percent in samples from 20 restaurants. Researchers plan to test the food again in a few months, and expand the program to other ...
New York City Council woman Christine Quinn is proposing recommendations that would have kids' menus at chain restaurants adhere to certain nutritional guidelines. Also running for mayor of NYC, Quinn hopes that these guidelines would rid kids' meals of unnecessary fat, salt, and calories; some restaurants have items on the kids meals that are over 1,000 calories. She would like to see the kids' meals fall in line with the USDA guidelines for school lunches. Those guidelines call for no more than 650 calories, 7.2 grams of saturated fat and 740 milligrams of sodium in each ...
According to an article from YumaSun.com, obesity levels have dropped at Gary Knox elementary by almost 10 percent, after launching an initiative to track the number of miles students walk. Since the initiative started, students logged a total of 14,371 miles as part of their Mileage Club program, which was created with help from the Yuma Regional Medical Center. Through Mileage Club program, children are encouraged to walk after lunch, during recess, and during family events hosted by the school. Children receive incentives like tokens to wear on a necklace, after reaching certain milestones. Since 2008, the Yuma Regional Medical Center has granted over $155,000 in funds to schools and non-profits in Yuma County, through the Yumans' Obesity Undermines their Health (YOUTH) ...
Food banks across the state of Arizona are moving away from only offering canned goods and are embracing farm fresh produce to give to those in need. As a state that is home to one of the largest percents of Latinos in the country, this is good news. In Flagstaff, St. Mary’s Food Bank delivers fresh fruit and vegetables to its Flagstaff warehouse, where agencies like Flagstaff Family Food Center pick them up for use in the hundreds of free, hot meals it serves each day. “We make sure we serve a fresh salad and fresh fruit with every meal,” said Steve Saville, executive director of the food center. “And usually, a fresh vegetable goes into the main dish, and we have some left over, we have a vegetable side serving.” In Yuma, farmers in the area donated 832 truckloads ...
Ending hunger while also improving access to healthier food can be a difficult task. A group in northwest Philadelphia is bringing people from various organizations together to make this task a little easier. A handful of graduate students from La Salle University had already been partnering with local businesses and community and religious groups to aid neighbors' access to healthy food. Through these partnerships they had accomplished a lot, like a huge Easter food drive that fed over 2,000 people. But they wanted to do more. "We realized as we were visiting all these churches, and talking with all these people, that there were a lot of organizations in this neighborhood that were addressing hunger and nutrition issues," Tom Wingert, an MBA candidate at La Salle, ...
Many Latino communities in Colorado will now see healthier options popping up at local food retailers. The Colorado Health Foundation has launched a fund to help grocers and other retailers in low- to moderate-income neighborhoods provide fresh and healthy food to those areas. Based on successful programs elsewhere in the United States, the Colorado Fresh Food Financing Fund will offer financing to grocers offering affordable and nutritious foods in areas where such foods are hard to find. The fund is also designed to promote economic development, so communities can not only eat healthier, but eat healthier for longer. Could your state benefit from a financing fund like this? Learn more about improving access to healthy food with healthy food financing initiatives ...
Going on a trip any time soon? If you stay at any of the Hyatt's hotels, breakfast, lunch, and dinner may look a lot healthier---and more fun!
In July 2013, Hyatt Corporation announced the launch of a new, innovative menu, “For Kids By Kids,” which provides more nutritious, fresh and interactive offerings for the three million children served annually in all full-service Hyatt hotels and resorts throughout the U.S., Canada and the Caribbean.
The “For Kids By Kids” menu was tasted, tested and approved by kids, including 11-year-old Haile Thomas, who is spearheading a campaign for healthy eating through her online cooking show, Kids Can Cook.
What sort of creations has Hallie and the kitchen come up with? A make-your-own breakfast taco inside a whole-wheat tortilla, a shaken ...
Florida's US Tennis Association (USTA Florida) has launched a campaign called "Tenis para Todos" to get more Latinos to play tennis.
Tenis para Todos will host one-day tennis workshops open to anyone interested in learning more about ways to reach out to Latino communities, starting August 2013 through September 2013 in Orange, Broward and Miami-Dade Counties. Through hosting these workshops organizers of Tenis para Todos hope to get more young players involved in the sport and teach pros, volunteers, and administrators how to attract and retain Latino participants in Tennis programs. Workshops will offer Spanish translation upon request. For more information, contact the USTA ...
Latinos are the largest minority in Springfield, Oregon, and many live in an area without access to a grocery store.
Seeing the need for fresh produce in one underserved neighborhood, the Williamette Farm and Food Coalition, Lane Coalition for Healthy Active Youth, and a local convenience store have teamed up to bring fresh produce straight into the neighborhood.
Telltale Farm brings in fresh fruits and vegetables to the Dari Mart at 1243 Rainbow Drive once a week, and will continue to do so until fresh produce supply runs low in October. The Williamette Farm and Food Coalition subsidizes the farmers for their time and provides a person to operate a machine that accepts credit cards and food stamp cards so that the farmer does not risk losing money to provide fresh produce in ...
