On November 26th, 2012, Texas State Representative Carol Alvarado (D-Houston) filed legislation to ban sugary drinks from being sold in public schools. The ban would include soda, sports drinks and similar sugary beverages but would allow schools to sell or distribute 100-percent vegetable or fruit juice, vitamin-enhanced water, water without sweeteners and milk with a fat content of 1 percent or less. Rep. Alvarado introduced similar legislation in 2011, but the bill died early on. Read the full-text of the bill here On June 28, 2013 after being passed by the legislature, the bill was vetoed by Texas Governor Rick ...
More than half of the children in the Coachella Valley are overweight or obese, according to the most recent statistic. The demographics of the Coachella Valley’s youth adds to the area’s challenge. Latino children and low-income children — 78 and 75 percent of the valley’s public school students, respectively — are more likely to be overweight or obese. Almost twice as many Latino children in the Coachella Valley were overweight as compared to white children, according to 2010 Health Assessment Resource Center statistics. Realizing the need for change, the valley has been implementing various programs around the area to help set kids back on the path to life-long health. One shining example of progress is Palm Springs Unified School District (PSUSD), who won the Healthy ...
If you could wave a magic wand, what would you do to fix school lunches? If money was no option, what would you do to bring healthier foods into schools? These are the kinds of questions students at Sunset High School in Del Norte County, California asked while dreaming-up big solutions to their less-than-great school food. Fed up with the pre-packaged lunches and unhealthy options, the youth organized and advocated for change, building partnerships and leadership skills that will last a ...
Chicago Public Schools unanimously approved a healthier snack and beverage policy on November 13, 2012. The policy bans the sale of items like Gatorade, energy drinks and whole milk in schools. It also discourages rewarding kids with sweets or selling them at school fundraisers. Latino children make up the majority of students in the district, at 44%. Schools will be given a full year to implement the ...
On Friday, January 18th, 2013, the Mayor's Fitness Council in San Antonio, Texas hosted the Healthy Schools Summit. The summit, which is open to the community, including parents, teachers, administrators and organizations, took a look at wellness policies in San Antonio school districts and brainstormed ways schools can put on ...
A company by the name of Healthways is working with communities in California and Iowa to shape policies that would make communities more active through the Blue Zones Project. According to a blog post from the DC.StreetsBlog.org, the Blue Zones Project---a collaborative effort of AARP, Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, and the Walkable and Livable Communities Institute---is now working to integrate more physical activity into daily life. The blog post mentions that communities near Los Angeles like Hermosa, Rendondo Beach, and Mahattan Beach, participated in a planning process to institute walking school buses, to create a livable streets plan and to develop a master bike plan. It also states that since the start of the Blue Zones project in Southern California, ten local schools have ...
CSPI urges advocates to demand better from the country's fast food chains by singing their letter to leading fast-food chains. The letter asks that fast food decision-makers to commit to providing children with healthier meal options at their restaurants by reformulating current menu options to reduce the amount of calories, sodium, saturated fat, and sugars, offering more fruit and vegetable options, making the grains whole grain, and removing soda and other sugary drinks from the children's menu. Want to show your support? Click ...
CycloBia is Brownsville's version of Ciclovia--an open streets event--which originated in Colombia. The first CycloBia was held November of 2012. The event was a way of getting people to leave their houses and become active, by riding bikes and walking down a temporarily closed off streets in Brownsville. CycloBia not only gave participants a chance to ride their bikes through downtown Brownsville, but also the opportunity to participate in "reclovias"--free exercise sessions available at four different locations, along the closed off streets. In this blog, Lisa Mitchell-Bennett, a participant of the Brownsville CycloBia, shares the wonderful experience she had while attending Brownsville's first CycloBia. She describes the healthy event as one where "the streets belonged to ...
A town hall meeting is a great way to make your voice heard in local government. Typically open to everybody in the community, attendees get the chance to voice their opinions and ask questions of the public figures, elected officials, and each other. If there’s an issue in your community that needs to be addressed, a town hall meeting is a great place to start. But let’s be honest, getting a bunch of concerned neighbors together in one room can be a challenge. Demanding jobs and busy kids leave little time to meet in a room with folks to discuss food access issues. Knowing all this, a group in Detroit got creative. Fair Food Network’s Strengthening Detroit Voices, a nonprofit dedicated to building a more just and sustainable food system, hosted a Telephone Town Hall on December ...
