The National Restaurant Association (NRA) and the U.S. Air Force has partnered to bring Kids LiveWell meals to kids and families as part of the Air Force FitFamilies initiative. The Air Force FitFamilies initiative is a web-based goal incentive program for families, encouraging families to have active goals, resources, and recipes to increase healthy choices. The Kids LiveWell is the NRA's program created in partnership with Healthy Dining in 2011, which limits sugar, fats, and sodium and increases more healthy options for kids including fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains and low-fat diary. Healthy Dining website also offers families workout videos, nutrition tips, and quick and healthy recipes along with tips from nutritionists on how to choose healthier options when ...
Louisiana will be seeing more grocers and farmer's markets expanding fresh food in needy areas, as the Healthy Food Retail Act has been approved for one million in funding from the state. The Governor signed the budget bill to implement the law's budget, allowing families to have more access to fresh, healthy, affordable foods. Market Umbrella and their partner Together Louisiana also provided leadership in the bill's initiative. Vah Hook of the recently said in the American Heart Association News that these efforts in the South towards food access are welcomed as food is a part of everyone's life, and these initiatives are a win-win for vulnerable communities, agricultural interests, and economic development.
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Woodburn High School is an institution that faces unique challenges. Located in Woodburn, Ore. (56.05% Latino population), just south of Portland, the school’s administrators have gone to great lengths for a singular mission: every child must graduate. “Woodburn is pretty unique in the state of Oregon,” said Mario Garza, the college and career counselor at Woodburn High. “Our population is about 80% to 85% Hispanic—the vast majority being Mexican immigrants or second and third generation Mexican Americans.” The Woodburn School District has gone to great lengths to support these students. Beginning in kindergarten, these students receive a full bilingual education. They have broken the campus down into four smaller “schools” to ensure everyone is receiving the ...
A unique group of community leaders in San Antonio, Texas (63.33% Latino population) has recently come together to fund an innovative solution to help students compete in the rapidly changing job market. Regional grocery chain H-E-B and its Chairman and CEO, Charles Butt, are helping to create a new charter school that will use “groundbreaking curriculum and technology” to prepare students for a career in the technology field. The new schools, called the Centers for Applied Science and Technology (CAST), will be the first of its kind in Texas. Students will receive hands-on experiences through college-level coursework, jobs, internships, mentorships, and “project-based learning.” Students will ultimately have an opportunity to earn an associate’s degree and industry ...
Recently, the coalition Healthy Boulder Kids set forth language for a sugary drink excise tax. The tax would be a measure to help raise around 3 million annually to fund programs for families to have more access to healthier foods and exercise in Boulder, Colo. Now volunteers from the coalition have joined together and have collected 9,417 signatures securing the 4,700 required for the tax to be put on the city's ballot for November. Groups like Healthier Colorado, have contributed funding to help support the measure that, according to local news, has received widespread support. Boulder County Latino Chamber of Commerce, Dental Aid, Clinica Family Health Services, the American Heart Association, and many more businesses and organizations have endorsed the measure as well, stating ...
At the University of Texas, a new program called Project Mentoring to Achieve Educational Success (MALES) launched recently. The goal of the program is to “combat the disappearance” of Latino males in higher education. The program is an initiative of the university’s Division of Diversity and Community Engagement. The plan is to create relevant mentoring program for young males of color in the Austin Independent School District. In June, a three-day program began with a tour of the university campus and two days of workshops. During the program, prospective students learned leadership and communication skills that are necessary for college and beyond. “Latino and African-American boys do not have teachers who they can see as role models in the classroom. As mentors, we ...
Since 2013, the Navajo Nation has been striving to address food deserts and health epidemics. In 201, the Healthy Dine Nation Act was approved to help promote consumption of healthier foods, by taxing junk food sales at two percent and eliminating a five percent tax on healthy foods like fruits, nuts, water, and vegetables. The one million-a-year of tax revenues were to be put towards health and wellness programs, farmer's markets, vegetable gardens, and exercise equipment. Now a new victory has come after receiving approval for the "The Healthy Diné Community Wellness Project Guideline and Distribution Policy". This new approval will allow all 110 Navajo chapters to access funding from the Healthy Dine Nation Act tax revenue to pursue their health and wellness ...
Over half of the 4,303 fatal and injury crashes in Upstate New York and Long Island between 2011 and 2015 occurred at an intersection. In June 2016, New York (18.8% Latino) Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that the New York State Departments of Transportation and Health teamed up with the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee to provide $110 million over the next five years to improve pedestrian safety across Upstate New York and Long Island through engineering improvements, education efforts, and an enforcement campaign based on the Three E's of Safety-Engineering, Enforcement, and Education. Examples of engineering improvements include: narrowing of traffic lanes, new and widened sidewalk connections, intersection improvement projects, adding crosswalks, improving lighting ...
As part of their recent slate of decisions, the Supreme Court of the United States decided upon the legality of the University of Texas’ decision to consider race in its admissions process. The Supreme Court ruled 4-3 that the University can continue this practice. Writing for the majority in the case, Justice Anthony Kennedy determined that the University considering was “a factor of a factor of a factor” and met the court’s interpretation of what is “constitutionally acceptable.” The ruling comes at a time when Latino enrollment numbers at higher education institutions are increasing. Latinos still lag behind Whites in overall enrollment, though; they also fall behind Whites in earning college degrees. Advocates for affirmative action have long argued the benefits of ...
