A new bill supporting urban agriculture in Michigan (5% Latino) will open up doors for new economic opportunities and create new ways to increase access to healthy foods. The Urban Agriculture Acto of 2016, announced by Michigan Senator Stabenow will allow more support for urban farmers with new financial tools, support for research, and allow for healthy food to be grown in community gardens and neighborhood farms. “Urban agriculture is steadily growing in cities and towns across Michigan and across our country, creating new economic opportunities and safer, healthier environments,” Senator Stabenow told the local press. “The Urban Agriculture Act will continue this momentum by helping urban farmers get started or expand their business, so they can sell more products and ...
Get ready to get excited about healthy school food by celebrating national farm-to-school month! Every October farmers, families, students, educators and food enthusiasts of all ages celebrate healthy school food and raise awareness about improving child nutrition for all kids in all schools through farm-to-school programs. Our farm-to-school Salud Heroes have helped schools incorporate healthy foods in cafeterias, increase student awareness of healthy foods, grow school gardens and more! How can you get involved? Take the pledge, read inspiring stories, explore resources, or help spread the word! Learn more here! Also, follow #farmtoschool or #f2SMonth on social media to join the ...
All kids deserve to grow up in a healthy environment, where access and education around healthy meals and activities bring about healthy habits for a lifetime. Hoping to ensure girls learn about aspects of wellness like friendship health and community, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona (BCBSAZ) is working with Girl Scouts-Arizona Cactus- Pine Council (GSACPC) to encourage girls to earn a new badge focused on healthy living. The "All About Healthy Living" patch will be launched in February 2017 and is focused on wellness, including aspects like friendship, community, fitness and health. Healthy eating is also part of the partnership where BCBSAZ is requesting all young girl aspiring chefs to join the All About Healthy Living recipe contest, where they can submit an original ...
What is #RealSchoolFood? The Chef Ann Foundation (CAF), a national non-profit that works to improve school lunches and communities with tools, training, and resources is bringing awareness about healthier whole food lunches. Over 30 million kids eat school lunch daily, many of the foods are processed or contain unknown ingredients, reported PRNewswire. Considering kids more than half of their daily calories at lunch, and Latino kids are often in schools that don't offer as many salads and fresh fruits as their peers, healthier school lunches are a vital component in helping to reduce childhood chronic diseases, like diabetes and obesity. Working towards healthier school lunches, the CFA is now igniting a social media campaign with the hashtag #RealSchoolFood, to help bring ...
Cardenas, an Ontario-based grocery chain in Riverside County (47.9% Latino) that markets it's products to Latino shoppers, are now changing their store's checkouts, offering healthier snacks after listening to shoppers like Alejandra Padilla. Why? Padilla, a Latina mom of three, wants the checkouts to be filled with healthy convenient options like apple slices, nuts, trail mix and water, as many times she must deal with their kids wanting the unhealthy candy and soda's displayed at checkouts, she explained to Press Enterprise. Latinos are often more at risk for health problems like Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, obesity, and other diet-related diseases the American Heart Association reports, but encouraging healthier foods, may help play a part in decreasing diet-related ...
A new pilot program is allowing a food bank to be a part of the Western New York Maritime Charter School (17% Latino), hoping to provide the over 80% of the students that rely on free school breakfast and lunches, a way to keep full even after school and focus on their studies. The $20,000 grant awarded from Dunkin' Donuts-Baskin Robbins Community Foundation, supports the new program, giving the Food Bank a way to provide for students and their families in a convenient way when families are short on time and funds. Many of the food options are packaged but offer nutritious proteins like cashew milk, canned tuna, and peanut butter. The Food Bank hopes to continue the pantry program to other schools and help provide food to families and students to ensure students are able to ...
The UConn Rudd Center just released a study today in the Journal of Obesity, looking at how healthier snacks that are "smart-snack" approved, can change the attitude about the food brand and confuse parents and children when shopping for healthier snack options. The study examines how parents and children rated look-alike snacks in taste, healthfulness, and purchase intent. Smart Snacks were considered healthier, but less tasty, however, many parents and kids believed they had seen similar products for sale in stores. This can be a challenge for parents looking for the healthier options in stores, believing that the "copycat" or "look-alike" versions of junk food are in fact, approved by Smart Snack regulations set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in 2013. Schools are ...
A new multi-phase school meal assessment process will help implement healthier scratch made meals for the next two years for students in Colorado's Fort Morgan school district (60.8 % Latino). Like various other districts across the state, Fort Morgan's School District plans to partner with LiveWell Colorado' LiveWell@School Food Initiative, a nonprofit movement funded in part by the Colorado Health Foundation, that helps offer schools a way to serve fresh foods made from scratch. The main goal of the initiative is to make sure kids have healthier school meals by 2022. The partnership with schools allows the initiative to go into cafeterias and teach culinary training for staff, provide new equipment, and offer tips on healthy recipe planning. The initiative has already helped ...
Incubator grant opportunities are open for up to $30,000 dollars to support innovative advocacy approaches that align with Voices for Healthy Kids policy priorities. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the American Heart Association, and Voices for Healthy Kids are collaborating with a team of experts across healthy eating and active living with the initiative to mobilize people to help all children grow up to a be a healthy weight. Applications should align and support at least one Voices for Healthy Kids' policy priorities. The grants will be looking for innovative efforts in schools, communities and out-of-school time/early care and education and funds will be awarded 100% non-lobby funding. Deadline for the grant application submission is Thursday, August 18, 2016. Also, ...
