Friday, October 28, 2011

First Annual Food Day: A Success in NYC!

On October 24, thousands of Americans across the country came together and planned events in celebration of Food Day, recognizing that food in its most natural, unprocessed state is healthiest for us. There were 300 Food Day events in New York State alone, some of which were hosted by organizations in the Bronx. Notable among these were Lehman College / CUNY Institute for Health Equity; NY State Senator Gustavo Rivera in partnership with the Committee of Interns and Residents and the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center; Morrisania WIC; and PS 218.

At Lehman College, students stopped by tables in between their classes to learn about healthy eating, sample healthy snacks, and take a survey asking about healthier options they would like to see in the school’s vending machines. In keeping with the theme of Department of Health’s new ‘sugary free’ drink campaign, Bronx Health REACH promoted awareness of the high amounts of sugar in commonly consumed beverages. Water was promoted as the healthy alternative. Several students expressed great surprise as to the amount of sugar in such beverages as Mountain Dew, with its 77 grams of sugar in a 20-oz bottle. The event was hosted by Lehman College’s Department of Health Sciences, The Office of the Dean of Natural & Social Sciences and the CUNY Institute for Health Equity.




























At Mount St. Ursula School in Bedford Park, Borough President Ruben Diaz, Jr. and State Senator Gustavo Rivera celebrated Food Day by kicking off a Family Health Challenge. This health initiative, developed alongside the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center and the Committee of Interns and Residents, asks students and their families to set small weekly goals for themselves, such as drinking only water and low-fat milk (no soda or juice), eating one piece of fresh fruit a day, and eating whole grains. The Challenge is the last component of Senator Rivera's Bronx CAN Health Initiative. Students at Mount St. Ursula, as well as 50 sites participating in Montefiore’s School Health program and a number of additional public schools such as PS 218, will be taking the Challenge. At the kickoff, Dr. Jane Bedell of the Bronx District Public Health Office spoke about the national obesity epidemic and how it will grow if we do not do something now. Heidi Hynes, Executive Director of the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center spoke on the right of every person to have access to fresh, healthy, affordable food. Dr. Appel of Montefiore Medical Center's School Based Clinics spoke about food accessibility, and a Montefiore nutritionist took the auditorium full of students through a presentation on eating colorful foods. Both the Senator and Borough President stressed the importance of taking small steps and making small changes over time to achieve a healthy lifestyle.

At the Morrisania WIC clinic on Gerard Avenue, participants were invited to: prepare and sample a soup made with locally grown winter squash, learn about community supported agriculture (CSA), locate a community garden in their neighborhood, learn about foods that grow in New York, view trailers of local food movement films, and more. Across the street at PS 218, third grade students participating in Bronx Health REACH’s obesity prevention program were given samples of a vegetable and pasta dish, one of the Office of School Food’s plant-based menu options.

















In the evening, Veggiecation and the Columbia Grammar and Preparatory School hosted “EatNYC,” an event offering tastings of food from some of NYC’s finest restaurants committed to serving healthy food from local growers. There were also talks by several distinguished keynote speakers, and streaming of LUNCH NYC episodes, a television series exposing health conscious individuals, organizations, and events in NYC. The event was a fundraiser for organizations in NYC promoting school wellness. This is a fundraising initiative of the Bird’s Nest Foundation, which recently donated 100 garden boxes to NYC elementary schools through its Ground Up Campaign in collaboration with the NYC Strategic Alliance for Health.





























For Food Day, the NYC Department of Health & Mental Hygiene launched a new webpage, www.nyc.gov/nycfood, with all of the city resources New Yorkers need to know about food.
Several other useful websites were also launched, such as a tumblr page with recipes contributed by New Yorkers, and a Vimeo channel compiling videos about accessing and eating healthy food in NYC.

On Sunday, October 23, people of faith from across NYC came together at Riverside Church for a Faith, Food Justice and the Farm Bill event. The focus was on the lack of access to fresh, healthy, affordable food faced by low-income neighborhoods such as South Bronx, Central Brooklyn and East and Central Harlem. Rev. Derrick Boykin from Bread for the World and Walker Memorial Baptist Church spoke about the Farm Bill as a “stewardship bill of our nation’s bounty, with both domestic and international ramifications.” He highlighted the need to reform the food system while also protecting safety nets. Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch, spoke about the problems with the current food system: namely, that corporate lobbyists’ tremendous influence on Congress enables big agribusiness and food corporations to dominate the market. She also stressed that while corporations spend billions of dollars advertising processed foods, many farmers are not even paid fair wages for their work.

There were two panel discussions. The first set of panelists spoke about the impact of the food system on those who must rely on food aid and those who live in areas that lack direct access to fresh, healthy, affordable food. The second panel presented Solutions for Change, with information about programs offered by local and international organizations, and how funding for these programs could best be leveraged through allocations in the Farm Bill. Organizations represented included Just Food, the NYC Community Gardening Coalition, Corbin Hill Rd Farm, East New York Farms, Rural Migrant Ministry, WHY Hunger, American Jewish World Service, Sojourners, New York Faith and Justice, and the NYC Food and Farm Bill Coalition. More information about the Farm Bill and how to take action can be found at http://foodbillnyc.wikispaces.com/.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Food Day – October 24, 2011

It’s time for America to eat real, healthy, sustainably grown food again. October 24, 2011 will be the first annual Food Day.  Food Day will be a celebration of real food: food that’s grown from the Earth with minimal, if any, processing.  It will bring together all Americans—parents, teachers, and students; health professionals, community organizers, and local officials; chefs, school lunch providers, and everyone else who cares about food—to push for healthy, affordable food produced in a sustainable, humane way. People are encouraged to attend events at their schools, churches, farmers markets, city halls, and state capitals, or host an event at their home. The initiative is being launched by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, a non-profit advocacy group started in 1971 that supports policies which make our food healthier and safer.

The Food Day website has many resources, such as a school curriculum, a newspaper, recipes, videos, petitions, and a map of Food Day events happening all over the country. These events aim to educate Americans about the food system and what we can do to change it. Actions we can take range from making healthier choices when buying food for ourselves and our families to asking Congress to support the Food Day goals.

Food Day’s stated goals are:
1)      To reduce diet-related disease by promoting safe, healthy foods.
2)      To support sustainable farms and limit subsidies to big agribusiness.
3)      To expand access to food and alleviate hunger.
4)      To protect the environment and animals by reforming factory farms.
5)      To promote health by curbing junk-food marketing to kids.
6)      To support fair conditions for food and farm workers.

New York City will be home to dozens of Food Day events. On Sunday, October 23, there will be a Faith, Food Justice, and the Farm Bill event to highlight the crucial role of the faith community in the food justice movement and the potential to reform local and national food policy. The event is being organized by the Farm Bill Working Group of NY Faith & Justice, one of Bronx Health REACH’s Legacy grantees.  There will be particular emphasis on the Farm Bill and how it affects the choices we make about the food we consume. The event will be held at The Riverside Church (490 Riverside Drive) in the Assembly Hall from 2:00 pm – 4:30 pm.

New York State Senator Gustavo Rivera is launching the Bronx CAN Family Health Challenge on Food Day. Senator Rivera has been partnering with Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and other community partners as part of the Bronx CAN (Change Attitudes Now) Health Initiative. The Bronx CAN Family Health Challenge was designed by the Mary Mitchell Family and Youth Center and Committee of Interns and Residents. One of the first challenges is to limit consumption of sugary drinks, which coincides with the launch of the NYC Department of Health’s new sugary drink campaign. The Family Health Challenge guidebooks will be distributed to students and their families throughout the neighborhoods of Kingsbridge Heights, East Tremont, Crotona Park, Fordham, and Bedford Park in the Bronx.  The guidebooks will be distributed through Montefiore Medical Center's school-based health clinics, as well as other participating schools.

Find an event to attend or learn more about Food Day at www.foodday.org.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Introducing Bronx Health REACH's 2011-2012 Legacy Grantees!

As a Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities (CEED), Bronx Health REACH provides seed grants to fund new projects which aim to eliminate health disparities related to diabetes prevention, management, and treatment. Grants are made to non-profit organizations on behalf of community coalitions serving primarily African American and/or Latino populations. Funding ranges from $25,000-$30,000 with 3-5 grants made per year. In addition to funding, grantees receive technical assistance from Bronx Health REACH to implement year long projects.

Bronx Health REACH awarded three grants for 2011-2012. Please read about these great organizations - we look forward to seeing their projects move forward!

THE POINT Community Development Corporation, Bronx, NY
THE POINT is a non-profit organization dedicated to youth development and the cultural and economic revitalization of the Hunts Point section of the South Bronx. THE POINT’s Legacy Project aims to reduce the high prevalence of diabetes in Hunts Point by educating youth and community members about health and nutrition and improving community access to affordable and nutritious foods. Teens participating in THE POINT’s community leadership group, A.C.T.I.O.N. (Activists Coming To Inform Our Neighborhood), will take part in education sessions on diabetes prevention and be trained as peer educators. Sessions will include hands-on workshops to construct new bed gardens and will distribute produce to the Hunts Point community through the Corbin Hill Farm Share. To share knowledge throughout the community, A.C.T.I.O.N. will lead education sessions at MS 424’s after-school program to increase awareness of healthy eating for diabetes prevention. THE POINT also plans to produce a Hunts Point gardening manual, do community outreach on healthy eating, and promote the Corbin Hill farm shares to families in the Hunts Point area.

Seeds in the Middle, Brooklyn, NY
Seeds in the Middle fights childhood obesity by taking an integrated approach to health and creating a sustainable infrastructure that engages the entire community: children, parents, and educators. Seeds in the Middle’s Legacy Project will further establish its Hip2B Healthy program in PS 221 in Crown Heights, Brooklyn and develop a model for replication to expand to neighboring schools. The Hip2B Healthy program incorporates a school garden, a school-run healthy market, chef’s nights, in-school cooking classes, and fitness opportunities including Zumba, soccer, and track, to create a healthy and nourishing environment for the school community. Seeds in the Middle also works with teachers to develop an integrated curriculum on health and gardening.

Manhattan Middle School for Scientific Inquiry (MS 328), New York, NY
MS 328 is a public school in Washington Heights, a neighborhood with high rates of obesity and diabetes. The middle school’s Legacy Project adds a focus on diabetes and food access to a school wide sustainability curriculum.   MS 328 will expand an organic school garden and greenhouse and create a garden curriculum to make connections between growing and eating healthy food. The school will also develop three units of study focused on diabetes for use in biweekly student advisory classes and will work to change the school food system at MS 328 by increasing the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables and decreasing the processed foods served in the cafeteria.
 

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