The Triple R Mindset

This post was written by Diana Bernal,  Program Coordinator for the Creating Healthy Schools & Communities program at Bronx Health REACH. 

As part of the New York State Department of Health’s Creating Healthy Schools & Communities program, Bronx Health REACH is working with Equity Design, a longtime Bronx Health REACH partner whose goal is to design sustainable programs and services that translate to the specific social, cultural and physical health disparities, and schools in the Bronx to help improve school wellness. One way used to help schools is by providing their school wellness councils with technical assistance and help them implement local wellness policies. 

Bronx Health REACH, Equity Design and IS 584’s school wellness council went through team building and mind mapping sessions to identify areas of improvement for their students, teachers, and community. One area that the school wanted to prioritize was the teacher well-being. Given that teachers play many roles and are the backbone of a school, the need to support their wellness is paramount. “Nationally, there are reports of increased teacher burnout and subsequent turnover in recent years.”

For this reason, IS 584’s school wellness council came up with a Triple R Policy for their school: Relax, Recharge, and Renew. The school’s leadership considers implementing this policy as necessary for teacher relaxation and mental health with the aim to foster a supportive environment for staff, and improve teacher retention and morale. An outcome of this teacher focus was the creation of the Triple R Mindset Teacher Lounge, a room that school leadership designated as a teachers only space for them to unwind and recharge before, during, and after school.

  

                                                       

Based on this policy and vision, Equity Design connected IS 584 with Metropolitan Bank  who offered to provide the school funding to revamp their teachers’ lounge. This allowed for an inviting teachers’ lounge that included comfortable seating, a walking pad, stationary bicycles for physical activity, a refrigerator, water/coffee station, and an inviting décor, all to create a positive and peaceful space. The Triple R Mindset Teacher Lounge will help teachers experience time for reflection, team-building, engagement in physical activity, wellness and emotional stability while in a workplace setting. This is a great example of what can happen through a school wellness council and community partnerships working together to create healthier environments! 

Food as Medicine: A “Prescription” for Fresh Fruit and Vegetables

 

This article was written by Kenny Escobar, Nutrition & Physical Activity Coordinator, Jamila Outlar, Produce Prescription Coordinator, and Intern Stephanie Garcia.

In the winter of 2023, Bronx Health REACH and Corbin Hill Food Project Inc. (CHFP) launched the Food as Medicine Produce Prescription Program (FAM) for patients at three Bronx-based Institute for Family Health (IFH) centers to promote the consumption of healthy food.

The FAM project is funded by the Gus Schumacher Nutrition Incentive Program (GusNIP) grant from the National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) of the USDA.  Project participants must be an IFH patient over 18 years of age and screen positive for food insecurity. Once enrolled, participants receive a box of high quality, fresh local fruits and vegetables on a bi-weekly basis for a minimum of six months. The average price for the box of produce is roughly $35 but through FAM the cost to patients is only $2.50. The participants can pay with SNAP, cash, debit, or credit card. Participants who have SNAP can also pay with Health Bucks.

The FAM project also provides participants with recipes at each distribution in order to encourage the eating of fruits and vegetables. These recipes include creative and helpful ways to use the produce from that week’s distribution. Food demonstrations accompany the distribution of the recipes at least once a month at each health center introducing participants to  fruits and vegetables they may not have known or previously eaten. 

Chef Yadi leading a food demonstration. 

Bronx native Chef Yadira Garcia, also known as, the “Happy Healthy Latina” or Chef Yadi, is the chef enthusiastically creating delicious and nutritious dishes for patients to try. She makes sure that patients are educated on the multiple ways to prepare the different produce and is always open to answering any questions that the participants may have. 

As of February 2024, when enrollment ended, 374 patients were enrolled in the program and 130 have completed their 6-month commitment. We will conduct a program evaluation to assess patients’ overall opinions and feedback of the program to determine the effectiveness of this intervention and the impact it has had on the participants. To date feedback from some participants indicate that the program, for them, is a resounding success. An Urban Horizons patient shared that they are “very happy as a lot of us need this program, we get healthy food and we need this in the neighborhood. You’re doing a very good thing for us." A Stevenson patient said she “enjoys this program so much as I am learning how to cook and eat different things.” A patient from Walton stated, “by receiving these produce box two times a month, I am able to eat healthier which is contributing to my weight loss.”

Food Education Roadmap: Building a Healthier Relationship with Food in Schools

 

This blog post was written by Diana Bernal, Program Coordinator for the Creating Healthy Schools and Communities program at Bronx Health REACH.

When it comes to health outcomes, nearly 40% of New York City public school children are overweight or obese and this disproportionately affects Black and Latino students.  Children living in the Bronx have the highest prevalence of being overweight at 43% compared to 38% in Manhattan, 39% in Queens, 40% in Staten Island, and 41% in Brooklyn. Being overweight or obese increases the risk of developing chronic diet-related disease, such as diabetes, obesity, and hypertension. 

Through our Creating Healthy Schools & Communities (CHSC) program, Bronx Health REACH works with Bronx schools to help improve their school wellness, nutrition, and physical activity. In doing so we learn the struggles schools face when it comes to the students’ health and nutrition. School leadership and teachers have told us that their students do not like the food being served to them during their school lunch period, and that many would rather eat chips, like Takis (spicy corn chips made of rolled tortillas, similar to taquitos), and other unhealthy foods. These are known as “competitive foods”, which includes all food and beverages outside of the reimbursed meals provided by schools. New good nutritious food changes, like Plant Powered Fridays, which is when students are served meatless meals, have been made in an effort to introduce more plant-based foods to children. Bronx Health REACH, through its CHSC work with schools, have discussed with school leadership  how to improve nutrition in schools. The leaders  shared, that  Plant Powered Fridays has not been well received in schools and that  the kids do not eat the food. Teachers pointed out that students are more likely to try new things when they are being engaged and taught about it, thus highlighting the need for food education. According to the Food Ed report: 

“Food education describes any combination of educational strategies, accompanied by environmental supports, designed to motivate and facilitate voluntary adoption of food choices and other food and nutrition-related behaviors that are conducive to the health and well-being of individuals, community, and the planet.” 

On June 6, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams, along with New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) Chancellor David Banks, and the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy’s Executive Director, Kate MacKenzie, announced the Food Education Roadmap to promote healthier school communities across New York City. “Prioritizing Food Education in Our Public Schools: A Path to Developing a Healthy Next Generation” provides goals, strategies and key performance indicators to ensure that students have the tools and knowledge to lead healthy lifestyles. The Roadmap Goals and Strategies focus on building on the knowledge and accessibility of healthy eating and wellness among students, as well as for those in the community who serve as advocates.  

Food education takes a wider approach and focuses on more than what healthy and non-healthy foods are. It focuses on our relationship with food and how this relationship is connected to, and affected by, other influences such as culture, economy, and communities. By implementing food education in schools, students will be able to understand why certain foods are healthier than others which will enable them to form a better relationship with food, and in turn help to guide them to making healthier choices. 

Bronx Health REACH’s many years of experience working to change the food culture of schools helping children embrace new healthy food underscores the need for food and nutrition education in  making such a change happen.   There are many resources and organizations getting kids to try new foods that are introduced in the schools through the Farm to School program that the NYCDOE Office of Food and Nutrition Services participates in. 

References:

1. FoodEdReport_010.pdf (nyc.gov) 

2. databrief1.pdf (nyc.gov) 

CMSP 327 Students Create Healthy Eating Guide

On October 24th, CMSP 327, a partner school in Bronx Health REACH's Creating Healthy Schools and Communities program held their official release of 'Snack Attack, How Can Students Make Healthy Snack Choices in School?' The 16-page booklet was created by CMSP 327 students with guidance from the Center for Urban Pedagogy and Bronx Health REACH. The students presented on their experiences creating the booklet during an event held at the BronxNet.

In 2018, Bronx Health REACH created a program for teachers to learn about countermarketing and how to implement a curriculum on the topic modeled on the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute’s Youth Food Educators program. In Spring 2019, Bronx school partners had the opportunity to participate in a countermarketing competition based on the campaigns they created using the curriculum. As the winner of the competition, CMSP 327 students attended a course led by the Center for Urban Pedagogy and Bronx Health REACH. The final project that resulted from the students’ work was the booklet.

At the event, students shared their thoughts on creating the booklet. "They learned precisely what we hoped they would learn about the foods sold in schools and their communities. Unhealthy food marketing is targeting Black & Latino youth in low-income communities," said Kelly Moltzen, Program Manager for  Creating Healthy Schools and Communities at Bronx Health REACH. "They understand the challenges their community faces and seem motivated to keep spreading the word and advocating for change."

Click here to read Snack Attack, How Can Students Make Healthy Snack Choices in School?'

Bronx Health REACH Coalition's #Not62 Rally in the Media

The Bronx Health REACH Coalition's #Not62 rally, held on December 2, received a lot of media attention in December. Our Health Disparities Workgroup members appeared on Bronxnet's Stay Alive with Church Alive and OPEN. Bronxnet also covered the rally and interviewed some of the featured speakers. Finally, the Riverdale Press and the Bronx Times covered the rally as well.

How to Leave a Footprint in New York Communities

The 2019 Creating Healthy Schools and Communities Convening, Leaving a Footprint, Spreading Roots: Sustaining CHSC Activities into the Future, was held on September 10. Kelly Moltzen and Moria Byrne-Zaaloff from Bronx Health REACH and Claire Raffel from the Tisch Food Center at Teacher’s College met with CHSC grantees to discuss how all partners could work together to ensure that our school wellness initiatives are sustained across the state by supporting the WELL Campaign.

One of the goals of the WELL Campaign is to develop a New York State model wellness policy that can be shared with local school districts. The grantees also provided suggestions regarding what this state model should include such as: aligning systems of measuring data across federal, state and city health and education departments to achieve one collective impact; converting state data collection to an electronic system; better NY State Education Department (SED) and NYS Department of Health coordination; a state liaison in SED to support district wellness councils; more wellness tools and training for schools; and better systems for effectively monitoring all schools' successes/implementation of policies.

To lend your support for increased funding to the CHSC and WELL campaigns, please sign our petition.

September Coalition Meeting Addresses the Future of School Wellness

Left to right: Kelly Moltzen from Bronx Health REACH; Laura Raaen from Teachers College, Columbia University; Nicholas Buess from the Food Bank For NYC; Arlen Zamula from the NYC Dept of Health & Mental Hygiene – Harlem Neighborhood Health Action Center; Alice Goodman from the NYC Department of Education – Office of School Wellness; Emma Murat of the Office of School Wellness; Karyn Kirschbaum from Western Suffolk BOCES and Moria Byrne-Zaaloff from Bronx Health REACH.


 The Bronx Health REACH  (BHR) Coalition made School Wellness their  priority in September. At our September coalition meeting, which, interestingly fell on the second day of the new school year, the meeting agenda focused on the status of state and federal programs supporting child nutrition and wellness and how to collectively advocate for continued funding and support for all New York State students. Putting the state of NYC wellness in context, Emma Murat of the Office of School Wellness gave an overview of NYC Department of Education’s wellness programming, specifically their multi-year physical and health education pilot programs.

Bronx Health REACH's Kelly Moltzen and Moria Byrne-Zaaloff highlighted BHR’s significant contributions to Bronx County schools over the past four years by providing technical assistance and professional development training to 70 schools and evaluation and resources to 73 schools of our over 90 partner schools to increase nutrition education and physical activity. On a city-wide level, Creating Healthy Schools and Communities funding allowed BHR to work with the NYC Department of Education to update its school wellness policy to meet federal policy standards.

Lining up federal and city wellness policies led the way to passing laws that support school wellness such as free lunch for all 1.1 million City public-school students in the five boroughs through the Lunch4learning  campaign. It also resulted in the PEWorks program providing funding for professional development training and the hiring of more PE teachers for NYC public schools through the PhysEd4All Campaign – two initiatives that Bronx Health REACH actively supported.

A panel of experts shared how wellness programming has made school environments healthier in NYC and across the state. The panel included: New York State Assemblyman Michael Benedetto; Nicholas Buess from the Food Bank For NYC; Alice Goodman from the NYC Department of Education – Office of School Wellness; Karyn Kirschbaum from Western Suffolk BOCES; Laura Raaen from Teachers College, Columbia University; and Arlen Zamula from the NYC Dept of Health & Mental Hygiene – Harlem Neighborhood Health Action Center.

New York State Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, Chairman of the Education Committee, spoke at Bronx Health REACH's September 6th Coalition meeting.

As Chairman of the Education Committee, Assemblyman Benedetto spoke of his commitment to ensuring that school wellness programming continue at current funding levels in New York State. As a steadfast champion for school wellness, he introduced Assembly Bill A7607. The bill would direct the Commissioner of Education to establish a New York state model wellness policy. This model policy would provide NYC and other school districts in the state with the state oversight and support necessary to effectively implement their district policies, hold districts accountable for tracking school building-level results and provide measurable data across the state. The Assemblyman recommitted to helping BHR ensure school wellness continues in the Bronx and across the state and agreed to meet with BHR and the WELL campaign committee to continue this conversation.

We encourage you to sign the petition to obtain state funding for a new version of the Creating Healthy Schools and Communities program (2020-2025)  directed by the NYS Department of Health.

Assembly Bill 7607 and other New York State bills can only achieve so much without the federal law it is built on, namely the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, which covers feeding programs for youth such as free breakfast and lunch in schools, afterschool snacks, summer meals, WIC and food pantries. The Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act is the glue that makes many of the nutrition education and feeding programs that NYS and NYC offers, possible.

During the panel discussion, Nick Buess discussed the importance of passing a strong Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act to ensure all schools can serve healthy, locally grown food that is made from scratch and provide comprehensive nutrition education courses. Coalition members were also asked to sign the online petition in support of the NYC Alliance for Child Nutrition Reauthorization (NYC4CNR) in order to improve and strengthen federal child nutrition and school meal programs.

CMSP 327 Students Illustrate How to Win Against Competitive Foods

Fifteen students from Comprehensive Model School Project-M.S. 327 participated in a five week course with Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) this summer sponsored by Bronx Health REACH. Susanna Arellano, a teaching artist at CUP, led students through an exploration of the power structures and systems within the NYC Department of Education and an individual school building that impact nutrition and wellness in NYC schools. The students illustrated the main themes of each lesson using art techniques such as print making, photography and infographics. Their art was used to create an educational booklet on how students can make healthy snack choices in schools.

They created a 16 page booklet, Snack Attack, How Can Students Make Healthy Snack Choices in Schools? The information in the booklet was informed by student research. Students took surveys of fellow students and community members to better understand what they consider to be healthy versus unhealthy foods, and which snack options should be available at school. They also photographed paper cut-outs of healthy food pasted onto bodega shelves next to junk food, showing what a healthy bodega would look like.

Students interviewed Stephen O'Brien, Director of the Office of School Food and Nutrition Services, Department of Education and Kelly Moltzen, Program Manager of the Creating Healthy Schools and Communities Program at Bronx Health REACH to gain insight into where the food that is sold in schools comes from, how much does the food change between the farm and the student consumer, and who decides what foods get sold in schools.

“I would make sure that there are no copycat snacks [in schools]," said student Nikosi Whyte. "I would make the food healthier and unprocessed.” 

The booklet will be distributed to community schools in the South Bronx to promote healthy snacking in schools.

Year Two of Service Begins With A Summer Harvest and Cafeteria Improvement Plans

Adrianna gave a presentation at the FoodCorps National Orientation in Portland, Oregon. 

This post is written by Adriana Perez, our FoodCorps member who partners with the Sheridan Academy for Young Leaders (PS457)/the Family School (PS443). Adriana is dedicating a second year of service to engaging students and teachers in creating a school wide culture of health through experiential learning in their school garden, cafeteria and classroom. 


I recently returned from FoodCorp’s National Orientation in Portland, Oregon, where I was able to take a deep dive into planning for my second year of service at the Sheridan Academy for Young Leaders (PS457)/The Family School (PS443) in the Bronx.

During the week-long orientation, I brainstormed with FoodCorps staff and Service Members from across the country, led a session on how to overcome challenging work relationships, renewed my energy and ambitions for the coming school year through project management workshops, and formed a new appreciation for all the work that I accomplished last year.

 This year, I will not only be working at the two schools, but I will be returning to school myself. I will be entering a Master’s program at New York University in Food Studies with a concentration in Food Policy and Advocacy. My courses will help me expand my knowledge on food system issues, increase my understanding of how food and cultures intersect and how to effectively advocate for food system change. My FoodCorps experience at PS457 and PS443 last year has deepened and solidified my belief that not only should healthy, sustainable food be available to every community, but that every community should have the opportunity to learn more about where food comes from, how to prepare it, and how to have a balanced relationship with food. Through my studies at NYU, I will have the knowledge to educate my school community in local food systems and policy, and train them to be school wellness champions.


This year, I have decided to focus on three areas of technical assistance:  garden program development, cafeteria renovation and professional development for teachers. Last year, I worked with the Wellness Council, students and teachers at PS457 and PS443 to rebuild the schools’ garden spaces. I learned how to navigate scheduling conflicts for garden classes and garden management support from students, staff and parents. This year, teachers will be able to schedule their classes on a regular basis to visit the gardens. Garden clubs can help plant, maintain and harvest gardens on their own school properties as well as the community garden, a garden managed by both schools. Once the vegetables and herbs are ready to harvest, parents will be able to pick up or harvest vegetables during dismissal.

Since summer harvesting was so successful at PS443/PS457, Adriana invited parents to pick up seasonal produce at dismissal during the first week of school. What a healthy way to start the new school year!


As my primary responsibility is to work at PS 457, the teachers will not only receive teaching assistance during classes in the garden, but I will also provide support in creating lessons and strategies so that food education can be incorporated into common core standards for every grade. My objective is to equip teachers with tools that will encourage healthy eating for their students while introducing new subject-specific concepts and reinforcing previous lessons.

Finally, my biggest ambition for the year is to work with the Wellness Councils, which now exist as two separate councils, to undertake cafeteria improvements. These changes can be as simple as streamlining the traffic flow on the lunch line or as complex as providing a public announcement system or purchasing new tables for the cafeteria. The Wellness Councils will help me create excitement and strengthen support and engagement from the administration and cafeteria staff as well as aides and parent volunteers managing students during lunch. My hope is that through these changes, all students will be able to have a more enjoyable cafeteria experience through creating excitement around the school food menu in school and greater efficiency in the cafeteria.

This year will be challenging, but I plan to rise to the occasion and hit the ground running with these goals clearly set out before me. I look forward to working with the teachers, meeting new staff, and collaborating more closely with the principles of PS457 and PS443, Ms. Febus and Ms. Penn.

Bronx Health REACH and Elected Officials

New York State Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, Chairman of the Education Committee, spoke at Bronx Health REACH's September 6th Coalition meeting.

New York State Assemblyman Michael Benedetto, Chairman of the Education Committee, discussed his continuing support of school wellness programming at Bronx Health REACH's September Coalition meeting. He spoke about sponsoring NY State Assembly Bill A7607, which directs the Commissioner of Education to establish a New York State model wellness policy for local educational agencies as well as a school district wellness policy database.

The Assemblyman assured Coalition members that he was committed to helping Bronx Health REACH and our Bronx partner schools ensure that policies supporting school wellness continue. To that end, he agreed to meet with members of the WELL campaign committee to continue this conversation. NY State Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez, a co-sponsor of the bill, was also in attendance and spoke briefly to the meeting attendees.

Left to right: Lauren Phillips from the Food Bank for New York City, Naureen Akhter, Deputy Director to NY Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, Kelly Moltzen and Moria Byrne-Zaaloff from Bronx Health REACH, and Jerome Nathaniel from City Harvest.

Bronx Health REACH's Kelly Moltzen and Moria Byrne-Zaaloff joined Lauren Phillips from the Food Bank for New York City and Jerome Nathaniel from City Harvest, member organizations of the NYC Alliance for Child Nutrition Reauthorization (NYC4CNR), for a meeting with Naureen Akhter, Deputy District Director to Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez (NY). They are seeking Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez's support for high-quality nutrition education programming, modernizing school kitchen equipment, increasing access to scratch cooking in schools, as well as expanding programs that reduce food insecurity and improve regional farm and food economies.

Update on the WELL Campaign

Bronx Health REACH's Kelly Moltzen (far right) speaking to New York State legislators and their staff during a luncheon panel about school wellness.


The Wellness, Equity's Learning Legislation Campaign (WELL), an advocacy effort to improve student health and well-being in New York launched by the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food and Education Policy, gained great momentum this spring. In partnership with Bronx Health REACH, Assemblyman Michael Benedetto and the American Heart Association, the Tisch Center hosted a School Wellness Policy Lunch & Learn in Albany for New York State elected officials.

Those attending included Assemblymembers Felix Ortiz, John Salka, Al Taylor, Donna Lupardo, Karines Reyes, Victor M. Pichardo, Michael DenDekker, Walter Mosley, Nader Sayegh, Marianne Buttenschon, and Kimberly Jean-Pierre. Also attending were Senators Shelley Mayer, John Liu, Alessandra Biaggi, and Jen Metzger. The event included a panel discussion focused on the importance of school wellness policies.

Bronx Health REACH gave school community members an opportunity to learn more about the campaign and to provide feedback at the April meeting of the School-based Nutrition and Fitness Workgroup. Claire Raffel, Director of the WELL Campaign, Kelly Moltzen, Program Manager of the Creating Healthy Schools and Communities program at Bronx Health REACH and Andrea Strong of NYC Healthy School Food Alliance led a discussion about how to overcome challenges to city and state-wide school wellness policy change such as advancing nutrition education in NYC schools and what to do about the end of the PEWorks funding for physical education teachers.

With resources only offered to schools when they are failing, if schools succeed in reaching their deliverables and then resources are removed again, it does not allow the schools to maintain the successful education and school wellness programs they endeavor to achieve.  Schools are encouraged to share their stories with the WELL campaign to show legislators the positive impact of wellness programming and why a model NY state wellness policy would give schools the necessary support.

In May, Kelly Moltzen, Program Manager for Bronx Health REACH’s Creating Healthy Schools Communities Program spoke at a press conference hosted by Assemblyman Michael Benedetto who is sponsoring a bill to create a model school wellness policy in New York State.


Bronx Health REACH was very pleased to learn that Assemblyman Michael R. Benedetto agreed to sponsor a bill directing the Commissioner of Education to establish a New York state model wellness policy for local educational agencies. In May, Bronx Health REACH and the WELL Campaign participated in a press conference with the Assemblyman to announce the sponsoring of Bill A07607. Shortly before the assembly recessed for the summer break, the Assemblyman had gathered seven co-sponsors including Assemblyman Pichardo.

Assemblyman Pichardo, who is also a wellness programming advocate, met with Bronx Health REACH and teachers from PS58 earlier this spring to gain some firsthand insight into school wellness challenges and offer support and advice. Bronx Health REACH, Tisch Food Center and other partners will continue to gather the positive stories of wellness programming and seek out more school wellness champions to join their campaign during this summer. Submit your nominee here.

What’s Growing at PS443/PS457 by Food Corps Member Adriana Perez

FoodCorps members assembling garden beds.

This post is written by Adriana Perez, our FoodCorps member who is partnered with the Sheridan Academy for Young Leaders (PS457)/the Family School (PS443). Adriana will dedicate a year of service to engaging students and teachers in creating a school wide culture of health through experiential learning in their school garden, cafeteria and classroom.

Since starting my service year at the Sheridan Academy for Young Leaders and The Family School in the Southwest Bronx, I have been focusing on three pathways to create a school-wide culture of health: rebuilding and expanding the school gardens, exposing students to a variety of fruits and vegetables, and implementing a gardening, cooking and tasting curriculum that inspires and engages each and every student.  This past winter, all 17 NY FoodCorps cohort members participated in a day of service in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Using wood donated by Grow NYC, we created eight garden beds in the new community garden at The Family School and the Sheridan Academy for Young Leaders.

Both schools will share the garden. This new garden space will also be used as an outdoor classroom, where students can grow food, explore and relax. The community garden will also provide a source of fresh and delicious fruits and vegetables to families inside and outside of the school.

Throughout the school year, I have held 10 school-wide cafeteria taste tests, including 2 taste tests hosted by George Edwards from the NYC Department of Education Office of Food and Nutrition Services. The taste tests have given every student in the school a chance to be exposed to a variety of food. Foods we have tried include: roasted acorn squash, pomegranate seeds, roasted parsnips and herbed potatoes, plant-part stir fry, rainbow carrots and farro.

Each month, students voted that they “Tried it,” “Liked it,” or “Loved it,” creating, in some instances, fierce debate amongst students on whether or not the food receiving the “loved it” vote was truly worthy. (Spoiler: it usually was).

Worms are our friends!

Inside the classroom, students have been learning every facet of healthy eating. The favorite lesson by far, has been about worms. All of my students, from Kindergarten to Fourth Grade, love finding and touching and learning about worms, and their role in giving us healthy food. One of our favorite mantras, “worms are our friends,” is now most commonly used when someone says, “worms are gross.” Students have been working to understand the relationship between worms and the earth, their role in our gardens and how they too contribute to human health through plants!

With summer here, the garden is full of activity. While still being improved by adding mulch, perennials and seedlings, students are already utilizing the garden spaces during class and after school. With abundant planting and cultivation, these garden spaces will soon be a cornerstone of Sheridan Academy and The Family School’s school-wide culture of health.

CMSP 327 Students Win Countermarketing Competition

Students from CMSP 327 talking about their winning countermarketing campaign at the award ceremony.

Students from three Bronx schools competed for the most effective campaign to combat sugary drink advertisements. The challenge was to create a video, poster or social media campaign exposing the harmful effects of sugar-sweetened beverages. The winning campaign was a rap video, “Food Fight,” submitted by the students of Comprehensive Model School Project (CMSP 327).

Students participated in an eight-session course in countermarketing focused on reducing the demand for unhealthy food by exposing the motives of these food marketing companies and de-normalizing the marketing activities used to sell their products.  The students learned about the health impacts of sugary beverages, the food environment, and how sugary beverage marketers manipulate the youth to buy and consume their products. Students created  media campaigns to raise awareness about the negative health impacts of sugary beverages throughout their school campus, using videos, posters, music, and social media. The students were also encouraged to use the campaigns to drive policy change through petitions, open forums and sit-ins.

CMSP 327 students encouraged fellow classmates to take action by signing a pledge to drink more water for one week. Those that pledged received a button. If a student who signed the pledge was caught breaking their promise, they had to wear an “IV” attached to a soda bottle to represent the addictive qualities of sugar consumption. PS 721 students played their public service announcement videos about the dangers of drinking sugar sweetened coffee drinks before the films were shown at lunchtime each day. PS 811 students ran a poster campaign illustrating the gruesome effects of too much sugar such as tooth decay.

CMSP 327 (the winner) will work with the Center for Urban Pedagogy (CUP) where a teaching artist will lead the students in an exploration of such fundamental factors as the power structures and systems that impact nutrition and wellness in NYC schools. They will then produce a professional level video, poster or postcard for the public that will show what they learned. We look forward to seeing how these new champions of countermarketing continue to influence their fellow students, educators, and communities!

BronxNet's OPEN 2.0 spoke with some of the CMSP 327 students involved with the project.

New School for Leadership and the Arts Wins The Bronx Salad Dressing Competition

Bronx Health REACH's Moria Byrne-Zaaloff,  teachers Jeanelle Divine and Andrea Arist-Neequaye, and students from the New School for Leadership and the Arts at the tasting event at the awards ceremony.


Wowing judges with their delicious Citrus Summer Salad Dressing, students from the New School for Leadership and the Arts are the winners of The Bronx Salad Dressing competition. On Tuesday, at the June 25th award ceremony, students participated in a Bronx Salad tasting event, observed a cooking demonstration by George Edwards of the Office of Food and Nutrition Services NYC; and heard from guest speaker, Aleyna Rodriguez-Sanes, Director of Bronx Canasta. The students created the salad dressing during their Science and Cooking afterschool program sponsored by the Montefiore Moshulu Community Center and Department of Youth and Community Development.

Schools that participated in the competition received seeds to grow the salad ingredients, a copy of The Bronx Salad Toolkit for Schools with growing instructions and hands-on training from Bronx Health REACH and GrowtoLearnNYC teams. This is the second year we have held the Bronx Salad competition. Last year, schools submitted photos for The Bronx Salad Toolkit for Schools Photo Competition. The winning photo, (submitted by PS 333-The Longwood Academy of Discovery) now graces the cover of the toolkit.

Assemblymember Pichardo Visits Health Disparities Workgroup Partner Bodega and School

New York State Assemblymember Victor M. Pichardo attended March's Bronx Health REACH Health Disparities Workgroup meeting. 

In March New York State Assemblymember Victor M. Pichardo (86th District) attended several Bronx Health REACH events, including: our March Health Disparities Workgroup meeting, a visit to a  Bronx Health REACH partner bodega, G Deli; and a visit to PS 58, one of our partner schools.

At the Workgroup meeting, the Assemblymember provided insight in ways the Workgroup could create more awareness about the  #Not62 campaign, especially with elected officials. He also shared how important it is for Bronx residents to register to vote, and then to vote. "Until more Bronx residents get out and vote, the Bronx will continue to remain the unhealthiest county," noted the Assemblyman.

Marquis Garcia, owner of G Deli, a partner bodega in the Healthy Bodega Program spoke with New York State Assemblyman Victor M. Pichardo.

His visit to one of our partner bodegas in the Healthy Bodega program, G Deli, located at 551 East 178th Street, gave owner Marquis Garcia the chance to tell the Assemblyman about the 'Don't Stress, Eat Fresh' healthy bodega campaign. Mr. Garcia spoke of his and the Bodega Association’s commitment to offering healthy foods to customers who ask for them.

At PS58 the Assemblymember spoke with Principal Gunn, Assistant Principal Ramdas, PE teacher Mr. Judson, and Parent Coordinator Ms. Harris about the work they have been able to put in place for physical education and promoting healthy eating with existing resources. The school’s physical education teacher was brought on as a result of the PE4ALL Coalition’s successful campaign to the New York City Council which resulted in more certified PE teachers for more schools. Unfortunately, Ms. Gunn related, with the funding running out, she fears she will no longer be able to keep the teacher on staff. She worries, as many school administrators do, that cuts to the PE funding for her school will have negative implications for her students’ overall wellness.

Bronx Health REACH and Our Elected Officials

In December 2018 and January 2019, Bronx Health REACH staff held meetings with Senator Jose M. Serrano and his Chief of Staff George Damalas, Assemblymember Victor M. Pichardo and his Communications Coordinator Nicholas Peters, and Assemblymember Michael Benedetto and his Chief of Staff John Collazzi in their district offices. The meetings provided the elected officials with updates on Creating Healthy Schools & Communities Program implementation in the Bronx and information on the WELL Campaign (Wellness, Equity, and Learning Legislation), launched by the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education, and Policy at Teachers, College, Columbia University and supports school districts to create, implement, and assess strong, comprehensive local wellness policies.

Assemblyman Benedetto, the new Chair of the Education Committee in the New York State Assembly, has agreed to host a legislative Lunch and Learn for New York State legislators so they may learn about the status of school wellness policy in New York State, and the WELL Campaign. This event will be held on March 26 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

The meetings, including that with Assemblyman Pichardo, highlighted a concern that the New York State Education Department School Health Associate position has been vacant for the past 9 years. And, as a result New York State missed an opportunity to apply for a 5-year grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Improving Student Health and Academic Achievement through Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Management of Chronic Conditions in Schools” in 2018. The CDC made this grant only available to local education agencies such as state education departments. In prior years, CDC funding to provide schools with technical assistance for school wellness policy implementation had been available to state health departments. Without federal CDC funding, the status of support for school wellness policy implementation in New York State remains in question.

On Tuesday, January 29th, at the ‘City Hall in Your Borough Resource Fair in the Bronx,’ Bronx Health REACH Coalition member Sandra Jenkins, from Church of God of Prophecy, met with Mayor de Blasio and reminded him of his promise to meet with Bronx Health REACH to discuss the #Not62: The Campaign for a Healthy Bronx and the ask of making the Bronx a priority in all the city’s agencies. The Mayor promised to look into it. Charmaine Ruddock, Project Director, also spoke briefly to City Council member Vanessa L. Gibson about the promised meeting with the Mayor because it was at her sponsored town hall meeting last April where the Mayor had made that public commitment to meet with the Coalition.

We Have a Responsibility to Make our Streets Safe for All

James James, second from the left, with New York State Assemblyman Victor M. Parchardo and others advocate for the school zone speed safety camera program.

This post was written by James James, coordinator for the Claremont in Motion bike program, a partner of Bronx Health REACH.

As the coordinator of the Claremont in Motion bike program and a longtime advocate for safe streets, the chance to participate in Lobby Day with Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safe Streets, might seem like a routine endeavor that I’ve experienced a number of times over the years. And, while I’ve been to Albany with a number of organizations in the past, to lobby for women’s issues, education issues and safer streets, this lobby day presented me with an unexpected perspective on how we view safe streets in the context of transportation safety and the Mayor’s Vision Zero initiative.

On Wednesday, May 9th I boarded a bus at the Bronx County Courthouse with members of Transportation Alternatives and Families for Safer Streets for our trip to Albany. For anyone who’s been to Albany to advocate for legislation, this wasn’t your typical lobby day. While, the day was filled with your usual legislative staff meetings and photo ops with rushed legislators, the most poignant part of the day for me was hearing the heart wrenching stories of families that had to deal with the death of a child due to the lack of speed safety cameras in school zones. In New York City being struck by a vehicle is the leading cause of injury-related death for children under 14. In addition, vehicles seriously injured or kill a New Yorker, on average, every two hours. That is why this issue is so important.


Throughout the day, as we lobbied legislators on both sides of the issue, it became clear that there were some views that would not be swayed regardless of the discussion around the death of a young child in such an untimely fashion. It’s at this point that we all must find a sense of responsibility for the safety of our streets. The proposed bill would expand the number of school zones operating speed safety cameras from 140 to 290. It’s time to pass this legislation and follow the suggestions of the Mayor's Vision Zero Initiative and New York Police Department police commissioner and support passage of this law. Unfortunately, as the New York State legislative session ended, and the bill did not pass. I, along with the many organizations, advocates and elected officials are disappointed, but we'll be back next year to support safe streets for our children. I hope you'll join us.

PS 333, IS 131 and PS 6 Awarded Bronx Wellness Champions Grants

PS333 was one of three Bronx schools awarded a Bronx Wellness Champion Grant.

Congratulations to PS 333-Longwood Academy of Discovery (in photo above), IS 131-The Albert Einstein School and PS 6-West Farms School on becoming this year’s Bronx Wellness Champions. This year Bronx Health REACH offered mini-grants to help schools make their nutrition and fitness projects possible. Through this grant, PS 333-Longwood Academy of Discovery launched a school-wide healthy snack initiative at their annual field day.  Students enjoyed whole grain granola bars, fruit and fresh water after a soccer game with their newly acquired soccer balls and pop-up soccer goals purchased with funding from the grant.

With their grant, IS 131-the Albert Einstein School built a green wall replete with basil, cilantro, spearmint and mixed greens in their vacant courtyard to increase healthy eating on campus. PS 6-West Farms School plans to use their grant to purchase portable gym equipment that can be used inside or outside the school to increase physical activity by 60 minutes a week. PS 6-West Farms School will receive their equipment this fall. As part of the grant requirements, the three schools completed a WELLSAT pre-assessment, a NYC Department of Education scorecard and created a wellness policy.

Unionport School-PS36 and Saba Deli Unveil Don't Stress, Eat Fresh Campaign

Students from Unionport School-PS36 gave out samples of their Fruit Fix fruit cup.
 
Unionport School-PS36 students and Saba Quality Plus Deli unveiled their Don't Stress, Eat Fresh healthy bodega marketing campaign on Tuesday, June 12. Students offered free fruit salad samples to Saba Quality Plus Deli customers and promoted Saba by featuring the fruit salad during morning announcements, classroom and cafeteria presentations and by distributing fliers. Bronx Health REACH provided Saba Quality Plus Deli with training and technical support on how to better promote the fruit salad.

"The fruit cup has grapes, strawberries and mangos. We are encouraging people to eat healthier this summer by purchasing the fruit cup instead of Takis and to drink water instead of Coke," said Christian, a student involved with the program. Ms. Judith Siegel, a teacher leading the class remarked, "After visiting some of the local bodegas we learned there were not a lot of healthy choices for the students, so we decided to create the Fruit Fix fruit cup and Saba generously agreed to sell it during the summer for $2."

This is part of a borough wide initiative launched by the Institute for Family Health's Bronx Health REACH, the Bodega Association and the Bronx Bodega Workgroup to encourage Bronx residents to purchase healthier foods and beverages at 56 participating bodegas in the Bronx.

Creating Healthy Schools & Communities: A Worthwhile Investment for New York State

15 Girl Scout members and three teachers from Bronx Delta School, a Bronx Health REACH partner school, participated in a healthy celebration lesson which culminated in making fruit kabobs designed to look like caterpillars, lady bugs and butterflies.

Every year since 2009 the  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings & Roadmaps Report has ranked the Bronx 62 out of New York State’s 62 counties in health outcomes. The obesity and overweight rates of our public school students is 39%. In 2015, with a five year grant from the New York State Department of Health through its Creating Healthy Schools and Communities (CHSC) program, the Bronx, along with 45 other counties across New York State, was provided an opportunity to create healthy environments in our school districts and surrounding communities. Since then, we have made tremendous strides with this program.

Through CHSC, Bronx residents can eat healthier through a collaboration between Bronx Health REACH, the Bodega Association of the United States and Goya Foods which has been stocking healthier products in Bronx bodegas, and providing taste tests and cooking demonstrations. We have been helping Bronx youth and low-income communities of color counter the targeted marketing of unhealthy foods and beverage products by supporting efforts for them to create their own counter-marketing campaigns. We have also trained school aides on fitness programming enabling them to structure physically active recess time for students. And, we have engaged community leaders and residents to advocate for street safety improvements. One of those leaders, a Bronx Health REACH partner church, Word of Life International, was named Transportation Alternatives’ 2017 Partner of the Year.

However, in 2017 significant cuts were made to the CHSC grant, and it is  under threat again this year to further cuts. With these cuts the question surely is, how can we ensure that the health and wellbeing of Bronx children, as well as the children in other high need New York communities, become a priority of our elected officials in Albany? Funding such a critical public health program helps the many community organizations across the Bronx and other areas of New York State make a difference in the lives of our children and community members.

Public health programming such as CHSC represents an investment with significant returns in New York State. In the first two years of funding, CHSC grantees have worked with 4.5 million New Yorkers, or about 23% of the state’s population, infusing wellness and health information and programming into 226 local communities, 83 high-need school districts, 358 retailers, and 498 worksites, enacted 51 policies and 120 infrastructure projects encouraging walkable and bikeable communities.

Our community partners have incredible capacity to create healthy and livable communities, as these successes demonstrate. CHSC and other public health funding goes a long way to improving the health and well-being of New Yorkers, and these programs should be further supported, not cut. Public health funds are important and well spent in the most vulnerable communities as they work to promote equity where all residents should have the opportunity to thrive.

The United States Department of Agriculture, recognizing the importance of the type of Policy, Systems and Environmental change work that CHSC grantees do, recently approved reallocating  SNAP-Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education) funding to the New York State Department of Health from the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance for CHSC, but it is not guaranteed that this funding will continue to be used for the CHSC program. We hope to see CHSC funding maintained in the FY 2018-2019 Governor’s budget. The more funds provided for this program, the more grantees will be able to accomplish in the communities where we serve.