Calorie Count

Just thought I'd give something that may help everyone. It has nutritional facts of many common food items bought from outside. It also gives insightful recipes and exercise advice. Use it for your groups, or for yourselves personally.

www.caloriecount.com

Also, to members of my group..(at least till the end of the week), please check your email if you haven't done so already.

P.S. Cafeteria has more microwaves! :)

Nation is now "Force-fitting" and Not "Forfeiting" children's health - Childhood Obesity Initiative Announced by First Lady Michelle Obama

For over years now, United States' response to childhood obesity initiatives hasn't been overpowering to an extent where it could be implemented in the nation's physical and fiscal health. But now, The White House has also stepped in and taken measures to eradicate this long grown epidemic of childhood obesity.

"The First Lady has the clout and visibility to change that and mobilize the nation's resources to address the problem.

Helping to support parents’ efforts to feed their children well and get them engaged in physical activity will require not only working cooperatively with food and entertainment companies, but also calling on them to do better for our children. Beverage companies have taken some notable steps to get sugary sodas out of schools, but Mrs. Obama should call on beverage and food companies to support Senators Tom Harkin and Lisa Murkowski and Representative Lynn Woolsey in their bipartisan effort to update the disco-era national standards for school vending machines and get junk food and all sugary beverages out of schools once and for all. Entertainment conglomerates like Nickelodeon and Disney are limiting the use of their characters on junk foods and running PSAs, but should be pressed to remove junk-food advertising from their television channels and other media.

This year, Congress must reauthorize the school lunch and other child nutrition programs--a key opportunity to improve the diets and health of millions of American children. The First Lady can help by working with Congress to fund the full $1 billion per year recommended in the President's budget and urging them to move the bill quickly, so new reforms can be in place for the next school year."

Questions and Concerns

Hey Goodnight,

I am the group leader for the week, Alana. I guess this goes out to the people in the Green Market Group. I don't know any of your strengths so I guess I want want you tell me what job interests you the most. The jobs up for grabs are:

1)Blogging about our progress (1person)
2)Updating the facebook page about group progress (1 person)
3)Recruiting other people to follow our project (1 person)
4)Somebody who can research areas that could possibly be used for a green market (2 0r 3 people)
5)Somebody who can research the requirements(again) so that it can be sent out to the rest of the group members. (2 or 3 people)

There are eight of us (so far) so there should be enough for everybody to do. If there is anything else we should be doing. Just post it.

For the people who are going to be blogging or updating facebook, I think we should just talk about what we have done so far as a class together and what we have done up to now. You could also introduce us ( the CCAPP service learning learning class) and what we hope to accomplish. I guess after that you go a little into the green markets.

Since we are a group, if anybody needs any help, just ask and we'll help each other out.
I'm not sure how you guys want to keep in contact. If you have any suggestions just comment on this blog.

Also we should probably start brain storming on more ways to drum up community support. Also do u think the community would benefit from EBT card accessible greenmarkets?

Child Obesity Risks Death at Early Age, Study Finds

This is an research article that followed 4,857 non-diabetic Native American Children born between 1945 to 1984. It showed that when children became obese, it affected their life expectancy. Their cause of death before the age of 55, was determined to be diabetes related.

Adults who had the highest body mass index scores as children were 2.3 times as likely to have died early as those with the lowest scores, and those with the highest glucose levels were 73 percent more likely to have died prematurely.

Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/11/health/11fat.html?ref=nutrition

NYC DOH continuing to change the health environment of NYC

From today's Daily News : an article about the NYC DOH considering a new tax on alcohol, similar to the one imposed on cigarettes. The goal of the new tax is to get NYC residents to drink less - and live healthier lives.

This tax also fits into the goals of the DOH's Get Healthy New York 2012 initiative, which aims to reduce high school drinking by 16% and alcohol related hospitalizations by 19% by 2012.

Obesity vs Diabetes in Harlem

I came across this chart last night. I think it helps to understand how critical is the health situation in Harlem. ("Eating Well in Harlem: How Available Are Healthy Foods?")http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/dpho/dpho-harlem-report2007.pdf.

Scientists Rebulid Iceman from hair sample

Some scientists have used 4000 year old DNA to find out what a Palaeo-Eskimo looked like. Using his DNA they even found out he had a dry earwax problem. Very short but also informative. My biochemistry professor was talking about it and I found it interesting.

Heres the link:

http://www.aolnews.com/science/article/scientists-rebuild-iceman-genome-from-very-old-hair-sample/19355181?icid=main|main|dl1|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolnews.com%2Fscience%2Farticle%2Fscientists-rebuild-iceman-genome-from-very-old-hair-sample%2F19355181

This document is useful to understand NYC and Obesity and Legal battles for policy

http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/resources/upload/docs/what/reports/2ndCircuitAmicusNYC.pdf

Childhood Obesity and Neighborhood Foodnext term-Store Availability in an Inner-City Community

A very interesting article to read about an experiment based on the impact of fast food restaurants on children health and how it leads to obesity especially in minority communities like Harlem.
Note: Abstract can be read at the Science Direct database. Whole article can be accessed through the CCNY library.
URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com

Famous RUDD REPORT (Yale University)

http://www.yaleruddcenter.org/resources/upload/docs/what/bias/WeightBiasPolicyRuddReport.pdf

www.StopObesityForLife.com

Gastric Bypass Surgery Explored as Cure for Type 2 Diabetes

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/555171 

http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=47582

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/17/60minutes/main4023451.shtml

http://articles.latimes.com/2009/oct/26/health/he-diabetes-surgery26

Policy Proposal to 2009 Candidates: Promote Access to Healthy Food for Low-Income New Yorkers & Lower Obesity Rates

http://gomyd.com/files/Obesity_Healthy_Food.doc

How Available Is Healthy Food in Harlem?

http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/dpho/dpho-harlem-report2007.pdf

Obesity Lecture at Mailman School by Public Health (last Year)

http://a2learning.cumc.columbia.edu:8080/ess/echo/presentation/000edfc0-fa87-423e-81f1-965776f6ec01

Another good food doc

Here is a clip of another good food documentary - it's called King Corn and it's about how the subsidized corn industry is changing the way Americans eat :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jDurZc5Yr6c

The film's website - http://www.kingcorn.net/ - is also a great resource and it has links to the farm bill and suggests different ways to take action.

Obesity and Poverty: Are Food Stamps to Blame?

http://hhc.sagepub.com/cgi/content/refs/20/1/41

The Future of Food

I just finished watching this documentary called "The Future of Food" that a friend of mine suggested. It's a really interesting documentary because it relates to what we are trying to do in Harlem, to help bring down obesity by introducing alternative food choices. This documentary is mainly about how many of the foods that we eat today are genetically engineered and not many people are aware of that as they are the foods that we see in our everyday supermarket. This documentary also helps shed some light to the farmers by allowing us to see how much they have been impacted by these corporations who patents these seeds.

If your interested you can see this film on hulu.

Here is the link

www.hulu.com/the-future-of-food

Vertical Farm Project

Given our need to think of ways to help the Harlem community with access to fresh vegetables and fruits, I was thinking about how practical it would be to create a farm or greenhouse but the seasonal changes would play a major role on the practicality of this idea. However, I wanted to share the idea of a project known as the Vertical Farm Project created by a professor at Columbia University named Dr. Dickson Despommier. In high school I had the opportunity to attend a lecture by Dr. Despommier regarding farming indoors. Why??? you may ask, well by the year 2050, there will be more people than there is land and more people mean more mouths to feed, but less land means less space to grow crops. His solution includes growing crops vertically in buildings through different methods (ex. hydrophonics) as oppose to horizontally on the ground. He currently has several proposals for designs and there are several powerpoints [one of which includes how the vertical farm would help the Harlem community given its socioeconomic impact].

www.verticalfarm.com

Similar like HW 3

This was something similar I did for water crisis... i mean not exactly, but in terms of picking the way you can present-this could be one type of presentation...

There are others in CUNY who are joining the fight against obesity

Hold the Fries
Fed by a leap in calories consumed and lack of physical activity, childhood obesity is a growing epidemic, and school lunches are one culprit, says Nicholas Freudenberg, director of the Doctor of Public Health Program at CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College. It's up to the public - individually and by pressuring government to turn the heat up on schools - to control the problem, Prof. Freudenberg says. "Human decisions" are responsible," he said. "People can unmake those decisions, but it's not going to happen on its own." In his lecture, "A Tale of Two Obes-Cities: Comparing London and New York City's Responses to Childhood Obesity," part of the Serving Science Cafe Series, he discussed a CUNY-London Metropolitan University study of efforts to improve opportunities for children to consume healthy food and increase activity. Both cities had difficulty implementing changes because of the large number of schools; most continued to dish out pizza, burgers and fries. Listen http://www1.cuny.edu/portal_ur/news/radio/podcast/lecture_275.mp3

Dr. Thomas Farley (Commissioner of NYCDOH) lecture at CCNY (Feb 17th, 2010)

So Yesterday I missed one of the most important classes that I'm taking this semester: Environmental Policy, Politics and Management. Believe me, once you miss a single lecture in this class, it seems like you've never been part of this class ever. The discussions change much faster and so much is covered in one lecture. Anyhow, I asked the prof to let me attend Dr. Farley's lecture help at Shephard Hall, CCNY. Out to my surprise and with all the enthusiasm, She encouraged that I attend his lecture and she will spend time to go over my own class during her office hours. I mean how incredibly nice of her:) She actually recognized the importance of the lecture given by the commissioner Dr. Farley! So I just wish you all could have just attended too.

Anyhow, I saw Pauline and Hannah there, and I'm sure all three of us just couldn't be more thankful for the timing of this lecture amidst current project discussions on OBESITY. Hannah did ask a public question to the commissioner on how to best approach as a team of 25 students to accomplish some solution to the Obesity and food accessibility in Harlem. I'm sure she will talk about it in next class, and I'll leave further discussion to her questions on that! I really want to thank Hannah and Pauline for coming and making some contacts with the different active groups that were present and are doing stuff like we are attempting this semester.

The lecture itself was almost everything we've covered in class thus far, and it felt good that we are nailing the right public health issue to pursue this semester. Obesity, Heart Attack, Diet, Physical Activity etc. was the top priorities for the department of Health's agenda for coming years. He also talked about their advertisement campaigns in the last few years, their initiative to reduce the salt from processed/packaged foods, efforts to increase access to food and how to increase physical activity etc.... The lecture was quite informative regarding All thing DOH has been doing. He also amused us by adding some DOH's preventative flyers during Cholera Epidemic more than a century ago, and the silliness involved to control a disease. And also some current health promotion flyers from an upstate university and the vagueness of the public messages. The moral of showing all that stuff was to show inevitable significance of the environment and health outcomes!!

Anyhow, we can probably get access to his lecture once they post it online. I asked him at the end about our idea of bringing a supermarket to Harlem to fight the food inaccessibility and disparities, and he was kinds iffy on that. He said that it will be politically hard to get that done with our limited capacity as students. He recommended that we convince the local bodegas to increase their selection of healthy food. And right then, some one interrupted our discussion and said that brining a super market is hard because they have tried it as well. And then the commissioner escaped from us and left, and I started the conversation with the interrupter:)

He was also from Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University. We started discussing the project ideas, and he said that he has been consulting with the Student Wellness Center at City College to bring the healthy food to the cafeteria, bring more microwaves for different social gathering places at the campus and also they are working on bringing farmer's market at CCNY.

How amazing is that??? Isn't that what most of you have been suggesting in your journals??

So for the people, who are interested in doing GROUP_CCNY projects, we can collaborate with them and get significant work done at City College by the end of the semester:) By the way, Farmer's market has already done a site assessment at city college, and I'll ask more details on that matter later. Maybe we can push some pending work to get the fresh stuff get to CCNY campus soon.

Other than that, we'll talk more about it in class. Olivia has also set up some meetings for her and I to meet with local CBO's working in the Harlem community on Food Access issues. I'm very optimistic of getting GROUP_COMMUNITY going into some strong paths as well.

At the end, I'll just say that after group/individual presentations in next class, we'll assign people on different project and start the fieldwork:)

Here's a clip from Dr. Farley's talk:

A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools

Intro Pagragraph :

The problem of obesity and diabetes in the United States are serious as they are climbing to epidemic proportion. The article “A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools” by Gardiner Harris explains the Obama administration initiative to reduce the number of child obesity in an effort to ban the use of candy and sweet beverages in school across the nation.

This article highlights Senator Saxby Chambliss comment during a meeting with the first lady, Michelle Obama. He stated that “schools play an important role in shaping nutrition habits of young children”; this statement is related to last week discussion in class. When we looked at how the environment can shape or influence someone’s eating habit.

Healthy choice always connected with some sort of spending as one can argue that nutritious option are costly. Although the administration has proposed an additional billion in spending each year, the “increase may not be enough to cover the extra cost.” (Harris, p2). This new policy aims in the long run to reduce obesity in children by changing their eating habit at school.

The issue of child obesity needs to be brought into the mainstream of economic policies and international efforts. If everyone does his or her part to help, no matter how big or small, we can ensure that this problem will be solved.

References: Here is the link to the article
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/08/health/nutrition/08junk.html?pagewanted=1&sq=the%20issue%20of%20obesity%20&st=cse&scp=2

A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools
By GARDINER HARRIS
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration will begin a drive this week to expel Pepsi, French fries and Snickers bars from the nation’s schools in hopes of reducing the number of children who get fat during their school years.
In legislation, soon to be introduced, candy and sugary beverages would be banned and many schools would be required to offer more nutritious fare.
To that end, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack will deliver a speech Monday at the National Press Club in which he will insist, according to excerpts provided to The Times, that any vending machines that remain in schools be “filled with nutritious offerings to make the healthy choice the easy choice for our nation’s children.”
The first lady, Michelle Obama, said last month that she would lead an initiative to reduce childhood obesity, and her involvement “shows the importance all of us place on this issue,” Mr. Vilsack said.
The administration’s willingness to put Mrs. Obama’s popularity on the line is a calculated bet that concerns about childhood obesity have become so universal that the once-partisan fight over who should control school food offerings — the federal government or school boards — has subsided.
But Republican support is far from certain.
Senator Saxby Chambliss, a Georgia Republican and the ranking member on the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry, met at the White House with Mrs. Obama on Tuesday to talk about childhood obesity. And while Mr. Chambliss released a statement saying that “schools play an important role in shaping nutrition habits of young children,” an aide refused to say whether he would support a ban on junk foods.
Other Republicans said they would wait to see legislation before signaling whether they would put aside long-held views that school boards should control food offerings.
Senator Blanche Lincoln, a Democrat from Arkansas and the chairwoman of the committee, said she would introduce the legislation within weeks. “It’s a big priority for me, other members and the administration,” she said.
While Democrats have coalesced around the idea of denying sweets to schoolchildren, many students are not keen. When Asthtyn Bowling, a 16-year-old junior at Orange County High School in Orange, Va., was told of the looming ban, she was shocked.
“That would be terrible!” she said.
The legislation would reauthorize the government’s school breakfast and lunch programs. It aims to transform the eating habits of many of the nation’s children and teenagers, but some school officials say it will further crimp already strained budgets.
In addition to banning sugary treats, the new rules would require many schools to offer more nutritious options, which could be expensive. The administration has proposed spending $1 billion more each year on the $18 billion meals program, but the increase may not be enough to cover the extra costs.
The National PTA and a host of health and medical advocacy groups support the legislation, but local school officials are lukewarm.
“Our feeling is that school boards are acutely aware of the importance of ensuring that children have access to healthy and nutritious food,” said Lucy Gettman of the National School Boards Association.
The bill would exempt bake sales, parties and other occasional offerings of sweets. But drawing the line between routine and unusual can get tricky.
“What do you do about the Spanish club buying Kit Kat bars and selling them in the cafeteria?” asked Doug Davis, director of food service for the City of Burlington Public Schools in Vermont.
The National School Lunch Program serves 31 million children in more than 100,000 schools. It was started in 1946 to ensure that children get enough to eat after health problems related to malnutrition were found in an alarming number of World War II draftees. Now, health officials are also worried that children are eating too much of the wrong foods. About two-thirds of the nation’s adults and a third of its children are overweight — double the rates of 1980.
Junk food has long been banned from official school breakfast and lunch programs, but many schools offer fatty foods and sweets outside of these programs or have vending machines with sodas and candy, with the money often used to finance sports or other extracurricular programs. The legislation would require that all school offerings comply with strict new nutritional guidelines.
Many schools have changed their offerings. Five years ago, fewer than a third of the nation’s school districts put limits on students’ access to candy and sugary drinks. That share jumped to two-thirds by 2008, according to a survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Dr. William H. Dietz, an obesity researcher at the disease centers, said that changing school food policies had already helped.
“There’s been a plateau in childhood obesity, and I think one of the reasons is that things are different in schools,” he said.
Industry opposition to the new legislation has softened in part because the Coca-Cola Company and PepsiCo now sell far more than Coke and Pepsi. So instead of having to yank vending machines from schools, the companies could replace offerings with bottled water or juice.
Kevin Keane, senior vice president of the American Beverage Association, said that companies had been voluntarily taking high-calorie drinks out of schools. But, he said, the industry does not favor a federal ban.
Orange County High School has vending machines with Pepsi, Mountain Dew and Dr Pepper, but even more popular among students is a candy cart wheeled into the school’s central hallway three times a day by Betty Almond, a school secretary.
The cart is laden with Pop-Tarts, Skittles and Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, and Mrs. Almond and helpers barely keep up with demand from students on their way to class. Sales are between $400 and $500 a week, which Mrs. Almond uses to buy uniforms and equipment for school sports teams. Her most recent project was to outfit the wrestling team, on which her grandson competes.
“The football team wants me to buy them a seven-man sled, but with this new legislation, they’ll never get it,” she said sadly.
Principal Gene Kotulka said he planned to write his congressman to complain about a ban.
“It’s not so much the money as the service it offers to the kids,” said Mr. Kotulka, who has a Santa Claus belly and is known as “Poppa K” to students. “I’d like to give our kids all the opportunities I can.”
At a meeting in his office to discuss food offerings, Bette Winter, director of the Orange County schools wellness committee, suggested that selling candy to students was not a good lesson.
“What’s the best way to teach children? By example, no?” she asked.
But Mr. Kotulka responded that it was parents’ responsibility to forbid children at risk of obesity to buy candy.
Whether the new rules will change eating habits is unknown, but Mrs. Almond’s candy cart became popular only after the school cafeteria got rid of its own sweets two years ago.
Edgar Coker, an 18-year-old senior, buys Pop-Tarts from Mrs. Almond every afternoon for 50 cents. “If I couldn’t buy it here, I’d bring it from home,” he said.
But Denise Snow, the school cafeteria manager, said that children can be taught to eat better. “When we went to whole-wheat pizza, the kids fussed for a while and we lost some of them,” Ms. Snow said. “But now they don’t say a thing, and pretty much everyone is back to eating them.”

Collarboration

Hey Guys,

I was wondering if you guys were willing to form groups for the Thursdays presentation. I think by forming a group not only would it be a lot easier to work with but we are able to share ideas and be able to be more effective.

Thanks,

-Jen

No Take-out.com

www.notakeout.com

This website gives you the recipes of healthy meals! subscribers can get healthy menus email to them for free.
Check out their food campaign !

Jamie's Food Revolution

www.Jamieoliver.com

Here is the show everyone is talking about !!! Coming up in March on abc. Check out his website, his campaigns, and what he thinks need to happen in America.

Great website !

Dr. Thomas Farley's lecture at CCNY

http://events.cuny.edu/eventDetail.asp?EventId=26264

No microwaves!!!

There is a big problem at the City College cafeteria, MICROWAVES! Believe it or not, many students bring their lunch from home which is ten times healthier than any junk food that that is available in school or around the campus. Yes, there is healthy food at the salad bar and dinner section in the cafeteria but it is very expensive. So, what better than a meal cooked at home. Why only one microwave, if before there were three or two? Why a student has to wait half hour in line to heat up lunch? I usually bring lunch from home, but today was when I noticed that I am not the only one that does this. There are many us that have to wait in line for about 30 minutes to heat up their mail. Is it because the cafeteria realized that many students preferred bringing food from home, and not spend a ridiculous amount of money in the cafeteria? Is it decreasing their profits?Maybe they are thinking that if they only have one microwave available, then students sooner or later would be tired of waiting such a long time to eat, and would be left with no choice than to buy JUNK or EXPENSIVE food from the cafeteria. Whatever their motives are, students don’t have a lot of time to wait in line to heat up lunch. And a lunch from home is better than the fast food that we can get from the cafeteria or stores around campus. Therefore, I think it is necessary to do something to stop this madness… maybe something like a petition. Am I am the only that thinks this way? What do you guys think? Is this fair to us? Oh, and just in case microwaves do not increase the chances of a person developing cancer. I did some research to make sure. Maybe there is some new research that disproves this, but here are some links if you guys want to read more about appliances and cancer.

http://www.cancerhelp.org.uk/about-cancer/cancer-questions/radiation-microwaves-and-cancer

http://dceg.cancer.gov/newsletter/News0999.pdf

Whole Planet Foundation by Whole Foods

Whole Foods

Whole Planet Foundation

The mission of Whole Planet Foundation is to create economic partnerships through microcredit with the poor in communities that supply Whole Foods Market stores with products, with a focus on the developing world.
Learn more about the Whole Planet Foundation at www.wholeplanetfoundation.org.
OUR 2010 CALENDAR
The Whole Planet Foundation Calendar benefits microcredit clients from around the globe where Whole Foods Market sources products, as 100% of calendar sales fund microlending projects in the field. Featured in the 2010 calendar are inspiring entrepreneurs from Peru, Bolivia, India, Haiti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Guatemala, Thailand, Nepal, Indonesia, the United States and East Timor.
The calendar retails for $2 and includes more than $30 in product coupons. They can be purchased in any U.S. Whole Foods Market. Get yours today!
Team Member Volunteer Program: Peña Blanca
Peña Blanca is an impoverished, rural community in the Lake Attitlan region of Guatemala where Whole Foods Market sources coffee. In 2006, Whole Planet Foundation and Grameen Trust initiated a microlending project in the region with a grant of $1,369,506. Since then, Banrural Grameen Guatemala is supporting over 10,300 women with microloans for them to create home-based businesses and lift themselves out of poverty.
Whole Foods Market Team Members have visited the Lake Atitlan region to witness the transformative power of microcredit, learn about coffee fincas, and provide community service through our Volunteer Program, such as teaching school and building carbon efficient stoves for families.
Support the small village of Peña Blanca
Our goal is to raise $51,880 to support their elementary school, meals and carbon-efficient stove program. $5,174 has been raised so far. Choose how you want to make a difference by following these links to donate online:
Fund Pena Blanca school meals
Fund the Pena Blanca elementary school
Fund materials for stoves for families
Learn about the Whole Foods Market Team Member Volunteer Program

Team member spotlight
Mark Staley
"I am absolutely inspired by Whole Planet Foundation. It’s incredibly wonderful that our company gives team members the opportunity to be directly involved in a program the reveals the heart of Whole Foods Market and speaks for the integrity and strength of our humanity. The foundation awakens my compassion and renews my faith in a democracy that creates joy and hope for others as well as ourselves. And it’s so easy to be involved!
My work last summer with the kids in Peña Blanca on the Team Member Volunteer Program was an incredibly rewarding experience. I went there to teach the kids, but I was really the student, a student of humanity and I learned a lot from them. So much so that I’ve been inspired to create similar programs for our kids in the Pittsburgh community."
Meet more of our team members
Empower the Poor Through Microcredit
Give with confidence that 100% of your contribution goes to microlending programs. Whole Foods Market covers all operating costs for Whole Planet Foundation, as audited by Maxwell Locke & Ritter LLP.
Donate to Whole Planet Foundation

Going to Market, NYC Grocery store and Supermarket Shortage

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/supermarket/presentation.shtml

WE ACT: Food Justice Iniatiative

Northern Manhattan Food Justice Initiative
Every child deserves to have access to healthy, affordable food. Local, sustainable food is not just a better nutritional option for consumers, but is an option with greater economic and environmental benefits. Most NYC public school children eat at least two full meals a day at school, often year-round because many are involved in summer school activities. Studies show that 21% of NYC school-aged children are overweight, with the majority of these children coming from communities of low-income. Studies also show that only a limited amount of the foods served in NYC public schools are fresh and/or plant-based.
The goals of our Food Justice Initiative are to understand the challenges and opportunities that children, parents, school officials and residents face regarding healthy food choices in school and at home. Through collaborative relationships with NYC organizations and Northern Manhattan grassroots groups, we’re working to better understand and influence current policy, and in turn develop grassroots, legislative, and agency policy recommendations designed to ensure that school age children receive better nutrition. As with all our initiatives, a key portion of the Food Justice Initiative is educating policy makers on food justice issues and on our recommendations for improved policies at the City, State and Federal levels.
In addition, WE ACT is working to involve parents, students, representatives of the school system, the school board, school administrators, and the public in development of the local wellness policies at several Northern Manhattan schools. Since nearly all Northern Manhattan public school students are low-income, this is a critical grassroots window of opportunity to influence policy from the bottom up and to educate and mobilize parents, students and teachers to advocate for healthier policies at the NYC Board of Education, City Council, NYS Legislature and NYS Departments of Education and Health.
Northern Manhattan Food Survey
What are the barriers and opportunities for accessing healthy food for Northern Manhattan residents? Do community residents have to walk far to get to the grocery store? Where can they find fresh fruits and vegetables? To answer questions like these, we have partnered with Topology, LLC to conduct a survey on the food choices of parents who live and have children attending schools in Northern Manhattan.
Northern Manhattan Parents, do you think your school would like to participate? If so, contact us.

BULLETIN:
Iowa Senator Calls for Higher Nutrition Standards in School Lunches
Ohio Lawmakers Introduce Junk Food Ban
North Carolina School Posts Calorie Information on Digital Cafeteria Menu Boards

Healthier Lunches Modestly Reduce South Carolina Childhood Obesity Rates



Food Justice Resources
East and Central Harlem District Public Health Office Eating Well in Harlem: How Available is Healthy Food
NYC Department of Planning: Going to Market: New York City's Neighborhod Grocery Store and Supermarket Shortage
Mount Sinai Hospital: Race and the Food Store Availability in an Inner-City Neighbourhood
Journal of Preventing Chronic Disease: The Role of Race and Poverty in Access to Foods that Enable Individuals to Adhere to Dietary Guidelines
NYC Department of Health: Childhood Obesity in New York City Elementary Students
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Improving Child Nutrition Policy: Insights from National USDA Study of School Food Environments
Anti-Racism Practice and the Work of Community Food Organizations


Click here to watch a video of WE ACT Sustainability Coordinator James Subudhi discussing Healthy Food Disparities in Upper Manhattan.James Subudhi participates in a panel discussion at Barnard College in September 2008.

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Harlem Natural Food Co-Op

Hello Everyone!

I came across several links which led me to this particular one regarding a natural food co-op being established in Harlem. It seems that it is a work in progress and they need support and I figured since we were considering the whole food as an option, perhaps this is an organization we could join forces with to help them get off the ground since it is a similar plan.

www.harlemnaturalfoodcoop.com

"Let's Move"

"Let's Move" is the name of Michelle Obama's campaign against obesity. I learned about this campaign because she was giving an interview in a Spanish channel. I think it was very interesting because there is one cause of obesity amongst kids that I had not thought about. The lack of time that parents have to cook a nutritious meal for their kids, and opt to cooking fast meal that contain more calories than what the kids need. Michelle Obama mentioned that the parents need to serve meals that constitute of vegetable and fruits to make up for the unhealthy food those kids are eating in schools. She would also ask the Congress to spend 10 billion dollars over the next decade for schools to serve healthier meals.

NYC Gov report on food stores in Central and East Harlem

Here is a very interesting report from 2007 on the availability of healthy food in Central and East Harlem. The researchers compared the food retail environments in Central and East Harlem with the Upper East Side and found healthy foods are much more readily available on the Upper East Side than in Harlem.

The report ends with three recommendations, one is of particular relevance to the class project : "Encouraging new venues for purchasing healthy foods. Establish neighborhood farmers’ markets, cooperatives, and community-supported agriculture programs."

We have hit on an obvious need for more food retail options in this community - perhaps we should explore the possibility of food co-ops and CSAs as well as a large chain supermarket ?

Learning about food is one way to start -

Here is an article about the NYC high school class about food I mentioned in class last week:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/06/nyregion/06metjournal.html

In this class, high school juniors and seniors learn about "food broadly defined — its social, political and economic aspects," according to the article. They take many field trips to local farms, markets, butcher shops, and museums to learn about the different ways food is produced, who has access to healthy food and why, and how to eat in healthy way.

I think this is a great way to teach young people about food and healthy living. If we do try to bring a supermarket to Central Harlem, perhaps we can stipulate that the market offer food education classes to the community.

Take Care New York: Building a Healthier Harlem @ CITY

Just thought I would let all those interested to know that this is an event taking place:

Date: 2/17

Time: 6:00pm

About: Dr. Thomas Farley, New York City Commisioner of Health, will discuss the City's plan to build healthier communities.

There is a reception to follow.

Admission: FREE
Reception to Follow

RSVP to: 212-650-7799 or email: events@ccny.cuny.edu

" We are the world" 25 for HAITI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Glny4jSciVI

The obesity campaign

Michelle Obama is working with PepsiCo to address the issue of childhood obesity. Here is an article that was published where they list a number of solutions to the obesity epidemic. I thought it was quite interesting and informative how the issue can be addressed on a national and/or legislative platform as well as on smaller levels like community intervention and activism by small groups like ours.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/pepsico-supports-first-ladys-initiative-to-help-reduce-childhood-obesity-83880222.html

Sign up for the New York Times online

Hi!

It's easy, it takes 5 s and it's freeeeeee!!! So take advantage of this.

Go to www.nytimes.com
Subscribe ( Sign-up)
Pick the option " Today's headlines"

This way you will receive one email a day with the link of all the headlines of that day.
It is very crucial that we are all aware of what is going on and always inform.

On my freshman year in college my professor made register for the new york times, we had to pay for it so it can be delivered and pick up the paper every morning ( rain or not) read at least one article and discussed in class! He would ask " so Olivia , what is going on in the Us Or the world today?"It was the best class experience I ever had ! I was able to discuss worldwide and national matters that i don't get to see on the regular news channels. It was great !

Now you have this option online, free!!!

If you find articles interesting and relevant to our project please feel free to talk about them in class. Hint-- Michele Obama is currently fighing Childhood Obesity...does anyone know how?! where? why? when? with who?

Sign-up and get informed ! and remember "Knowledge is Power"

Olivia.

NIH and obesity (great reads for your tuesday HomeWork)

http://www.epa.gov/aging/press/othernews/2009/2009_1210_ons_1.htm

http://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/members/2006/8469/8469.pdf

http://www.epa.gov/aging/press/othernews/2008/2008_0407_ons_1.htm

SCHOOL BASED OBESITY PREVENTION PROGRAM: NATURE ARTICLE

http://www.nature.com/oby/journal/v16/n5/pdf/oby200829a.pdf

FOR extra info on the Obesity issue: visit http://www.obesity.org/

Journal Entries 1

For the students in Sci31300

I've read all the journal entries, and some of you wrote some meaningful stuff!! Most of these seem to be written for the heck of writing??? If this is the case, we will need to put some template sorta thing to customize the proportions of journal writing.

In short, I want you guys to think about the issues, and evaluate your outlooks. Many of you also asked questions regarding the content of the journals. So lets start discussing as of now. Ask me questions through this blog-post exclusive of journal entries' discussions. In your comments tell me what would make a weekly journal meaningful?? everybody needs to contribute SOMETHING!

The people who were late for the submissions, I'm letting you guys get the journal grade this time since its essentially just the beginning of the course. From next week, don't bother to submit the journal if you can't do so by tuesday night. Its for your own good, as I need to read them all and comment. Otherwise, we are wasting each other's time.

OK now start blogging.

Example of Environmental Policy Quandnary

http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2010/0129/In-California-quest-for-cleaner-power-hits-tortoise-sized-speed-bumps