In This Edition...

• What's Hot?
• Legislation to Watch
• News Flash
• Just In: New Resources and Reports
• Apply Now: Grant Announcements
• Be There: Upcoming Events

Local Hospitals Take Healthy Food Pledge

Across the nation, hospitals are joining the growing trend to serve healthy, local, sustainable, and socially just foods at their facilities. Already, 127 hospitals nationwide, including nine in the Bay Area, have signed the “Healthy Foods in Healthcare Pledge.” The movement is supported by Health Care Without Harm. Healthcare settings are unique and powerful vehicles to encourage staff, patients, and surrounding community members to adopt healthy lifestyle behaviors. The impact of offering sustainable, healthy local food in hospitals and other healthcare environments goes beyond just better nutrition -- procuring food locally helps to protect air quality (as food does not have as far to travel from farm to plate) and benefits the local economy by supporting local agriculture. To learn more about getting sustainable foods into hospitals, check out the health care strategies in the Sustainable Food Systems section of ENACT.  For more information about the pledge, visit the Health Care Without Harm website for the press release and accompanying report.

• California State Park Access Pass Program (Laird): Increases vehicle license registration fees to generate annual revenue for state parks.  Learn more...
• AB 211 (Jones): Authorizes health officers to engage in an array of policy issues focused on obesity, chronic illness, and healthy community environments.
• SB 441 (Torlakson): Mandates food and beverages sold in vending machines on state property to meet specific nutrition standards.
• SB 1420 (Padilla): Requires restaurants to post nutritional information on menus and menu boards.
• AB 2704 (Leno): Prohibits schools from entering into or renewing contracts that discourage or prohibit the availability of free tap water.
• AB 2708 (Solorio): Bans advertising of food and beverage products in schools.

Physical Education Deficiencies in Los Angeles Schools

Parents, teachers, and organizations have filed a Williams complaint with the Los Angeles Unified School District for deficiencies in physical education. Vacancies and misassignments of physical education teachers, overcrowded classes, lack of enforcement of state standards, and inadequately trained PE teachers are among the complaints cited. The school district is 74% low income and 90% children of color - populations that already suffer higher rates of diet and activity related chronic disease, such as type II diabetes. LAUSD is required to remedy the deficiencies within 30 days. Quality physical education is a key part of chronic disease prevention, and these recent events are an opportunity for the district to make improvements rather than risk lawsuits and a loss of government funding. Learn more and download the Complaint.Want to know more about the "Williams Complaint" process? Click here.

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Movement to Ban Artificial Food Colorings

A ban of six widely-used artificial food colorings linked to behavior problems in children has been called for by the Center for Science in the Public Interest. Beyond their link to behavioral problems in children, these colorful additives are also used to create an illusion of fruit and vegetable content in foods that contain little or no fruit (read more about misrepresenting fruit content in the Prevention Institute study Where’s the Fruit?). While the British government has been successfully pressuring food manufactures to use safe alternatives, and the European Union has recently passed legislation requiring food containing certain types of dyes to come with a warning label, artificial colorings in American products are ubiquitous.  Switching to alternatives is clearly feasible – the British versions of many of these same products contain natural colorings and even actual fruit in some cases. Learn more about CSPI’s efforts, the evidence against additives, and the petition to the FDA.

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Soda Free Summer in Bay Area Counties

Soda Free Summer has arrived in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties.  The second annual campaign features “Sugar Savvy” community workshops where attendees are given educational materials and fun accessories to promote healthier alternatives to soda in their communities. Darlene Fujii of the Alameda County Public Health Department sees it as “one piece of a larger chronic disease prevention effort.” The cooperation among six public health departments and its reach among a variety of environments including faith-based organizations, youth programs, and health centers signifies the building of a movement towards changing social norms and policy around soda.

New Resources and Reports

• “Funding Sources for Healthy Food Retail” (Planning for Healthy Places at Public Health Law & Policy) is a new online searchable guide to California and federal funding programs.  

• The Path to Healthy Communities: Mapping California’s Priorities (Our Say Coalition at California Pan-Ethnic Health Network) analyzes factors that influence health to identify and prioritize high-need communities.

• Exploring Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Distribution Models for The Greater Los Angeles Area (Center for Food & Justice) features innovative local food purchasing and distribution programs both nationally and in Southern CA.

• Does Race Define What's in the Shopping Cart? (Community Health Council) demonstrates that geography and the availability of healthy foods play a substantial role in determining what African Americans in Los Angeles eat.

Grant Announcements

• Due July 19: Federal Safe Routes to School Program Cycle 2 Call for projects
• Due July 25: Faith-based Advocacy Efforts to End Childhood Obesity Call for Proposals from Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
• Open deadline: Active Living Research and Healthy Eating Research Rapid-Response Grants Call for Letters of Intent from RWJF

Upcoming Events

• Healthy Community Planning Web Dialogue Series

2 upcoming sessions with flexible dates

• Review of National School Lunch and School Breakfast Programs

July 9th, 2008, Washington D.C.

• Tractors, Trucks, and Trains: How Federal Farm, Food and Transportation Policy Impacts Our Health

WEB FORUM! July 29th, 2008

More Events...

     ~      Summer      ~     Fall          ~

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Thanks for reading!  The Strategic Alliance is currently engaged in building a broad and diverse statewide membership.  If you were forwarded this e-mail and want to receive your own copy in the future, please click here or e-mail carol@preventioninstitute.org.  And if you’re already a member, please forward this message to your colleagues so we can continue to strengthen our coalition.  Thank you!

WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE?

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity away from a focus solely on individual choice and lifestyle towards one of environmental influences and corporate and government responsibility. Current Steering Committee members are: California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit), California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA), California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA), California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Park and Recreation Society (CPRS), California Project LEAN, California WIC Association (CWA), Child Care Food Program Roundtable, Latino Health Access, Partnership for the Public’s Health, Prevention Institute, and Samuels & Associates.

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