Featured Stories

May Budget Revise Update – State Parks Saved!

Last January, the Strategic Alliance reported that the Governor’s proposed budget cuts would close 48 state parks and reduce lifeguard staffing on 16 state beaches.  In the May revise, the Governor dedicated $11.8 million in General Fund dollars towards parks, and required the Department of Parks and Recreation to raise an additional $1.5 million through fee increases at popular state parks. Although a long term solution has not yet been identified, the Governor's proposal staves off an immediate crisis for state parks this year. Visit the California State Parks Foundation for more information.

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 What are your Policy Priorities for Child Nutrition?

Along with several state partners, Strategic Alliance Steering Committee organization California Food Policy Advocates has put together a short survey to learn what California’s priority policy recommendations are for the federal Child Nutrition Reauthorization in 2009.  For the upcoming reauthorization, Congress will be debating policies related to school meals, WIC, summer nutrition, and child care meals. Take a few moments to let your voice be heard on these important policy issues! Take the survey.

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Legislative updates

An Overwhelming Majority Passes the 2008 Farm Bill

On May 22, 2008 United States Congress overrode the President's veto of the U.S. Farm Bill, enacting 14 of 15 Farm Bill titles into law. The House vote, which took place on May 21, was 316-108. The Senate vote was 82-13.  For more information on the Farm Bill, please visit the Community Food Security Coalition or the Farm and Food Policy Project.

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California Assembly Testimony

On Wednesday May 7, 2008, the Assembly Committee on Health and Legislative Women’s Caucus held an informational hearing on diabetes and health disparities in California.  Prevention Institute’s Virginia Lee was invited to Sacramento to testify on the role that norms, and the social, cultural, and physical environment, play in increasing the risk of type II diabetes among low income communities and communities of color.  Ms. Lee urged California legislators to pass specific proposed bills and policies to create healthy communities.  Her full testimony can be found here.

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Local Spotlight

Alliance aims to connect county farmers to residents

The San Mateo County Food System Alliance (SMCFSA) is working to improve the county’s food system to ensure that everyone has access to healthy, fresh, sustainable, and affordable food. Community stakeholders have come together to respond to the fact that most locally farmed produce is sold outside the region while many low-income residents have limited access to fresh fruits and vegetables. This multidisciplinary collaborative is bringing together people from farming, public health, education, and other disciplines to generate shared solutions on how to create a more sustainable, health-promoting food system for the county. SMCFSA involves two of the county’s key decision makers around food and health - the Agricultural Commissioner and the Public Health Officer. Jennifer Gross, of the San Mateo County Public Health Department, describes this as a “tremendous opportunity for community partners from different sectors to identify aspects of our food system that can be improved and ultimately enhance access to healthy foods and prevent a wide range of chronic diseases.” Click here to read a recent article about SMCFSA in the San Jose Mercury News.

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In the News

Rising Food Costs and Poor Diet

How will rising food costs affect people’s ability to eat healthily?  ABC interviewed Strategic Alliance’s Leslie Mikkelsen on the link between health disparities and the high cost of healthy foods. Not only can healthier foods be more expensive, but, in some neighborhoods, they may also be hard to find.  Some communities simply don't have a full-service grocery store, and smaller stores offer fewer food choices, often at higher prices. "[Corner stores] might have some fruits and vegetables, but not nearly the variety you would see in a suburban area," Mikkelsen said. Higher prices may make it harder to shift away from convenience and restaurant foods (often higher in fat, high sodium), toward healthier habits. Visit the online ENACT tool to learn more about what you can do to attract supermarkets or revamp convenience stores in your community!

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Yankees Ban Junk Food in Clubhouse

The Yankees are now a role model for physical activity and healthy eating! The famous baseball team has now banned junk food in the club house.  Athletes are often associated with good health and exercise, but now the New York Yankees are also working to model proper nutrition. The actions of professional sports teams can spread beyond the players and workers to influence the fans and the community at large. Oakland’s baseball team, the Athletics, on the other hand, have recently opened an “all you can eat” section in the stands.  The A’s should take a play from the Yankee’s book and create healthier environments for fans.

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Preschool Intervention Curbed Trend Toward Obesity

Florida child care centers found success when they tested a comprehensive classroom-based obesity prevention program among children from ethnically diverse, low-income families. Not only did intervention groups eat more fruits and vegetables and less junk food (and drink less juice and more water and 1% milk), but the control groups actually ate more junk foods and less fruits and vegetables during the study period! Read the press release.

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Resources

The VERB Campaign

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have announced the publication of a supplemental issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, entitled The VERB Campaign. Not about Health, All about Fun:  Marketing Physical Activity to Children. The special issue will feature eleven articles on the behind-the-scenes stories of the VERB Campaign, including development of the brand, building partnerships with community groups, the experiential marketing strategy, and how the campaign reached ethnic audiences. For more, click here.

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NEW STUDIES

• The Unequal Landscape of Diabetes: Place based solutions to end an epidemic provides statistics on, and highlights policy recommendations to improve, the growing diabetes epidemic among communities of color. 
• Designed for Disease provides evidence that the food options  available in our communities (fast food restaurants v.s. grocery stores) play a major role in the prevalence of obesity and diabetes regardless of individual or community income.

• The Links Between Neighborhood Food Environment and Childhood Nutrition focuses on how the neighborhood food environment influences the food choices of low-income children and their families. Key investigations of the neighborhood food environment, current efforts to bring about improvements, and new research and policy priorities are discussed.

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Announcements

Federal Safe Routes to School Program Cycle 2 Call for Projects

Looking for a way to fund Safe Routes to School program in your community?  The Federal SRTS program is now accepting applications for the cycle 2 call for projects.  Applications are due on July 18. Apply now!

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Upcoming Events

UC Berkeley's California Childhood Obesity Conference

June 9th-12th, Los Angeles, CA

Safe Routes to School Annual Meeting

September 2nd, Seattle, WA

International Urban Parks Conference

September 21-23, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

More Events

~       Spring       ~      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.

The Strategic Alliance is supported by funding from The California Endowment.

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