SHIP eNewsletter October-December 2012
City of Bloomington sent this bulletin at 12/18/2012 01:00 PM CST|
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CommunityInnovative action makes offering healthier foods at
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SHIP staff at Bloomington Public Health found a way to do what seemed highly improbable - for concessionaires to make money by selling healthy food! For families and individuals who enjoy these venues, it means fun and healthy food CAN coexist - good news for everyone!
Growers of SHIP-funded community gardens outdid themselves this year. They exceeded their food shelf donations by almost 500 pounds over last year. That brought donations this year to well over 1 ton of produce - 2,393 pounds to be exact. Coincidentally, our faith based communities operate all the SHIP-funded gardens, and providing fresh produce for the food shelf fits well in their mission. Many of them offer gardening plots to church members and residents, but some go further and donate all their harvest to the local VEAP food shelf. |
Cedarcrest Community Garden Christ the King Community Garden St. Marks Community Garden - pictured above |
Bloomington Community Gardens* Smith Park Community Garden site Harrison Park Community Garden site *Enroll here to receive information when Bloomington community garden sign-up opens, or for information by phone, call 952-563-8877. Richfield Community Gardens Woodlake Nature Center |
Schools
Bloomington Kennedy students have a voice in healthier school foods
Timing could not have been better for a new project at Kennedy High School. The new project was giving students more decision-making power over upcoming regulations on à la carte and vending machine foods. It got underway just as some students were riled about, in their words, having new, healthier school lunch regulations that they didn't like imposed on them. As a result of the students' involvement, they are now enthused about healthier choices they can make from their à la carte lunch line.
Bloomington Public Health Nutritionist and SHIP staff member, Joan Bulfer, proposed a real-life marketing project to Kennedy marketing class teacher, Cheryl Martin. Instead of having the class promote a make-believe product to a make-believe market, the class would test and market a real product to a real target market - their classmates. Based on this market test, the school would then add the new product to their à la carte menu.
Students' excitement that spilled over to teachers and SHIP staff got more people energized and working together. Added to the mix, the school's Food Production Supervisor, Connie Murray, provided healthier product samples to taste. Ms. Martin worked the project into the marketing curriculum and students developed a marketing campaign to be implemented this winter. Katie Meyers of do.town helped students gain support from school decision makers, and Joan Bulfer, SHIP staff, is working closely with all to improve à la carte offerings.
The project's success lies in part with two healthier products that are now on the school à la carte line that students actually like. Moreover, the project paved the way for a new partnership. Food service staff and the marketing teacher are committed to repeating the ad campaign project as a means to incorporate more, healthy, school lunch options. Most importantly, students have more healthy food to be happy about.
More information:
Joan Bulfer, Nutritionist
952-563-8992 or jbulfer@ci.bloomington.mn.us
SHIP funds help with Safe Routes to School plans in Bloomington, Edina and Richfield
Bloomington, Edina and Richfield are all in the early stages of developing a Safe Routes to School (SRTS) plan. Developing and implementing SRTS plans make our communities safer places for children to walk and bicycle. This gives children more opportunities for physical activity that benefit their learning and health.
SHIP provided funds to hire consultants who will help the cities and school districts gain information about the issues and questions their plans need to address. The consultants are working closely with school districts and City transportation staff to conduct assessments and use the information to develop a comprehensive plan. The comprehensive plan will identify opportunities for and challenges of walking and biking to each school. It will also specify recommendations and long-term actions to increase the number of students who walk and bike to school.
Implementation of SRTS plans can enhance children's health and well-being, and they are also good for communities by easing traffic congestion near schools, improving air quality and improving our quality of life. With Safe Routes to School, our communities have a plan for better health.
More information or to get involved in your school district SRTS plan:
Julie Zamora, Health Specialist
952-563-8901 or jzamora@ci.bloomington.mn.us
In Bloomington and Richfield, success of new school lunch laws is in the eyes of the beholder
The challenge of getting students to eat more fruits and vegetables for school lunch has gotten easier in Bloomington and Richfield schools. Schools increased their interest in resolving the challenge when Congress passed The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010. The law intends to benefit children's health by requiring children to choose one of four fruit and vegetable choices in school lunch. School food service staff, who are well-acquainted with children's aversion to "new foods," wanted to know how to make the law truly benefit children's health when children can choose to not eat the fruits and vegetables (i.e. they may take them but throw them away).
A well-tested solution to this challenge lies in what children see. In a sense, we eat first with our eyes - meaning we eat what looks appealing to us. To help School District Food Service Staff make new foods look appealing, Bloomington Public Health sponsored a three-hour training on preparation methods using vibrant colors and interesting shapes. New equipment was also provided to assist with implementation of the new practices.
In addition to preparation methods, the staff also learned about "nudging." This is using placement, words and actions that have demonstrated effectiveness at getting children to choose and eat healthy foods.
School staff was enthusiastic about the hands-on training and plans to use what they learned right away to make school lunch more appealing to their students. Whatever positive outcome they achieve is thanks to a Community Transformation Grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that funded the training and equipment.
Watch the City of Bloomington YouTube video about school lunch changes.
More information:
Joan Bulfer, Nutritionist
952-563-8992 or jbulfer@ci.bloomington.mn.us
Worksites
Bloomington employer, Newman Long Term Care,
adapts big ideas to create culture of health in a small workplace
Newman Long Term Care joined the Worksite Wellness Coalition, a do.town and SHIP collaboration, for reasons different from larger organizations. Manager, Andrea Meger, said, "While at meetings, it was clear to me that one of the obstacles larger organizations face (to starting a wellness program) is getting upper management's buy-in or approval. We were the opposite. We had the buy-in, but we needed to figure out how to incorporate the larger-scale ideas into a smaller workplace."
Andrea said the value of attending Worksite Wellness Coalition meetings is bouncing ideas off of each other and helping each other through the process. She said, "Meetings also help us stay accountable. With everyone's busy, day-to-day activities, it can be easy to leave a meeting with good intentions only to become distracted and off track. The scheduled meetings and planning process help keep that from happening."
So far, Newman Long Term Care has formed a wellness committee and is in the process of updating their tobacco policy to further protect their employees against tobacco use and exposure. They are trying to incorporate fun and interesting activities around healthy eating and physical activity to keep the team engaged.
With help from the Worksite Wellness Coalition, Newman Long Term Care has found a way to share the health!
The Worksite Wellness Coalition is a group of area employers that meet to learn from each other how to successfully promote wellness in the workplace. Linda Pellowski, from Blue Cross Minnesota is their Worksite Wellness Consultant.
More information about the Worksite Wellness Coalition:
Linda Pellowski, Worksite Wellness Consultant
linda_m_pellowski@bluecrossmn.com or 651-662-4536
For Your Information
The New York Times: Obesity in Young Is Seen as Falling in Several Cities
After decades of rising childhood obesity rates, several American cities are reporting their first declines. Though drops are small, health experts say the change is significant because they offer the first indication that the obesity epidemic may actually be reversing course. Researchers are unsure about the cause of the declines but say individual efforts like one-time exercise programs have rarely produced results. Instead, researchers say it will take a broad set of policies applied systematically to effectively reverse the trend. An Institute of Medicine report released in May underscored their conclusion.