Local champion leads change in
healthy food access
Sara George,
manager of Wabasha Farmer’s Market, is leading efforts that are making healthy
foods more accessible for all residents of Wabasha County while also working to
help other farmers markets sell foods to local businesses.
“Her efforts
to support healthy food access in this county are commendable and appreciated,”
said Tina Moen, Wabasha County SHIP coordinator.
Wabasha
Farmer’s Market has been licensed to accept Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) since
May 2013 and has supported Lake City Farmer’s Market and Winona Farmer’s Market
efforts to obtain EBT.
Wabasha’s
market will offer a market incentive program this growing season. This not only
enables Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to use
their EBT cards to purchase fresh and healthy foods directly from local
farmers, but also gives them up to $10 (up from $5 last year) worth of Market
Bucks each day to purchase additional food at the market. Customers buy tokens
at the information booth and receive matching Market Bucks (dollar-for-dollar
up to $10).
George has
been working diligently to better serve people with the greatest needs since
2013 and in April Wabasha Farmer’s Market was approved for WIC Farmers’ Market
Nutrition Program (FMNP) and Senior Farmer’s Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP). Low-income
woman, infants, children and seniors can use their benefits at the Wabasha
Farmer’s Market this season.
Stay Tuned for More to Come
George’s motto is “keep on swimming.” She met with Minnesota
Department of Agriculture in April with a team of experts to break through
barriers that prevent farmer’s markets from being able to aggregate and sell
healthy foods to local businesses such as schools, hospitals and restaurants.
George isn’t just in this for her market, but hopes to pilot this project and
become a mentor for others throughout the state.
To learn more, call 1-715-651-5046 or email wabashafm@gmail.com
Do you have a resource or success story (“gem”) to share for a future issue? Submissions for each week’s Thursday publication are due by noon every Tuesday to Health.MakingitBetter@state.mn.us or community specialists for:
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Every
year, local health department professionals gather at the NACCHO Annual conference
to share opportunities and challenges, learn how to adopt best practices,
engage with federal and local partners and gain insights from public health
experts.
In today’s economic climate, finding resources to participate in any professional development event can be a challenge. Validate the investment in your professional career and the future of public health by attending the largest gathering of local health department leaders in the United States. You’ll learn from colleagues’ professional experiences and return to your organization with new knowledge and a myriad of ideas to put into practice.
- NACCHO
Annual is the largest gathering of local health department leaders and other
public health professionals in the United States.
- NACCHO
Annual is the premier opportunity to connect with and learn from thought
leaders in public health and peers from all over the country.
- NACCHO
Annual is the best forum for learning about research breakthroughs and new
technologies in local public health.
- NACCHO Annual
offers hands-on experience and innovative solutions to the challenges that
local health departments face.
For more information or to register, click here.
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The Farmers Market Coalition’s free SNAP
EBT Equipment Program Announces New
Rules for 2016
The United States Department of
Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) continues to partner with
the Farmers Market Coalition (FMC) to provide eligible farmers markets and
direct marketing farmers with the free electronic benefit
transfer (EBT) equipment that is necessary to process Supplemental Nutrition
Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in 2016.
Who’s Eligible?
SNAP-authorized
farmers markets and
direct marketing farmers (who sell at one or more farmers markets) are eligible
for funding if they:
-
Do not currently possess functioning SNAP EBT equipment; OR
- Currently possess functioning SNAP EBT equipment, but received that equipment before May 2, 2012.
*Note that the date of SNAP
authorization is no longer included in eligibility requirements. FMC needs to
know that your SNAP permit is active and in good standing, but doesn’t need to
know when you obtained it.
What’s Covered?
FMC will cover the cost of purchasing
or renting SNAP EBT equipment and services (set-up costs, monthly service fees)
for up to three years. Approved applicants choose their own SNAP EBT service
provider from a list of participating companies: MarketLink, MerchantSource and
TSYS. Transaction fees (for SNAP, credit and debit payments) will not be covered.
Where Do I Apply?
Visit FMCtoolbox.org to
fill out the online application. An email address, FNS number (also known as SNAP permit number), a
signed W9 form, contact
information and some general information about your farm or farmers market will
be required.
Learn more at farmersmarketcoalition.org or by email ebt@farmersmarketcoalition.org.
Bike MN is creating a bicycle-friendly booklet that will cover what
it means to be bicycle friendly and provides people with a workbook to get them
started thinking about bike friendliness in their town. Bike MN is looking
for local photos! The photos used will be credited in the workbook to you, and
Bike MN will send a Saint Paul Classic discount code to those whose photos are
selected!
Bike MN is looking to collect pictures of:
- Bike facilities in your town (with people on/with bikes in
them)
- Photos from programming or events (such as a mayor's ride,
education course, etc.)
- People of all ages on all types of bikes
Please email them to jo@bikemn.org along with a brief description.
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MDH seeks
proposals to implement the Tobacco-Free Communities (TFC) Grant Program, aiming
to reduce and prevent youth tobacco use and address tobacco-related disparities
in Minnesota by promoting community-driven tobacco prevention and control
activities and strategies.
This Request
for Proposals (RFP) reinforces MDH's overall goal of advancing health equity
and achieving population-level health improvements. This RFP also reflects the
statewide goals identified in Minnesota's
Comprehensive Tobacco Control Framework, 2016-2021, and input from
stakeholders who participated in MDH's 2015 Community Voices input process.
This RFP provides funding, training, and other resources to strengthen the
capacity of communities to influence their own healthy future and work
collaboratively to reduce tobacco-related health disparities and the negative
influence of commercial tobacco use in Minnesota.
View the
RFP at http://www.health.mn.gov/tfc.
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ClearWay Minnesota has developed a new
provider factsheet specific to the Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare
population. It includes the Jan. 1 changes that expanded benefits to include free
coverage for individual and group cessation counseling and prescription smoking
cessation medications. As you are working with providers, please share the
document. In addition, please feel free to forward it to other
professionals/partners who are working with provider networks.
The provider factsheet document resides on
the ClearWay MN cessation policy page (http://clearwaymn.org/policy/cessation-policy/); please direct providers to this website
where they can download the document as a PDF.
If you have any questions, please contact
Brianna.Longeway@state.mn.us.
To mark the anniversary of the 2006 Surgeon General’s
report, the Tobacco Control Legal Consortium has updated a few popular
tobacco-free policy guides:
Time: 12:30 p.m.
Date: June 30
This Consortium
webinar will discuss the public health rationale for reducing tobacco use and
secondhand smoke exposure in assisted living and long-term care settings, where
many vulnerable and tobacco-addicted people live. Presenters will describe the
current tobacco control landscape in these environments and several regulatory
options to address tobacco use in this population.
Presenters: Pat McKone, American Lung Association of the Upper Midwest;
Jessica Kulak, College of Brockport (SUNY); and Jenn Beideman, Finger Lakes
Health Systems Agency.
Moderator/Presenter: Kerry Cork, Tobacco Control Legal Consortium at the
Public Health Law Center.
Register here.
Do you have
a photo of tobacco industry tactics at the point of sale? Or are you planning
to take photos while conducting audits this summer? Please send in the photos
you capture of the retail environment!
What kind of photos? Send
us photos showcasing tobacco industry marketing tactics and promotional
strategies at the point of sale.
Who do I send them to? Jennifer@countertools.org
What is the deadline? Please
send by Sept. 30 to
be considered for the 1st and 2nd place prizes.
The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health (OSH) released a tobacco-related
article in the June 16 edition of the journal Preventing Chronic Disease entitled,
“Stuck in Neutral: Stalled Progress in Statewide Comprehensive Smoke-Free Laws
and Cigarette Excise Taxes, United States, 2000–2014.”
Authors examined state laws related to smoke-free buildings
and to cigarette excise taxes from 2000 through 2014 to see how implementation
of these laws from 2000 through 2009 differs from implementation in more recent
years (2010–2014). The paper concludes that the recent stall in progress in
enacting and implementing statewide comprehensive smoke-free laws and
increasing cigarette excise taxes may undermine tobacco prevention and control
efforts in the United States, undercutting efforts to reduce tobacco use,
exposure to secondhand smoke, health disparities, and tobacco-related illness
and death.
The article is available online
at http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/index.htm.
A decade ago, U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona released a
watershed report, “The Health Consequences of Involuntary
Exposure to Secondhand Smoke,” and the world of tobacco
control has never been the same.
After chronicling in detail the devastating health effects of
secondhand smoke, the report concluded: The debate is over. The science is
clear. There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. This
authoritative warning, based on a wealth of scientific research and issued by
the highest public health officer in the nation, heralded a wave of smoke-free legislation
that resulted in 24 states today (including Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and
the U.S. Virgin Islands) adopting laws that require workplaces, bars and
restaurants to be 100 percent smoke-free.
Over this past decade, in the face of even more scientific evidence
on the risks of tobacco use and secondhand smoke, smoke-free and tobacco-free
venues have become increasingly common.
Updated
Tobacco-free Policy Resources
To mark the anniversary of the 2006 Surgeon General’s report, we updated our
popular tobacco-free policy guides:
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The Minnesota Department of Health’s Asthma Program, in partnership with
the American Lung Association in Minnesota, is offering mini-grant funding to
support schools in working to create asthma friendly schools. Grant money up to
$1,500 is available to implement a variety of school-based projects in
elementary, middle or high schools from June 8, 2016, through Aug. 31, 2017.
Schools will establish their own timeline to complete their projects by Aug.
31, 2017. The funds, which are available to public schools, charter schools and
private schools, can be applied to individual schools or across
districts. Applications are being accepted for the current grant
cycle.
For more information, go to the Minnesota Asthma Program – Asthma
Friendly Schools Mini-Grant Program to learn how to submit your application.
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Registration is now open for the 2016 Annual SHIP Meeting, July 26-27 at Eagan Community Center, 1501 Center Parkway, Eagan.
Click here to
register.
Registration closes tomorrow (Friday, June 24). If
you know of someone who will not be able to register before then, please
register on their behalf. You will receive an email confirmation with the list
of your sessions after you submit your registration. Please keep that email for
reference.
Registration is limited to five participants from each
grantee organization. This includes those presenting and any invited community
partners. All TA partners who are presenting should also register.
Please note that we have a limited number of spaces available. Presenters and grantees will be given
priority for attendance, but we will do our best to accommodate all those who
register.
Click here
for the most up-to-date details about the meeting.
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Reminder: SHIP grantees who have been approved to work on
POS strategies should have the tobacco ordinances collected from each of the
city and county licensing authorities in their grant region and submitted to
Public Health Law Center for review by Aug. 1. This deadline will ensure that you
have information needed as Year 2 POS strategy planning begins.
For more information, contact Scott Kelly, Public Health Law
Center Scott.kelly@mitchellhamline.edu
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The reach database will be locked until June 27 for data
cleaning and updating so you will not be able to make any edits to the data.
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 No announcements this week.
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 No announcements this week.
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