Robbinsdale Veggie Try It Days are a Huge Success

This fall, 11 Robbinsdale school district elementary schools began training kitchen staff on new vegetable recipes and conducting student taste-tests. Roasted Brussels sprouts were introduced in November and were a huge success! Approximately 400 students at each site sampled the Brussels sprouts and overwhelmingly gave the new recipe a thumbs up of approval.

The kitchen manager at one school received several emails from parents requesting the recipe so they could prepare it at home. One parent said, “My six-year old daughter came home and eagerly told me about sampling the Brussels sprouts.  Mind you, to her a carrot is the only acceptable vegetable.  While she said she didn't LOVE the Brussels sprouts, she said she liked them a little and gave them a thumbs up!  Way to get the kids to try new things using taste-tests!  Keep up the great work in empowering kids to try new things and broaden their food choices!

New resources are available to advance the understanding of Minnesota’s food safety system to support those seeking to increase access to healthy, safe food in Minnesota communities. Public health advocates working to improve health through access to healthy food need to be informed about how food safety considerations and legal requirements affect these efforts. 

Food safety concerns can come up with various food sources, including unprocessed fresh produce, donated foods, school gardens, introducing consumers to new foods and Farm to School programs.  A wide range of federal, state and local laws impact food handling and food safety.  The following resources and webinar were developed in response to questions from community members about how to navigate the legal and regulatory food safety system when working to increase access to healthy food. Learn from these resources and reach out to partners working in the food system to collaborate for a healthy, safe food supply!

Determining Legal Responsibility for Foodborne Illness & Injury (2016)

In the United States, a person who is injured as a result of a foodborne illness may bring a civil cause of action against another by claiming that the other individual is legally liable for the harm caused by the foodborne illness. This fact sheet discusses civil liability for harm caused by foodborne illness.

Government Response to Foodborne Illness in Minnesota (2016)

Federal, state and local governments protect public health by working to reduce the risk of foodborne illness through their efforts in preventing and responding to outbreaks. This fact sheet discusses the legal basis and procedures for government agencies to respond to foodborne illness outbreaks in Minnesota.

Preventing Foodborne Illness in Minnesota (2016)

Understanding the legal framework and government authority to prevent foodborne illness can support efforts to increase consumption of safe and healthy food. This resource identifies the system of laws created to prevent foodborne illness, the role of different government bodies that enforce these laws and why these legal requirements exist.

Webinar - Using Law, Policy and Practice to Support Access to Healthy and Safe Food in Minnesota (2016)

As Minnesota communities look for innovative ideas to provide residents and visitors with good, healthy, fresh food they find that they must navigate legal requirements of the food safety system and are discovering that inspectors from MDA and MDH are valuable partners and resources in these efforts. This webinar addresses key challenges and opportunities identified by Minnesota communities in their work to increase access to healthy, safe food.

These resources work in conjunction with the Minnesota Food Charter Healthy Food, Safe Food Action Guide, and resources found at the University of Minnesota Extension Healthy Food, Safe Food Website.

These resources were developed through a partnership with the Minnesota Department of Health Statewide Health Improvement Partnership, the Public Health Law Center, and the Healthy Food, Safe Food Project.  The Minnesota Departments of Health and Agriculture food safety personnel also provided invaluable input into the development of these resources.

We hope you find these resources helpful as you support the health of Minnesota communities.  Also, please share with anyone you think may find this information helpful

All the best,

Tim Jenkins, MDH and Mary Marrow, Public Health Law Center

Attend a symposium offered by the Minnesota Department of Education – Nutrition, Health, and Youth Development Division.

Learn about the upcoming CACFP meal pattern regulations and how to help child care programs implement them.

• New CACFP Meal Pattern Regulations
• The Changes are Coming: How to Communicate, Market, and Frame Your Message
• Highlight on the Minnesota Breastfeeding Recognition Program
• Menu Planning Strategies
• Improving Mealtime Environment with "Smarter Mealtimes"

• New print and electronic resources
• Free (lunch on your own), half or full day registration

Training dates and locations:

Time:  8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Date:  Jan. 18
Location: National Joint Powers Alliance, 202 12th Street NE, Staples

Registration: Jan. 18 – Staples

Time:  8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Date:  Jan. 24
Location: Regional Extension Office – Mankato, 1961 Premier Drive, Suite 110, Mankato

Registration: Jan. 24 – Mankato

Time:  8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m.
Date:  Jan. 31
Location: Minnesota Department of Education, 1500 Highway 36 W, Roseville

Registration: Jan. 31 – Roseville

Inspiring Bold Action: The Minnesota Tobacco Control Conference

Date:  Jan. 24-26
Location:  RiverCentre, 175 Kellogg Blvd. W., St. Paul
Cost:  $100

THEME

Preparing for Action: The Next Horizon for Minnesota Tobacco Control

FOCUS AREAS

1. Eliminating Tobacco Inequities*
2. Working Together to Take Bold Steps for Policy Change in Tobacco Control
3. Sustainability of Tobacco Control in Minnesota

OBJECTIVES

Conference participants will leave with:

1. An understanding of key tobacco prevention and control issues and a roadmap for collaborative change work that sustains our long-term efforts.
2. An understanding of the important role they play in creating a state where everyone is free from the harms of commercial tobacco.
3. An understanding of the disparities faced by commercial tobacco users and why these inequities exist in Minnesota.
4. Confidence and a sense of urgency to use newly acquired knowledge and skills to reduce tobacco inequities.

*Includes but is not limited to communities of color; indigenous communities; LGBT; urban and rural populations; those with mental illness or substance use disorders; the homeless; those of lower socioeconomic status, as well as other groups with persistently high tobacco use rates.

“Tobacco use” refers to manufactured commercial tobacco in all forms (cigarettes, cigars, smokeless, hookah, etc.), as well as all forms of electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS), and not the traditional, sacred, medicinal, spiritual, or ceremonial use of tobacco by American Indians and other groups.

Registration and  Conference Website
www.mntobaccocontrolconference.com

Register here.

The evaluation team is getting ready to launch of REDCap 2.0. Below is more information about important upcoming events.

Training for all REDCap 2.0 Users

Time:  10-11 a.m.
Date:  Jan. 18

Join us for a training on the updated strategies and activities form (which includes questions about partner site types). This training is strongly encouraged for all people submitting SHIP data into REDCap in year 2.

New Partner Site Data Due

Date:  Feb. 9

To prepare the SHIP 4 Year 2 Semi Annual Partner Site report, you are required to submit all new partner sites that you have worked with since Aug.19, 2016. These data are to be submitted in REDCap no later than Feb. 9, 2017. Submit the information via the same REDCap survey you have been using at this link https://apps.health.state.mn.us/redcap/surveys/?s=XL79WHY9NM.

No exceptions will be granted on this deadline. Partner sites submitted after Feb. 9, will be included in the next deadline for partner sites later in 2017.

Communications | Media Relations | Active Living

Time:  8 a.m. – 4 p.m.

• Feb. 1 - Northeast | Grand Rapids | Itasca County Family YMCA, 400 River Road, Grand Rapids
• Feb. 3 - Metro | Northern Service Center, (Rooms 110A and 110B), One Mendota Rd. W., West St. Paul
• Feb. 9 - Northwest | Bemidji | MDH District Office, 509 America Ave., Bemidji
• Feb. 16 - Southwest | Redwood Falls | Redwood Falls Public Library, 509 S Lincoln St., Redwood Falls
• March 2 - Southeast | Rochester |  Southeast Service Cooperative, 210 Wood Lake Drive SE Rochester

Audience

SHIP Coordinators and staff, community partner(s) to be pre-selected by SHIP staff (up to 2 per SHIP grantee)

Learning Objectives

During the communications portion of the day, participants will:

• gain knowledge of earned, social and paid media and how to combine the three for the most effective communications outreach and impact,
• obtain an understanding of the components that comprise successful communications campaigns. Those components include goal, subgoals, audience, message and soundbites,
• learn how to use effective story-telling to enhance message(s) and thereby more readily achieve goal(s),
• acquire a working understanding of effective and ineffective messengers and how the two can vary depending upon the message, the issue and the audience,
• obtain a basic understanding of how to craft effective news releases, news advisories, letters to the editor and op-eds and when and how to use these tools,
• attain tools to enhance the news value of issues they work on, 
• learn the basic rules for working and interacting with the news media, and
• acquire skills for coping with challenges to communications efforts, including tools on how not to stray from effective messages.

Active Living

• Participants will understand the role of public health in comprehensive planning process.
• Participants will learn about technical assistance resources available for Public Health professionals to integrate into the Comprehensive Planning process.
• Participants will understand how MN Walks could be used as a tool to increase local action for SHIP Active Living strategies.

A Pre-Training call will be held prior to the February regional meetings. More information is forthcoming.

The pre-training call will delve into the importance of:

a) matching spokespeople to target audiences,
b) understanding who are the most effective spokespeople for an issue or a cause, and
c) developing an appreciation for the importance of non-traditional public health spokespeople.

This call will help inform grantee decisions on which partners they choose to invite to the training from their communities (e.g. CLT members, community members, organizational leaders, etc). 

In addition, the trainers will go over an assignment to be completed prior to the in-person trainings that will equip participants to come to the trainings ready to focus on expanding media advocacy and public relations within their communities.

Register here.