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Jan. 24, 2019

2019 Schoolyard Garden Conference

Engaging diverse learners with a schoolyard garden

Schoolyard gardens provide an incomparable, hands-on opportunity to learn how to meet academic standards, engage with community partners, learn about agriculture, healthy eating and cultural competency, and connect with natural systems. Whether you’re just beginning or you're a schoolyard garden veteran, come learn innovative strategies for building, sustaining and engaging diverse learners in a thriving schoolyard garden.

New this year - 2019 Garden to Plate Food Conference

This conference will bring together the latest research and best practices to ensure Minnesota community food growers bring a bounty of safe produce to their schools and communities. Sessions include: food safety, nutrition, horticultural best practices, improving your yield, harvest safety, legal restrictions and community engagement.

These events will take place on Friday, March 1 from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Saturday, March 2 from 8:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, MN.

Register on the University of Minnesota website, with the option to register for just one or bundle both events.

Tobacco and e-cigarette point of sale: tips & tools

Retailers are the primary marketing venue for tobacco products, driving sales and use. As a result, tobacco control policy has increasingly focused on retailers by, for example, limiting their number and restricting their location, as recommended by the Institute of Medicine and the U.S. Surgeon General. This publication outlines policy and legal considerations for regulating both tobacco and electronic cigarette retailer locations to improve public health.

Access the publication at the Public Health Law Center.

Winter Walk to School Day

Winter Walk to School Day approaching Get your schools involved with Winter Walk to School Day on Feb. 6 to get your students moving during this Minnesota winter. Sign up at the Minnesota Walk and Bike to School Day registration page and you'll receive additional information, materials and incentives to get schools in your community involved in this statewide event.

2019 Minnesota Cancer Summit

Option to attend satellite locations in Greater Minnesota

The 2019 Minnesota Cancer Summit will take place on Feb. 28 at the University of Minnesota McNamara Alumni Center, with the option to attend satellite events in St. Peter and Bemidji. This one day event will give participants a chance to meet and network with other people interested in reducing the burden of cancer for all Minnesotans.

Interactive breakout sessions center around the conference themes of connecting, collaborating and communicating. Keynote speakers will be live-streamed from Minneapolis to the satellite locations.

For more information and registration visit the cancer summit website.

OSHII staffing update

OSHII staff member, Amy Michael, has accepted a new position in the Health Promotion and Chronic Disease Division as the Arthritis Grant Coordinator within the Diabetes Unit. Her last day with OSHII will be Feb. 5, 2019.

Amy has been a valuable asset to the Healthy Systems Unit and OSHII overall and will be missed, but we congratulate her in this new endeavor.

While we are recruiting for her position, Alex Dahlquist will be the main contact for health care settings and Cherylee Sherry will be taking any child care questions.  

Calendar

Winter Regional Meetings

Jan. 24: Southwest, MinnWest Technology Campus, Commons: 1707 Technology Drive NE, Willmar

Jan. 29: Northeast, Blandin Foundation, 100 North Pokegama Ave., Grand Rapids

Jan. 30: Northwest, Detroit Lakes Community & Cultural Center, 826 Summit Ave., Detroit Lakes

Feb. 5: Metro, MDH Golden Rule Building, 85 E 7th Place, Suite 220, Saint Paul

Feb. 7: Southeast, Well Living Lab, 221 1st Ave. SW, Rochester

Register and view the agenda.

Webinar: Local Active Transportation Financing Initiatives

Date: Jan. 31
Time: 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.

In this webinar, get an overview of why active transportation financing matters and what types of financing approaches are working for local governments. Learn from bike advocates in other cities, who will share lessons from their exciting and inspiring local active transportation financing success stories.

Go to the Safe Routes to School National Partnership to register.

Webinar: Substance Use Prevention - It’s Good for Business

Date: Jan. 31
Time: Noon

In this webinar, you will hear about a recent example of employer engagement in helping to prevent substance abuse and learn about a free toolkit you can use in your community.

The Minnesota Department of Health and Minnesota Business Partnership developed a toolkit with five steps employers can take to be a part of the opioid epidemic response. The toolkit includes customizable materials that employers can disseminate to their employees including tweets, emails and flyers with data, information and resources to prevent and address substance use disorder within the workplace.

 Register for the webinar at the Minnesota Prevention Resource Center.

Webinar: America Walks Creating Safer Streets for All 

Date: Feb. 13
Time: 1:00 p.m.

Pedestrian safety is a critical part of planning for healthy, active, and engaged communities. At America Walks, we believe that a safe systems approach and built environment interventions are important to achieving fewer pedestrian injuries and fatalities. Join us to learn about resources and ideas to improve safety with this webinar. Attendees will learn about techniques and interventions to improve safety, including an overview of the safe systems approach, hear from communities taking steps to address safety concerns and be inspired to do the same and receive resources and ideas to begin addressing the safety in their own communities.

Register at the GoToWebinar information page.

Webinar: Kicking Butts through the Media

Date: Feb. 13
Time: 2:00 - 3:00 p.m.

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is a leading force in the fight to reduce tobacco use and its deadly toll in the United States and around the world. This webinar is in preparation for Kick Butts Day to help prevent kids from smoking, help smokers quit and protect everyone from secondhand smoke.

Register with Tobacco-Free Kids.

This week's gem

Project FINE in Winona, partnered with Winona County SHIP to increase opportunities for physical activity and promote walking among refugee and immigrant populations. The project included an assessment to identify barriers to walking in neighborhoods where Project FINE clients live, followed by the development of a series of guides with a map of 1 and 2-mile walking routes in these areas. To identify the barriers to walking, Project FINE staff spoke with 20 individuals in the Winona and Goodview area. Eighty-five percent of respondents did not walk or exercise on a regular basis. The most common reasons for not walking for exercise were: lack of infrastructure, unfamiliarity with the neighborhood or not knowing where to go and lack of motivation to exercise. Survey findings were used to create walking guides for four areas: Maplewood Townhomes, Hidden Valley, Goodview (Lake Village) and Central Winona. The brochures were translated into Hmong and Spanish and were made available in the neighborhoods and at several community events. An estimated 200 families received the walking routes information. “It’s very helpful to know how far I have walked,” said one person who has been using the walking guides. “The maps encourage me to walk more often,” said another user. Project FINE and Winona SHIP hope to continue this partnership to assess other barriers for community members to achieve healthier lives.

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