EquityBlog

Photo Credit: Image from "California Watch," courtesy of Christian Cable/Flickr.

On Wednesday the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research found that for nearly 75 percent of California adolescents, the number of local junk food retailers outnumber healthy ones at least 5 to 1. The findings were revealed just a week after the California FreshWorks Fund announced $200 million to support grocery stores and other healthy food retailers in low-income, underserved communities across the state.

PolicyLink Associate Director Rebecca Flournoy spoke with California Watch‘s Joanna Lin about the study, the FreshWorks initiative, and the importance of improving healthy food access for youth:

A higher percentage of 12- to 17-year olds were not overweight or obese in Nevada and Humboldt counties (about 96 percent) than in Sutter and Sacramento counties (90.3 percent and 91.5 percent, respectively), according to the 2007 California Health Interview Survey.

Such findings do not surprise food policy advocates like Rebecca Flournoy, associate director of the nonprofit PolicyLink.

“This really confirms that yet again, when you look at adolescents and where they live and where they go to school, that access to food really does matter,” she said.

Go here to read California Watch‘s full report on the UCLA study, and be sure to also check out the new PolicyLink  “Healthy Food, Healthy Communities” report fresh off the presses!

This afternoon, First Lady Michelle Obama announced the launch of the California FreshWorks Fund (CFWF), a $200 million public-private partnership loan fund that will support the creation and expansion of grocery stores in underserved areas across the state.

In an op-ed in today’s Roll Call, PolicyLink Founder and CEO Angela Glover Blackwell and National Grocers Association President and CEO Peter Larkin discuss how the national Healthy Food Financing Legislation (HFFI), CFWF, and similar programs across the country can help improve community health and create jobs. Here’s an excerpt:

The federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative — for which the departments of Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury have announced $45 million in available funds — uses federal loan and grant programs to leverage private capital and help grocers and farmers markets open new locations in underserved neighborhoods, providing access to healthy foods and much-needed jobs.

Other innovative approaches are also eligible to get healthy food to communities struggling without any available options. President Barack Obama has proposed $330 million for HFFI in his 2012 budget.

The power of this type of public-private partnership was recently highlighted when the U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., a subsidiary of U.S. Bank, pledged its own commitment to HFFI, announcing that a substantial portion of its New Markets Tax Credit investments will be allocated for fresh food projects in high-need areas.

You can read the entire piece here, as well as this LA Times Letter-to-the-Editor from PolicyLink President Judith Bell on expanding healthy food access. See you in the comments section.

At a White House press conference today, PolicyLink joined First Lady Michelle Obama, Partnership for a Healthier America, The California Endowment and other equity partners to announce the California FreshWorks Fund, a $200 million public-private partnership loan fund that will support the creation and expansion of grocery stores in underserved areas across the state, especially in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

In response to today’s announcement, PolicyLink Founder and CEO Angela Glover Blackwell released the following statement:

“We applaud the First Lady, Partnership for a Healthier America, and The California Endowment for their demonstrated commitment to making the healthy choice the easy choice. Where you live significantly impacts how you live, and yet millions of Americans today do not have neighborhood access to a grocery store. In places where healthy food access has increased, residents’ eating habits have been shown to improve, particularly in low-income areas and communities of color where obesity rates are highest and lack of access is most severe.

“Today’s launch of the California FreshWorks Fund marks a critical step towards breaking down these barriers and improving healthy food access in California. Programs like this, the national Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) – for which President Obama has already allocated $45 million and proposed $330 million in the 2012 budget – and others already running in Pennsylvania, New York, New Orleans, Illinois, and New Jersey not only encourage healthier lifestyles, but help to create more economically-viable communities.

“These kinds of programs also highlight the incredible opportunities for continued public-private collaboration to improve individual and community health. Together, we can secure a stronger, healthier America.”

Join us now in the comments section to share how you think today’s announcement can help inspire similar initiatives across America.

And be sure to check out our Letter-to-the-Editor in today’s Los Angeles Times addressing further the critical need for improved healthy food access.

Last week, a report on findings by the Archives of Internal Medicine asserted that expanded grocery store access does not necessarily a healthier community make.

Today, in an LA Times Letter-to-the-Editor, PolicyLink President Judith Bell explains why the opposite is true – that more access does in fact have a proven impact on people’s health and eating habits:

Eating right

Re “Debunking the supermarket myth,” July 17

The article on an Archives of Internal Medicine study fails to highlight evidence showing that low-income men changed their eating habits when they had greater access to healthful food. This finding echoes what recent studies have repeatedly shown: Increased access to fresh fruits and vegetables in underserved communities changes residents’ eating habits.

One multi-state study found that African Americans increased their produce consumption by 32% and whites increased theirs by 11% when given healthier options.

Most problematic is that the report’s data are from 1985-2001, before obesity became a

21st century national epidemic. It doesn’t capture the dramatic decline of grocery stores in low-income areas and communities of color, where obesity rates are highest.

Comprehensive strategies are needed to combat America’s obesity crisis. Expanding access to fresh food is one of them.

Judith Bell

Oakland

The writer is president of the nonprofit advocacy group PolicyLink.

Have thoughts on other ways to encourage healthier eating habits in underserved areas? Tell us now in the comments section.

Recently, some important questions have been raised around the national Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI), and particularly how it will support local fresh food retailers in expanding healthy food access in their communities.

In response, PolicyLink, The Reinvestment Fund, and The Food Trust have penned a joint op-ed in Grist Magazine highlighting exactly how HFFI will help small grocers, farmer’s markets,  and other independently-owned stores across the country. Here’s a quick peek:

Leaders in the administration and Congress (in partnership with outside advocacy and community groups) have been diligent in figuring out what has worked — and bringing those proven policies to a national scale. The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative (FFFI) has served as the model for the Obama administration’s efforts. The Pennsylvania program began in 2004, taking a $30 million state investment that has now helped develop 88 new or expanded fresh food outlets, leveraged a total of $190 million in total project costs, and created or saved more than 5,000 jobs.

Every project backed by the FFFI was an independent grocer, a farmers market, a co-operative, a public market with many farmers represented, or a small corner store. And, perhaps most importantly, more than 400,000 people now have access to healthy food who didn’t before.

Visit here to read the full piece – and don’t forget to head over to the comments section and let us know your thoughts on how HFFI will help build stronger, healthier communities.

In a very comprehensive and insightful way, Fair Food examines the problems of a broken food system, and puts forth bold – and doable – strategies to redesign a system that is healthy for people, communities, and the environment.

According to its author, Oran Hesterman, this redesigned system requires looking at bigger, systems-level solutions.  From providing healthier food in school cafeterias and creating farmers’ markets to demanding that policy makers and industry leaders work to provide affordable, nutritious food, Hesterman lays out a number of options to create a healthy, sustainable food system.

Fair Food is divided into three parts:

Part I introduces the current food system, how and why it evolved as it did, and the ways in which it no longer serves the nation well. Starting with the chapter that describes the system and its dysfunctions,  Hesterman takes the reader on a journey to understand the food system in its entirety:  from production, to processing, to distribution, to retail sales, to consumption, with the goal of understanding the lifecycle of a single crop – essentially, from field to fork.

Part II describes four key principles a redesigned food system should embody and offers examples of how various individuals and organizations have started to integrate these principles into their enterprises; all with the goal of providing inspiring new models for producers and consumers, businesses and communities. Chapters range from the benefits of multi-sector partnerships to the incorporation of green economy principles.

Lastly, Part III offers a practical guide to how citizens can participate in collective action to precipitate big changes in our food system, from the kitchen to the community; and at local, state and federal levels – or to put it plainly, from the state house to the White House.

Fair Food brings a wealth of insight into the way we can improve the health and well-being of our nation.  It is, indeed, an impressive – and achievable – roadmap.

• Read Advance Praise for Fair Food
• Check out Tour Dates
• Download Press Release

For additional information, go to www.fairfoodbook.org.

It has been a big few weeks for the federal efforts to bring healthy food to underserved communities.

In his FY 2012 budget request, President Obama proposed $330 million for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which would support more healthy food retail in under-served communities. We are thrilled to see that HFFI continues to be a priority for the Obama administration.

We will keep you posted and ask for your support as Congress reviews the budget proposal this Spring. The funding breaks down like this:

• $35 million through USDA’s Office of the Secretary, with additional “other funds of Rural Development and the Agricultural Marketing Service available to support the USDA’s portion of the Healthy Food Financing Initiative”
• $25 million through the Treasury Department’s CDFI Fund
• $250 million through the Treasury Department’s New Markets Tax Credits Program
• $20 million through HHS through the Departments Community Economic Development program

The White House Wants Your Stories!

The White House is continuing its commitment to healthy food access by seeking your stories ”to help communities think differently and creatively about how they can braid Federal funds to catalyze and drive a core set of results for revitalizing neighborhoods, and to help Federal agencies identify barriers that might prevent Federal funds from being used to maximum impact.”

Please send your suggestions to NRI@ed.gov (and cc rebecca@policylink.org). Deadline for submissions is March 25.

Also we are excited to see a new joint website from USDA, Treasury, and HHS to address access to healthy food, highlighting existing resources and encouraging local groups to form partnerships to apply for a range of these funds.

Please contact Rebecca@policylink.org if you have any questions.

For those interested in submitting ideas to the White House, here’s some instructions direct from them:

The Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative (NRI)

The NRI aims to support the transformation of distressed neighborhoods into neighborhoods of opportunity—places that provide the opportunities, resources, and environments that children, youth, and adults need to reach their full potential. The initiative’s work is based on a theory of change which maintains that an integrated, coordinated effort is required to increase the quality of neighborhood (1) educational and developmental, (2) commercial, (3) recreational, (4) physical, and (5) social assets. It is expected that these efforts, when sustained by local leadership over an extended period, will improve resident well-being and community quality of life.

The NRI is led by the White House, and currently includes significant participation by the Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Justice, and Treasury. For more on the NRI, please see http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/09/21/transforming-distressed-neighborhoods-neighborhoods-opportunity.

Interagency Policy Brief

The NRI is developing an interagency policy brief that will highlight promising neighborhood revitalization efforts across the nation.  The purpose of the brief is two-fold: to help communities think differently and creatively about how they can braid Federal funds to catalyze and drive a core set of results for revitalizing neighborhoods, and to help Federal agencies identify barriers that might prevent Federal funds from being used to maximum impact.

As part of this effort, we are hoping to identify examples and models of successful neighborhood revitalization efforts that the government – and other communities – can learn from. A selection of these examples will be highlighted later this year in an event and on the White House website.

If your organization would like to share examples of promising practices, please send a brief response that addresses the following questions to NRI@ed.gov.

• How have you used funding from multiple Federal programs to successfully pursue neighborhood revitalization?  It would be helpful if your response addressed one or more of these factors:

o The specific neighborhood revitalization goals you were pursuing. Examples include: improved educational outcomes from cradle to career; enhanced labor force participation; poverty reduction; infrastructure improvements such as parks, housing, and transportation; community building; increased public safety; new economic development; and improved public health.

o The types of State, local, and private funding, combined with Federal funding, used to support these efforts.

o Your efforts to align or braid these programs or funds to achieve maximum impact on neighborhood revitalization.

o The impact of any waivers to Federal regulations you received.

• What factors have limited your ability to use Federal programs or funds to successfully pursue neighborhood revitalization?
• How have you developed your organization’s capacity to design and implement neighborhood revitalization efforts?
• What additional Federal support is needed to facilitate successful neighborhood revitalization efforts?  How should that support be structured?

Please limit your response to no more than three pages. Responses received by March 25, 2011 will receive full consideration. Thank you for your assistance with this important effort to transform distressed neighborhoods into neighborhoods of opportunity.

Who says DC can’t work across the aisle anymore? Check out this great new bipartisan jobs and health bill!

Media Contact:

Janet Dickerson

janet@policylink.org

(510) 421-4157

Bipartisan “Healthy Food Financing” Bills Would Create Jobs and Cut Childhood Obesity

Business leaders, community advocates applaud effort to

open fresh food stores in “food deserts”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 30, 2010, Washington, D.C. – A bipartisan coalition in the House and Senate today introduced bills that will invest $500 million to dramatically reduce the number of low-income Americans living in so-called “food deserts” – all while helping combat the childhood obesity crisis nationwide and potentially creating or preserving 44,500 full-time jobs and 50,000 construction jobs.

The Healthy Food Financing Initiative would leverage private investment through federal loans and grants to create or expand fresh food outlets in underserved communities.  The initiative’s public-private partnership would also provide a market-based approach to address the obesity crisis in these communities, where nearly 1 in 3 children and adolescents are overweight or obese.

An estimated 25 million Americans have limited access to a nearby full-service supermarket selling fresh foods.  Access to healthy food is associated with lower risk for obesity and other diet-related chronic diseases, according to The Grocery Gap, a 2010 report by PolicyLink and The Food Trust. The loans and grants from the Healthy Food Financing Initiative would help supermarkets and other fresh food retailers open new stores or expand their fresh food offerings in low-income rural, suburban and urban areas.

The Senate lead sponsor is Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), with co-sponsors Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Carper (D-DE), Bob Casey (D-PA), Tom Harkin  (D-IA), Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ), Bernie Sanders (I-VT) , Chuck Schumer (D-NY), Arlen Specter (D-PA), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI). The House lead sponsor is Rep. Allyson Schwartz (D-PA-13), with co-sponsors Michael Burgess (R-TX-26), Earl Blumenauer (D-OR-3), Chaka Fattah (D-PA-2), Nydia Velazquez (D-NY-12), and Bobby L. Rush (D-IL-1)

“Obesity and diabetes rates are reaching crisis proportions in our country and it is time to take aggressive action,” said Sen. Gillibrand, who, as the first New Yorker to serve on the Senate Agriculture Committee in nearly 40 years, is helping lead the fight in the Senate to combat child obesity and promote good health.  “Millions of New Yorkers do not have access to fresh, healthy food.  By building new grocery stores in underserved areas across the state we can give people the opportunity to live longer, healthier lives, save billions in health care costs, and create tens of thousands of good-paying jobs.”

“Americans living in some communities face substantive challenges accessing fresh foods and lack the opportunity to make healthy food choices for themselves and their family,” said Republican Rep. Michael C. Burgess, (TX), one of the few medical doctors serving in the House. “This legislation will stimulate the economy by bringing jobs to some of the hardest hit areas while also providing and encouraging healthy eating – choices which will combat disease and increase the quality of life.  The coupling of these two initiatives will benefit families, communities and the country as a whole.

The initiative is modeled after the highly successful Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, which turned $30 million of state seed money into $190 million of additional investment since it began in 2004 – creating or retaining over 5,000 jobs and opening 88 new or improved fresh food stores throughout the state.

“We have a growing epidemic of obesity in this country, especially with our children, and providing healthy food options in underserved rural, urban and suburban areas will improve the health of our families and reduce health disparities,” said Rep. Allyson Schwartz (PA-13), the bill’s lead sponsor in the House. “This initiative is an important public-private partnership that as we continue to rebuild our economy will create steady jobs at decent wages, as well improve our communities and revitalize our neighborhoods.”

President Obama proposed $345 million to fund the initiative in the FY 2011 budget. Congressional appropriators have been receptive to that funding request thus far. The bill introduced today would authorize USDA to administer a mix of loans and grants to provide one-time start-up assistance for supermarkets, corner stores, co-ops, and farmers’ markets. In the Pennsylvania effort, projects were completed in as little as four months from the time funding became available.

“Independent grocers are uniquely positioned to help eradicate food deserts, in part because of their ability to adjust individual projects to the needs of the local community, as well as their strong commitment to the communities which they serve,” said Peter J. Larkin, President and CEO of the National Grocers Association (NGA). “The Healthy Food Financing Initiative is an important piece of legislation that will go a long way towards eliminating food deserts while adding quality jobs and tax revenue directly to those local communities. N.G.A. and our members look forward to working with Congress to quickly pass this important legislation, and to continuing efforts to eliminate food deserts across the country.”

“By supporting new supermarkets and healthy food retailers, we can spur economic development, support our farmers, and increase access to Michigan-grown options for families,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, incoming Chairwoman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. “The bipartisan Healthy Food Financing Initiative will do just that by creating partnerships between USDA and businesses to serve communities across the country.”

High start-up costs or limited access to credit often prevent local grocery owners from opening new outlets in underserved communities, even though many grocery stores that have recently opened in “food deserts”  have proven very successful. The initiative would help grocery owners meet the pent up demand in these communities while also serving the health needs of those communities.

“Every family should be able to access nutritious, healthy food near their homes,” said Judith Bell, President of PolicyLink, a national research and advocacy organization. “The bills introduced today could help millions of Americans eat healthier and, in turn, live longer. Too many low-income people live far from a fresh food store – either in cities or suburbs that have lost supermarkets or in rural areas that never had them to begin with. This idea is ripe – it’s time to harvest it.”

“The Healthy Food Financing Initiative is an opportunity to build healthier communities throughout the country,” said Yael Lehmann, Executive Director of The Food Trust. “By encouraging supermarket development, this initiative will bring much-needed jobs and affordable, nutritious food to communities where parents struggle to find healthy food for their children.”

“Today’s bill is a powerful response to the problem of inadequate access to healthy, affordable food for millions of Americans,” said Jeremy Nowak, President and CEO of The Reinvestment Fund. “Supermarket and grocery stores are part of the basic amenities every community must have. They represent more than healthy food choices – they are also about jobs and community revitalization.”

To learn more about the Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative, please contact Patricia Smith, Senior Policy Advisor, The Reinvestment Fund at patricia.smith@trfund.com, or John Weidman, Deputy Director, The Food Trust at jweidman@thefoodtrust.org.

For more information on the federal Healthy Food Financing Initiative, please visit www.PolicyLink.org/HFFI or contact Janet Dickerson, Press Secretary, PolicyLink at janet@policylink.org.

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Today, PolicyLink, the Brookings Institution, and The Reinvestment Fund (TRF) hosted a special webinar looking at the data behind the food access crisis in America – and what we can do about it.

This webinar featured new research conducted by Brookings, in collaboration with TRF, on the lack of access to supermarkets in 10 large U.S. metropolitan areas, ranging from Little Rock to Los Angeles. Nationwide food access data is also available on TRF’s PolicyMap.com.

Featured speakers were:

Rebecca Flournoy, Associate Director, PolicyLink Center for Health and Place

Alan Berube, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution’s Metropolitan Policy Program

Ira Goldstein, Director of Policy Solutions at The Reinvestment Fund

Click the image below to watch the full webinar:

In today’s Sacramento Bee (the most influential paper in the California state capital), PolicyLink President Judith Bell laid out the case for passing AB 2720, the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative. Read a selection below and click here to read the full piece:

California is reeling from two seemingly unrelated crises – the economic downturn and the obesity epidemic. The former has tossed millions of Californians from their homes and jobs. The latter is threatening to make this the first generation of Americans to live shorter lives than their parents.

But there may be a solution to both – one many of us pass by every day without thinking.

The answer: supermarkets.

With some of the highest joblessness and obesity rates, low-income communities and communities of color are being hit first and worst. These are also the communities with the least access to fresh, nutritious food.

There is an exciting effort gaining steam in Sacramento that would help significantly. The California Healthy Food Financing Initiative – Assembly Bill 2720 sponsored by Assembly Speaker John A. Pérez, D-Los Angeles – would set up a program to help grocers and farmers markets open new locations in underserved neighborhoods and help existing corner stores expand to stock more fresh food.

Read more: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/08/24/2977784/bill-would-deliver-fresh-food.html#ixzz0xXc6pHpl