April 15, 2010 02:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time
First Lady Michelle Obama Joins The California Endowment to Announce Building Healthy Communities Initiative
“Healthy Places = Healthy People”
10-Year Program in 14 Urban, Suburban and Rural Communities Across California
$100 Million This Year; Plan is $1 Billion overall;
Success in Targeted Communities to Drive Wide-Scale Change
SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--First Lady Michelle Obama today joined Robert K. Ross, MD, President & CEO of The California Endowment, one of the nation's largest health foundations, to discuss her Let's Move! campaign against childhood obesity and to announce The Endowment's Building Healthy Communities Initiative and its partnership with Let’s Move!
“First Lady Michelle Obama’s leadership on the critical health issue of childhood obesity is making a difference in the lives of children here in California and in the future cost of health care in this state.”
The Endowment's Building Healthy Communities Initiative is a bold new 10-year program that’s determined to transform the health of kids and families in 14 California communities. More than 250 people gathered at New Roots Community Farm in the City Heights neighborhood of San Diego to celebrate the announcement. City Heights is one of the 14 selected communities.
“The `Building Healthy Communities' initiative is based on a simple idea – that healthy children come from healthy environments,” said First Lady Michelle Obama. “If a family lives in a neighborhood with a grocery store nearby, they’re more likely to put fresh fruits and vegetables on the table. If there’s a safe, inviting park down the street, parents are more likely to let their kids play there after school or on weekends. And if our environment is clean and pollution-free, children are less likely to get sick and more likely to spend time outside. The Building Healthy Communities initiative is all about giving people the tools they need to make healthy choices for themselves and their families.”
The Farm is a 2.3 acre project of the International Rescue Committee that helps more than 80 farmers grow healthy produce for their families and neighbors. Before making remarks, Dr. Ross and First Lady Obama toured the farm and met with two farmers. Mrs. Obama also met with Building Healthy Communities representatives from each of the 14 targeted areas.
“The First Lady’s attention on the issue of obesity and the health of our children has put rocket fuel under the very issue that The California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities is designed to address. Where we live profoundly affects our health, it determines the quality of our lives and those of our children,” Dr. Ross said. “Simply put: if we can make our places healthier, we will make our people healthier.”
Dr. Ross noted that, according to an Alameda County Public Health Department report, people in the Oakland Hills are likely to live 14 years longer than those in West Oakland.
TCE Board Chair Tessie Guillermo said, “First Lady Michelle Obama’s leadership on the critical health issue of childhood obesity is making a difference in the lives of children here in California and in the future cost of health care in this state.”
The Building Healthy Communities Initiative is the result of years of work by The Endowment and its grantees that determined:
If unhealthy places can make people sick, then healthy places can contribute to their health.
The people who live and work in a neighborhood know what's wrong, know what needs to be fixed and, if given training and support, can take action to fix what needs to be fixed.
Sick people cost more money to treat than healthy people.
The California Endowment has dedicated almost all of its grant-making over the next 10 years, starting with $100 million this year, to the Building Healthy Communities Initiative.
Through the initiative, The Endowment and its local partners will carefully assess communities to identify areas for improvement and make needed changes. Local actions may include:
Getting healthy foods into schools, where under-served kids get most of their nutrition.
Identifying parks that need better lighting to enhance safety.
Working to reduce the exposure of children to the exhaust from nearby freeways.
Securing funding for bike lanes to promote fitness during commutes.
Providing access to education and services that reduce tobacco, alcohol and drug use.
Recruiting career mentors to promote economic opportunity for young people.
Ensuring every child has a health home -- a health practitioner or clinic that knows them.
The results could be remarkable:
Easy access to large supermarkets is associated with lower obesity prevalence and adolescent body mass index (BMI) in adolescents.
If neighborhoods have five parks or other places to play, kids odds of being obese decrease 25 percent and their odds of getting the recommended amount of physical activity increase 20 percent.
According to the Trust for America's Health, an investment of just $10 dollars per person per year to increase physical activity, improve nutrition and prevent tobacco use could, within 5 years, save California $1.7 billion and the entire nation more than $16 billion annually.
The Endowment will use the successes achieved in the 14 targeted communities to influence leaders and grassroots efforts alike to drive wide-scale adoption of the Building Healthy Communities approach and create a new shared vision of health – one in which a healthy community is the foundation for a better life and brighter future.
The initiative targets urban, suburban and rural communities across California:
The City Heights community of San Diego,
Coachella and Thermal in Eastern Riverside County,
Central Santa Ana,
Central Long Beach,
Boyle Heights, in East Los Angeles,
Targeted sections of South Los Angeles,
South Kern County,
Central and West Fresno,
Southwest Merced and East Merced County,
South Sacramento,
East Salinas,
East Oakland,
Richmond and
Del Norte County.
Planning grants were given out June 1, 2009 and grants to begin the Building Healthy Communities change efforts will be released this year as each community plan is accepted and formalized.
Note to Editors: Stills/footage of First Lady, Dr. Ross farm tour & remarks avail; Opportunities in targeted communities also avail
is time because the plan is finally in place for a $10 million effort, financed by the California Endowment, to help bring about changes in East Salinas — changes in health care and crime-prevention programs.
It's time because another major anti-gang initiative, Ceasefire, is in place and may be able to persuade some of the brighter gangsters that their time is over.
It is time because the momentum has shifted, because the state and federal governments are again putting real money and resources into the fight. The soft approaches and the tough approach are in play, all at the same time.
It is time because the politicians have invested themselves in the outcome. Attorney General Jerry Brown, who was talking tough at a Salinas news conference Thursday, has a strong chance of becoming California's next governor. The political opposition will be well positioned to use it against him if violence flares again in Salinas.
It is time because the people of Salinas, the families, the businesses, the teachers, the kids, have had enough of the violence, the bad publicity, the costs, the tension that gang violence has brought to this otherwise fine and normal community.
It is time for the people to take back their city, once and for all.
FOLLOWUP WITH THE SIGNAGE
1. plant the walnut tree in New Roots Garden.
event to be scheduled....
Biosmart's Anthony Russo is a sustainability expert who is helping
200 small farming families in Asia through making this
wonderful alternative to styrofoam. Biosmart compost friendly
take out ware are made of sugar cane bagasse,
a byproduct that could be a waste. Through his efforts,
we know have an industry creating a wonderful green solution.
Anthony is Keep the Beet Media Star's lead on her "The End of
Stryofoam" campaign. His pots are the centerpiece of our planting
program with kids, and kids of all ages. We plant the beet seeds
in these pots, and prefer Foxfarm soil as the base.
Ordering the product at this link
helps support the Plant Your Dream Blog and
my many Non-profit projects,
including the new Diaglogue on Science, Ethics, and Food.
I just met Tina Koenemann
from Westbridge.
She tells me her company is often just called
Westbridge. Westbridge is short
for Westbridge Agricultural Products.
Her company manufactures Organic Liquid
Plant Nutrients, surfactants.
Tina is a cosponsor of the Dialogue on
Science, Ethics, and Food. She is also co-sponsoring
the Hamilton High Enchanted Garden Project, my own
contribution to the Hamilton High School garden now
in progress.
CERTIFIED NUTS! TERRA BELLA RANCH's YUMMY OFFERING
I have been admiring the products of Terra Bella Ranch at our Hillcrest Farmers' Market for weeks I enjoy their certified Organic Nuts.
Watch the Youtube here!!!!
HILLCREST FARMERS' MARKET
SUNDAYS 9 AM-2 PM
at the San Diego DMV!!!!
Come see me most Sundays for a tour at 11 AM.
Meet the the JR Organic Stall across from the music.
Call me 619.384.2631 on my cell to find me.
CITY FARMERS NURSERY,
The place to go in San Diego
for a wonderful outing! Spent time with
one of San Diego's most delightful City Farmers,
Bill Tall and staff. Outlet for Exotica Rare Fruit Nursery
Trees, herbs, berries, and flowers. A favorite hangout
for Keep the Beet Media Star, The World's First Talking Beet Plant.
A place to come and Get Away with Being a Kid!!!
4832 Home Avenue (@ Euclid Ave) San Diego, CA USA 92105
Directions
Monday-Saturday, 9am-5pm
NOW OPEN Sunday 9am-3pm
(619) 284-6358 http://www.CityFarmersNursery.com
PLANT YOUR DREAM BEET KEEPER BEET GROWERS
"We are all growing in the same pot,"
says Keep the Beet Media Star, The World's First Talking Beet Plant.
LESLIE GOLDMAN AKA YOUR ENCHANTED GARDENER
I am here helping by 11 AM every Sunday I am in town.
Call me for a tour to meet the Beet Keeper Farmers,
619.384.2631. With Water shortages and pressing
needs of local organic farmers, help us make sure that
every unit of food grown by Beet Keeper Beet Growers
goes where it is intended--your tummy!
JR ORGANICS, Joe Rodriguez Jr, and family.
Visit them at the Sunday Hillcrest Farmers; Market
9 AM- 2 PM every Sunday. http://www.jrorganicsfarm.com/about/
SAGE MOUNTAIN FARM and INLAND EMPIRE CSA,
Phil and Juany Noble, Justin Noble, and helpers.
Visit them at the Hillcrest Farmers' Market and many'
other locations.
HERE is ONE OF OUR BEET KEEPER GROWERS
PHIL NOBLE OF SAGE MOUNTAIN FARM
BEING INTERVIEWED. View KEEP THE BEET
MEDIA STAR, THE WORLD's FIRST TALKING BEET PLANTS.
BARRY LOGAN, La Milpa Organica Farm Community.
Hillcrest Farmers' Market every Sunday.
Potluck, third Sunday of the month at the farm.
We come together.
ROOT YOUR DREAM GATHERINGS
at the ENCHANTED GARDEN INTENTIONAL COMMUNITY
4-7 PM, near SDSU, May 1, and generally once a month,
the last Sunday. RSVP only please, .
Email me or my cell if you need to be in touch,
619.384.2631. Please garden here.
Rooms coming available this summer and fall.
Waiting list.
KEEP THE BEET MEDIA STAR
THE WORLD'S FIRST TALKING BEET PLANT
LIVES HERE
Profile, Barry Logan, La Milpa Organic Farm Community Founder,
our keynote speaker Sunday afernoon. Meet Barry at the Hillcrest
Farmers' Market each Sunday. Buy all the food he and
all our treasured local, organic farmers grow. Eat up
and make sure the next person is eating well too.
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