By following a few simple steps, you can create your own customized action plan built on the same goals, strategies, and activities that form the foundation for the Nebraska Physical Activity and Nutrition State Plan.

 

First convened by ConAgra Foods Foundation in December 2009, Hunger Free Heartland has grown to include representation from more than 50 businesses, charitable and community organizations, including education, health care and social service groups, and government representatives. We are uniting behind a common purpose to end childhood hunger in Douglas, Sarpy, Pottawattamie counties and Nebraska.

 

Hunger Free Heartland exists to be a catalyst for change, leveraging existing strengths and focusing on systemic solutions to end childhood hunger through connecting and collaborating.

 

At the core of our strategy to end childhood hunger in the tri-county region and across Nebraska are three goals:

• Raise awareness and knowledge of available programs, healthy food choices and how to maximize the use of limited resources.
• Strengthen community and legislative action around solutions to hunger and obesity.
• Improve access to Federal nutrition assistance programs among eligible families with children who are not receiving benefits.

 

Currently, Hunger Free Heartland is addressing access to healthier foods in schools by implementing the Nebraska School Breakfast Challenge to increase participation in School Breakfast Programs; helping to generate awareness for summer meals across the State of Nebraska and increase participation in the program; partnering with Food Bank for the Heartland and the Salvation Army to implement Kids Cruisin' Kitchen to deliver hot meals to underserved children in Omaha; and helping to fund and promote the Community Market Basket to increase awareness for the incentive programs that are available to SNAP recipients if they shop at the Omaha Farmer's Market locations or purchase a Community Market Basket.

 

To learn more about Hunger Free Heartland, visit www.hungerfreeheartland.org.

 

       

  

 

USDA Releases Food Hub Resource Guide
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) worked with national and regional partners to study food hubs and create the recently released Regional Food Hub Guide. The guide presents a series of key questions about the current state of food hub development and examples from operating food hubs. It describes dozens of funding opportunities and other resources, best practices, and additional strategies for anyone interested in developing regional food hubs.

 
Menu Labeling Webinar May 16

The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), the Food Marketing Workgroup, and the National Policy & Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN) are sponsoring a webinar on May 16 from 2:30 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. CST focused on menu labeling policies and consumer food choices. The federal menu labeling law, passed in 2010, requires chain restaurants with 20 or more locations to provide calorie labeling on menus and menu boards. Hear an update on the status of the national menu labeling regulations, see what states have done to keep the momentum going, and get recommendations for how to promote restaurant labeling to help consumers make healthier choices. Click here to register. 

 

Bridging the Gap Releases Research Brief on Zoning for Healthy Food Retail

Zoning for Healthy Food Access Varies by Community Income explores characteristics of local zoning policies that may be influencing the local food environment. Using a policy audit tool developed for the study, the researchers looked for the presence of permitted use (including licensing, conditional use, permitted "as a right") for a variety of food outlets, including supermarkets, grocery stores, fast-food restaurants, convenience stores, farmers' markets, produce stands, fruit and vegetable carts, mobile food vendors, and urban agriculture.  

 

 

Eighty percent of American voters favor national standards that would limit calories, fat, and sodium in snacks and a la carte foods sold in U.S. schools and encourage the consumption of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy items, according to a new poll commissioned by the Kids' Safe & Healthful Foods Project, a joint project of The Pew Charitable Trusts and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. 

 

In-street Bicycle Parking: What, When, Where and How Much? Webinar May 16 

Increasingly communities face the dilemma of bicycles and pedestrians competing for scarce sidewalk space. This webinar from 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. CST will address these challenges with examples of successful in-street bicycle parking projects. Presenters will also define best practices for providing bicycle parking in the street and discuss how a program might progress, beginning with public process and moving through costs, installation, and maintenance. Register here.

 

 

Physical Activity for Students with Physical Disabilities Webinar May 23

With limited opportunities within the school setting to participate in extracurricular and intramural sport and recreation programs, it is essential that PE and APE teachers understand the importance and process of linking students with disabilities to community programs. "Active For Life: Linking Students with Disabilities to Community Programs" will be held from 1:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. CST on Wednesday, May 23, and will discuss how to help students with physical disability connect with and engage in community sport and recreational opportunities in order to lead a healthy and active lifestyle. Reserve your Webinar seat now.

 

 

Resources Promoting Stairwells as Settings for Workplace Physical Activity Available

A new set of resources and tools developed by Public Health Law and Policy details to employers the risks and benefits of opening workplace stairwells for physical activity. The resources include research that shows that sedentary living-including working day-long at a desk-can shorten lives, and encourages employers to open stairwells and encourage employees to get more physical activity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Recommendations and Rationale
• Breastfeeding as the Norm for Infant Feeding
• Using the WHO Growth Standard Charts
• Case Examples