Neighborhood Nutrition Centers

Neighborhood Nutrition Centers has joined as a Stakeholder with Building a Healthier Chicago.

Building a Healthier Chicago (BHC) is a collaborative of local and national stakeholders working to strengthen efforts to promote the health of Chicago residents and employees.

Through collaboration BHC promotes and tracks the adoption of selected programs, practices, policies, and supportive environments throughout the worksites, schools, health care organizations, faith based organizations, parks and neighborhoods of Chicago. BHC works with community organizations, academics, health care and government to improve the health of all citizens.

We look forward to a healthy collaboration.

NNCenters participated in the Young Leaders Society of Metro Chicago’s Health & Wellness – Focus on Food Deserts workshop at the K.L.E.O Center in the Washington Park community.

Speakers included:
Pastor Torrey L. Barrett, I
Founder and Executive Director
K.L.E.O. Community Family Life Center

Willie B. Cochran
20th Ward Alderman

Dr. Hsin-Yi Chang
Bariatric Surgeon
Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital

James M. Galloway, M.D., F.A.C.P., F.A.C.C., F.A.H.A.
Assistant U.S. Surgeon General
Regional Health Administrator
Rear Admiral, United States Public Heath Service
Region V, Chicago, Illinois

Emile Pendarvis
Director of Corporate and External Affairs
Centers for New Horizons, Inc.

The morning presented an in-depth overview into the health-related issues, such as the obesity crisis that is invading our communities. Kudos to United Way for promoting workshops such as these, and we look forward to following up with some of the participants – in particular some interesting UofC students that were in our breakout group.

We are pleased to announce that Neighborhood Nutrition Centers has been selected to advance to second round applications for Echoing Green’s fellowship program.  This is a great achievement – in an incredibly competitive field.

Out of 1,100 applicants in the first round, only 350 were chosen to make a second round of bidding. The fellowship would provide two years of scholarship funds ($30,000/yr), which is needed as seed money for advancing our program.

Deadlines are fast approaching, and in February we will be submitting a comprehensive analysis of our program goals and innovative opportunities we plan to provide.

In other news: NNCenters also made a project presentation at the January meeting of the Good Greens in Illinois Collabortion, sponsored by Congressman Bobby Rush and the USDA. The Committee will be selecting two or three projects to support, and we expect an announcement soon.

While we’ve been quiet in the winter months, the project continues to germinate – as we pull together necessary coalitions, and continue to seek funding opportunities.

Your suggestions and support are welcome.

Back in October, we wrote of a lecture given by Frances Moore Lappe. She invited us to purchase an advance copy of her new book LIBERATION ECOLOGY (only 1,000 being published). Our task, for receiving the early copy, is to read and review the book. Such reviews will be read, and parts may be incorporated into a 2nd writing of the book.

You may need to wait for the release – but we’d love permission to print five paragraphs from her book on “The smart-growth farm community.”

Listening to her voice in the book tell of how “it’s about our well being,” gives great excitement for reading the next chapters.

We’ve been remiss in writing here, but as for excuses there have been meetings and grants, and unfortunately, on a personal note, a cat with a broken knee to attend to.

But, we’re back on track, and very happy to report that the “friends and family” fund raising effort started in September has brought in over $3,500.

That’s a great start for Neighborhood Nutrition Centers, and no better place than here and now to say “thanks for giving.”

For the Holidays, please visit our DONATE page.

The first thing to do after returning from Iowa’s Community Food Security Coalition conference was to read Mark Winne’s book “Closing the Food Gap, Resetting the Table in the Land of Plenty” (click here for a link to Amazon). Mr. Winne’s book was a good read and has much to say in the end regarding Race, Class and Privilege.

In this book we were also introduced to Zy Weinberg, and connected the name to the name badge to the face at a workshop on the first floor of the Des Moines convention center. We were attending Mapping Interactions and Discovering Opportunities in Federal Food Programs.

Gray hair, sunken cheeks, and engaging eyes. He took in the room. Zy Weinberg. He and Barbara Vauthier, are the editors of Foodlinks America, a website journal of the TEPAP Alliance. What is TEPAP? Check the link to Foodlinks America above. Zy Weinberg is to be credited with much of where American food policy has been shaped in getting food to people who need food in this country. He is to be thanked.

While perusing the USDA Competitive Grant Program application guidelines, and looking at information on the CFSC website, I came across Zy’s name again, which prompted an e-mail. We look forward to meeting him again when introductions can be made.

Food insecurity is not noticeable by most Americans if the evening party attended this weekend was any indication. Young adults, in the heart of downtown, genuinely oblivious to the fact there are food deserts in the city of Chicago. You would think they would be aware, being Chicagoans themselves.

Everyone has a right to food. Everyone has a right to have access to food. And everyone has a right to have access to food that is healthful. If you don’t, you end up with kids who have diabetes, obesity issues, and potential heart problems. Healthy food is the beginning of the true health care system. By investing in better food in low-income areas we can reduce the strain on the county hospital system and continue to teach healthy preventative measures.

What works? What gets a kid in your neighborhood to eat good food?

United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack

Unexpected to the original conference schedule, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack made an appearance at the breakfast meeting and spoke eloquently about the work of the USDA under the new administration.

Central to the new work is the Know Your Farmer – Know Your Food program (click here for the USDA website).

Key to the address was the “notion of community.” Vilsack spoke of rural communities and the concept of supporting your neighbor. The farmer who loses his barn, or experiences health problems is met with neighbors who raise the barn or put in their neighbor’s crop before their own. As part of the notion of community we must remove the fear of sharing – helping one another.

There was, of course, concerned questioning during the Q&A regarding GMOs. The Secretary posed that there are many sides to this debate, and there are studies that support the opposing side of crop development. Here, a rumble of dissent came from the crowd – and his reception at the end of the Q&A was markedly less enthusiastic than following his prepared remarks.

1995 World Food Prize Laureate Dr. Hans R. Herren

During the Monday evening keynote address Dr. Herren presented a compelling argument to move away from genetically modified seeds for improving our world food supply – to embracing small organic, sustainable farms, moving away from the pesticidal destruction of our soil and improve the health of our growing ability.

The report by the International Assessment of Agricultural Knowledge, Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) on which Dr. Herren based his comments may be viewed here.

On Tuesday morning, following the address by Secretary of Agriculture Vilsack, Dr. Herren was seen presenting the IAASTD report to Secretary Vilsack.

There’s a moment when you realize why you come to a conference. The personal connections lead to information and the workshops, well, they lead to information too.

Today’s most interesting workshop topics were Reinventing Food Distribution without Reinventing the Wheel and Fresh, Local Food for ALL: Increasing Access to and Diversity Within CSA.

We chose the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) workshop, and with great reward. The concept of Neighborhood Nutrition Centers is based on utilizing CSA growers to provide the food to be distributed from the centers. At this workshop, two CSA-use programs were highlighted.

Laura Dowd of the Local Foods Connection presented her organization, which funds CSA purchases to give to families in need – currently serving 33 families and 10 agencies. This model does not charge the family for their food, and pays full price to the growers for produce and food. Ms. Dowd has some interesting aspects of the program whereby participants can complete certain tasks to earn points, to be used for purchasing kitchen equipment in their store. Most new kitchen items are donated from manufacturers or local stores – with some purchased by Local Food Connections.

The other organization, the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition serves families by providing CSA shares at 50% of the growers cost, while still paying growers full price. A majority of this program is paid for by sales of their cook book From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Cooking farm Fresh, Seasonal Produce, and the annual Bike the Barns fundraiser.

We’ve taken a lot of inspiration from this workshop, and may need to consider a trip to Madison to learn more about MACSAC.

And the personal connections? A special shout-out to Elizabet Humble of the Hometown Harvest SE Iowa. Don’t let the cops get you down. Remember, calm and assertive.

Finally, we received notice that Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack will be making a Tuesday morning appearance at the conference. This will be the first time that a cabinet-level person from the administration will be speaking at the Community Food Security Coalition. The importance of this movement is snowballing.

(Did I mention that we had snow in Des Moines on our first morning?)

Dr. Eduardo Sanchez at the CFSC Sunday AM Plenary

Sitting on the morning panel, Dr. Eduardo Sanchez, a member of Blue Cross of Texas, whose name has been mentioned as a possible Surgeon General – and we can see why.

A healthy food system leads to healthy people. He discussed the educational attainment component. Studies show that those who complete 1 year of college education are healthier. He equated this statistic to food in our schools. By providing quality food to our students we can improve their brain power, provide more educational success and affect the health of our nation.

Provide food accessibility through affordability, universal food access, and quality – where it comes from and what’s in it?

Dr. Sanchez also spoke eloquently about doctors receiving fair wages already – and that reforming the wages for our farmers to provide healthy food will be more effective in “universal care.”

His mantra, “Good food, most of the time.”

On to workshops…

During an afternoon workshop session at the Food Policy Council meeting, we participated in Building the Values Chain – Advocating for Personal and Collective Values Panelists: Cynthia Torres, Boulder County Food & Agriculture Policy Council, IATP Food & Society Policy Fellow; Amy Telligman, Graduate Student, University of Colorado Environmental Studies Program

We were asked to rate the following personal values:
- Enlightenment, knowledge, understanding of an issue
- Rectitude, to have ethical standards
- Skill, to have ability
- Affection, to have family, friends and warm community relationships
- Power, access to influence in decision making
- Wealth, to have money or its equivalent, economic viability
- Respect, to show and receive deference
- Well-being, to have health, physical, mental, emotional

Groups were formed and we were asked to collectively rate the values for a group coming together to work on a social issue. Interesting question. The dynamics of the group process led us in many directions, and questions.

Does the term “well-being” mean that you strive to have well-being as a goal of the process, or is well-being a value that is necessary in order for the group to succeed? I maintain that groups can work with those who have lesser qualities of health – and still be a substantial contributor to the group. (some elderly may have less mobility, but have a great wealth of knowledge and experience to contribute. We might get a great idea from from someone who is less mentally well, and should include their ideas, too.)

How would you rate these values?