Food and Nutrition
March is National Nutrition Month, so I’ll feature resources that may help your community improve access to healthy food and that describe the impact of that access (or lack of access). The American Dietetic Association is the primary sponsor of National Nutrition Month—the link to the left takes you directly to the ADA’s webpage.
Although this article is a year old, I imagine that unfortunately it’s still true: Obese Americans outnumber the “merely” overweight. In 2005-06, “34 percent of Americans were obese, compared to 32.7 percent who were overweight. Just under 6 percent were “extremely” obese.” Add those numbers up—over 70% of us weigh more than we should!  Last fall the Institute of Medicine released a report, Local Government Actions to Prevent Childhood Obesity. The report includes a number of good ideas communities can use to help address this obesity problem. Many of the suggestions involve improving access to healthy food.  The USDA publishes My Pyramid (formerly known as the food pyramid). They’re in the process of updating it for 2010, but their website contains a number of resources, including games and educational material.
The Department of Health Services’ Nutrition and Physical Activity Program provides statewide leadership to decrease overweight and obesity, increase physical activity and improve nutrition.  The Program and its partners have developed and are implementing the Wisconsin Nutrition and Physical Activity State Plan to accomplish the overall goal of preventing obesity and chronic disease.
The Center for Rural Affairs is a great resource for rural health and community development information-which of course happens to be the subject of this blog. They recently posted information on “federal programs that can be used to support, expand, and update rural grocery stores to help them compete in today’s marketplace.” A previous post described the importance of grocery stores to small towns, including the jobs and taxes they generate. Some of the federal programs described in the post include Rural Business Enterprise grants to assist communities in supporting new, small businesses, and Community Food Projects that help low-income communities meet their nutritional needs.
The Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) sponsors the Agriculture Development and Diversification (ADD) grant program. ADD supports new enterprises and opportunities in the food and agricultural industry through innovation and growth.  The focus is on demonstration projects of new planting and growing methods.  Submit your proposals by March 15. Â
The Sara Lee Foundation awards grants in several areas, including food-related programs. They accept proposals that address one of the Foundation’s areas of interest, including food insecurity and nutrition and healthy lifestyles, from “nonprofits that create collaborative and innovative initiatives focused on fighting hunger.” There is no application deadline.
March 1, 2010
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KJacobson · 
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Tags: Children's Health, Community Development, Grant Opportunities & Assistance, Public Health, Reports and Studies · Posted in: Grant Advice, Reports and Studies
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Rural Health & Community Development » Nutrition, Wellness and Development - March 31, 2010
[...] What, you didn’t know it was National Nutrition Month? Apparently, you don’t read my blog on a regular basis! I thought I’d put up one more post on the topic of nutrition. While the goal of a healthy [...]
Very nice post, it is great how you find useful stuff always.
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