Food Security for a Stronger Chicago

Post written by Amanda Casas

Amanda is serving with Erie Family Health Center - Humboldt Park as a Health Educator

Serving in various communities throughout Chicago, Chicago Health Corps members often encounter and engage with many people who may be in a situation where food security is a luxury. Food security is the ability to obtain both sufficient quantity and quality of food.

 In a recent study, an estimated 1 in 7 American are food insecure, and surveys have found that this increases to 1 in 2 Americans in some Chicago communities, such as Humboldt Park.

However, many organizations are working together to try to increase food security in Chicago. The Northwest Food Partners Network has been established to help those who need a hand AND to empower citizens to make change in their communities. This network is an alliance of organizations, mostly those with emergency food programs, whose mission is to collaborate to end hunger, improve overall nutrition, and empower community members to build their own food security.

This Alliance helps these organizations to share resources, coordinate food distribution and provide comprehensive programming, so residents can be

part of building sustainable healthy active lives. More information can be found here: 

The Network serves the Humboldt Park, Logan Square, West Town, Hermosa, Avondale, and Belmont Cragin areas. Services offered include:

• hot meals
• WIC centers
• food pantries
• produce mobiles

A few members in our sister Corps, Healthy Communities Corps (HCC), are involved with the Northwest Food Partners Network- click here learn more about their service!

Source: http://blog.premiercg.com/category/its-simple/

Serving a Balanced Education – CVCA’s Food Education Program

Post written by CHC member Chinwe Ntamere

Chinwe serves with the American Cancer Society as a Health Educator

The National School Lunch Program was introduced in 1946¹ as a program that provides breakfast and lunch to children who may otherwise have nothing to eat.  It has become the second largest food program in the U.S., spending $8 billion annually and feeding an average of 30 million children a day^1,2. Recently, some have argued that it lacks in both education and nutritional benefits, citing recent studies linking school lunches with a higher risk of obesity^3,4,5.

At a recent in-service day, Chicago Health Corps and Healthy Communities Corps visited the Chicago Vocational Career Academy (CVCA), where educators promote healthier student lunches, while also expanding student career options. As part of the Chicago Public Schools’ Culinary and Hospitality Career and Technical Education Program, students have the opportunity to gain food service certification and food preparation experience while in school. Students take an active part in creating school lunches that meet their taste, while fitting within the school’s nutritional and budgetary requirements. These are skills that the students can transfer to their own lives, encouraging them to actively think about the role of food in their own health.

David Blackmon, the Executive Director of the CPS Culinary Arts and Hospitality Program, argues that more programs like these should be offered to students, especially in lower income communities where access to healthy foods and job opportunities are limited. By providing students with career skills before college, they have the option of either entering the work world directly after graduation or entering college with a better understanding of what career path they want to follow.

At the Chicago Vocational Career Academy, they believe that all elements of the school day, whether it is the curriculum or lunch menu, should provide the students with tangible life skills. By encouraging active student participation in lunch preparation, they have empowered students to take control of their own health and nutrition, ensuring there are educational opportunities in the debated school lunch program.

1.      Committee on Nutrition Standards for National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs, National Research Council. (2008). Nutrition Standards and Meal Requirements for National School Lunch and Breakfast Programs: Phase I. Proposed Approach for Recommending Revisions. (V. A. Taylor, Ed.) Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. From NAP: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/12512.html

2.      Black, J. (2011, February 24). School Lunch Is Not the Answer: Improving school food is only a small step toward reducing childhood obesity. Retrieved February 9, 2013, from Slate: http://hive.slate.com/hive/time-to-trim/article/school-lunch-is-not-the-answer

3.      RABIN, R. C. (2011, February 4). Childhood: Obesity and School Lunches. Retrieved February 9, 2013, from New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/health/research/08childhood.html?_r=0

4.      Millimet, D., Tchernis, R., & Husain, M. (2010). School Nutrition Programs and the Incidence of Childhood Obesity. Journal of Human Resources , 45 (3), 640-645.

5.      Park, E., & Graziano, M. (Directors). (2010). Lunch Line [Motion Picture]. United States: UJI Films. From UJI Films: http://lunchlinefilm.com/

A Response to the Fat Shaming Debate: an opinion shaped by service

 

Post written by CHC member Casey Strickler

Casey serves at Erie Family Health Center as a Health Educator

For the first time across the globe, more people suffer from over nutrition than from under nutrition. This leads many in our public health community to wonder how we can ensure that the next generation will have an average life span as long as their parents’.

Part of solving any issue is defining the problem. We need to stress physical activity and healthy eating because they are good for every single body—but NOT because our kids are too fat. Recently, some bioethics researchers like Daniel Callahan have been advocating for even more stigmatization against being overweight, arguing that shame and social pressure can work as primary motivators to eat healthy and lose weight. In my opinion though, increased public stigmatization only leads to internalized self-deprecation. Shaming kids and calling them an “epidemic” is going to lower self-esteem, and is not going to reverse increasing trends of hypertension, diabetes, and high cholesterol.

Instead of making kids feel badly about their size, we should focus on providing all kids and their parents with healthy foods, exercise opportunities, and education on how to live healthy lives. Thin or otherwise, if kids never engage in physical activity, never have more than one serving of vegetables per day, and eat fast food three times a week, they will not be healthy.

All kids (and adults) should be active healthy eaters, whether or not they fit society’s definition of "thin." To achieve that goal, we need to incentivize healthy eating the way McDonalds has incentivized the Big Mac by making it accessible, understandable, and tasty. One program, Cooking Matters, aims to do just that. Last week, 18 teenagers showed up at Erie Humboldt Park, where I serve as a Health Educator, for our first class. As we cooked healthy pizzas, teens tested out new cooking skills and tasted new vegetables while learning how to prepare a nutritious and delicious dinner. The goal of the 6-week class is to provide teens with the education and resources to cook healthy meals so that they have the knowledge to make healthy choices throughout their lives.

As I handed out grocery bags filled with all the ingredients needed to make that day’s recipe at home, I asked one kid if he thought people would come back for the second class—“Oh yeah!” he exclaimed. “No one’s going to want to miss this!”

If we can incentivize healthy eating this way, we are on a much better path towards dealing with the real issues of obesity-related illness than we are by labeling it an epidemic of fat kids.

What do you think of fat shaming as a strategy? What other methods can we use to limit obesity-related diseases?