Strategic Alliance Newsletter
May 2012
We'll Be There, Will You? ENACT Day 2012
We’re getting ready for Strategic Alliance’s upcoming ENACT Nutrition and Activity Day on May 16th in Sacramento. We’ll be joined by community members, advocacy organizations, and other health and equity stakeholders to educate policymakers about opportunities to improve California’s food and activity environments. The ENACT DAY Agenda focuses on integrating health and equity in transportation planning, improving healthy nutrition environments by removing sports drinks, reducing stigma from school lunch participation, and protecting Fitness Gram testing in schools.
For those who can’t make it to Sacramento, we invite you to follow us on Twitter (@strat_alliance) to join us virtually for updates on the day’s events. We’ll be live-tweeting throughout the day—using the hashtag #ENACT2012. Follow the conversation as we share facts about our featured issue areas, tips on how to effectively communicate with legislators, and our experiences at our State Capitol.
And we want to hear from you, too! What do food, activity, and transportation environments look like in your community? Are you working on efforts to improve the environments where you live, work, play, and learn? Use the #ENACT2012 hashtag to join the conversation. Together, we’ll use this day to build momentum for healthy, equitable environments, and make the case that investing in health and safety now will benefit us all.
(Photo: Enact Day 2011 participants warming up for the day's events. Image courtesy of California Food Policy Advocates.)
Eye On Industry
Food companies are working overtime to ensure their nutritionally poor products are easily accessible everywhere—from hospitals to schools. Read about the ways in which industry is finding its way into institutions, and how some organizations are pushing back and standing up for health. Click here to read more.
Local Spotlight: Joint Use Agreement Brings Wellness Center and Community Garden to South LA
A new Wellness Center and Community Garden are coming to South LA, thanks to a joint venture between the Los Angeles Unified School District, the Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, and UMMA, the University Muslim Medical Association Community Clinic. Click here to read more about this collaborative effort to create safe places to play and healthy food access for South LA youth and their families.
New Resources
It’s been over ten years since the Strategic Alliance first convened to shift the public debate on food and physical activity away from a primary focus on personal responsibility, and toward the roles that corporate and government practices have on the places where people live, work, play, and learn. Our newest document, A Decade of Advocacy: The Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food and Activity Environments, highlights the milestones we’ve achieved as an Alliance, shares the roadmap and unique network structure that has guided our work, and outlines key future priorities as we continue to build a steady drumbeat for equitable policy and environmental changes. Learn more and read the full document.
Click here for more new resources, including creating healthy spaces in LA county, developing regional food hubs, and prioritizing Safe Routes to School infrastructure projects.
Peggy Agron to Lead Healthy School Initiatives at Kaiser
Strategic Alliance extends a hearty congratulations to one of its founding members, Peggy Agron, as she assumes her new post as the National Director of Healthy School Initiatives at Kaiser Permanente. Peggy brings tremendous vision and leadership to improving food and activity policies, systems, and environments for all Californians.
As Chief of California Project LEAN at the California Department of Public Health, Peggy demonstrated strategic agility as she and her team advanced models for School Wellness Policies, healthy vending, quality physical education, nutritious food, healthy beverages and safe places to be active in schools and communities. With funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Peggy played a major role in shaping the California Obesity Prevention Plan, which guides our State’s action in 6 major goal areas. Most recently, Peggy guided planning and training to support the statewide transition from SNAP-ED to NEOP (Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention) under the new USDA Guidelines that will allow local jurisdictions—primarily counties and regions—to place a greater focus on comprehensive community-based initiatives that will especially support our most nutritionally vulnerable Californians. Congratulations, Peggy!
Upcoming Events
Visit Strategic Alliance’s full Events page for more details on these and other upcoming events.
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network's Biennial Conference
Voices for Change: Uniting for Health
June 13, 2012
Los Angeles, CA
Click here for more information.
Sugary Drinks Summit
Presented by the Center for Science in the Public Interest
June 7-8, 2012
Washington, D.C.
Learn more here.
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