Traditional transportation policy has been crafted to move cars faster and further. Missing from the equation is how transportation, or lack thereof, affected people’s quality of life: their health, their opportunities and their vitality.

The consequences of these policies are felt today with high levels of air pollution, injury, and lack of access to critical goods and services. Also, given our focus on cars, non-automobile related transportation options have been neglected; a lack of walking and biking infrastructure such as sidewalks, crosswalks and bike paths have added to the alarming increase in obesity in the U.S. All of these impacts are felt particularly strongly in low-income communities and communities of color adding to rampant health disparities in our nation.

The Transportation Prescription: Bold New Ideas for Healthy, Equitable Transportation Reform in America, a report by PolicyLink and Prevention Institute, commissioned by the Convergence Partnership, is a policy guide that analyzes the intersection of transportation, health and equity. This report provides key policy and program recommendations that can improve health outcomes in vulnerable communities, create economic opportunity, and enhance environmental quality.

This report also features a foreword by Rep. Jim Oberstar, Chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and one of the primary authors of the upcoming federal transportation bill -an over $500 billion investment that will set transportation policy and funding in the United States for approximately the next six years.

“For too long now, our transportation decision-making has failed to address the impacts that our infrastructure network has on public health and equity,” Rep. Oberstar said. “The asphalt poured and lane miles constructed enhanced our mobility and strengthened our economic growth; but too often, this auto-centric mindset took hold and crowded out opportunities to invest in a truly sustainable inter-modal transportation system, in particular a system that meets the needs of underserved communities.”

A recent court ruling has halted plans for Chevron Corp’s  oil refinery upgrade in Richmond, CA.Contra Costa County Superior Court Judge Barbara Zuniga sided with community and environmental activists—stating that the “project description (in Chevron’s environmental impact report) is unclear and inconsistent as to whether the project will or will not enable Chevron to process a heavier crude slate than it is currently processing.”

According to the Tr-Valley Herald:

“The West County Toxics Coalition of Richmond and Communities for a Better Environment and the Asian Pacific Environmental Network, both of Oakland, sued the city and Chevron in September. The groups have argued the project could increase pollution in the area and endanger locals, and that the city-approved environmental document failed to analyze and mitigate all potential impacts.

“This could have increased pollution in Richmond and surrounding areas,” attorney Will Rostov, representing the environmental groups, said in a written statement.

This is a huge victory in protecting our communities from additional toxic emissions and global warming pollution. It is also an opportunity for Chevron to halt its plan to refine dirtier crude oil and invest in local clean green energy as a solution to protect our health.”

I must say I felt hopeful when I came across a recent article in The Nation, introducing some of the interesting work that environmental advocate Kim Thompson-Gaddy, along with other city and state officials are bringing to the table.

I have no doubt that the residents of Newark, particularly the children—many whom suffer disproportionally from asthma—are ready for a cleaner Newark, with more green space, and the promise of green jobs which could help revive the local economy.

Newark Mayor Cory Booker, said it best, when stating that “Newark’s success in bringing its green vision to life will be measured largely by whether it can provide a pathway out of poverty.”

And though Newark still  has a long way to go before this vision is realized—at least they are making progress…

Here are some highlights mentioned in The Nation piece:

Newark Mayor Cory Booker will soon announce that Thompson-Gaddy will chair a new environmental commission to make Newark a model green city;

Trenton Mayor Douglas Palmer convened his own green steering committee and used his position as president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors to place global warming atop the urban agenda;

The City of Newark, the Garden State Alliance for a New Economy, and the Laborers International Union’s eastern region organizing fund have launched a 6-week Green Jobs Construction Training Initiative;      

Newark and the Greater Newark Conservancy are working on a prisoner re-entry program that will creat 128 jobs in its first year;

And the Apollo Alliance recently led Newark’s Green Future Summit where they estimated that 57, 228 jobs can be created in NJ by giving the state $3.2 billion of a proposed national Green Economic Recovery program

 “Creating jobs—green or otherwise—in cities like Newark and Trenton is largely a question of resources, says Alan Berube, research director of the Metropolitan Policy Program at the Brookings Institution…the greatest potential for new resources to devote to such projects lies in the stimulus package being hammered out in Washington.”

TIME has just named their “2008 Heroes of the Environment,” which profiles 32 environmentalists. The group includes: world leaders, moguls, entrepreneurs, scientists, and activists.

Mentioned in the article are: Van Jones, co-founder and President of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights in California, who also founded Green For All, a national organization dedicated to building a robust green economy aimed to lift people out of poverty; and Alice Waters, a chef and champion for promoting locally-grown and fresh ingredients. Waters started The Edible Schoolyard project at Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School in Berkeley, CA, which provides urban public school students with a one-acre organic garden and a kitchen classroom. The program has shown results not just in environmental awareness, but in tackling obesity.

In reference to the leaders profiled:

“They cannot solve climate change alone or save endangered species single-handedly. But by their example, by their willingness to dedicate themselves to what too many still dismiss as a hopeless cause, these heroes of the environment provide light in the darkness. They are living proof that despair is not the only option, that hope remains a choice. They remind us that in the face of human creativity and will, no challenge is too great, and no battle is unwinnable — if only we’ll fight.”

In New York City, summer doesn’t officially start until we hear the sweet calliope music pumping from the scratchy speakers of a Mister Softee ice cream truck. Kids bounce out of brownstones and off of playgrounds to grab a chocolate-vanilla twist.

But upstate, they’re looking at a whole new paradigm. The Veggie Mobile is bringing locally grown, healthy and AFFORDABLE produce to the people of Albany. Run by Capital District Community Gardens, the Veggie Mobile looks to serve folks not served by full-service grocers. The results look promising:

When compared to New York Supermarket — a small grocery in the poor Arbor Hill neighborhood of Albany — the Veggie Mobile offered dramatic savings, more selection and fresher options. Bananas sold for $0.99 a pound at the supermarket, but went for $0.59 a pound from the Veggie Mobile. Iceberg lettuce was $1 each at the mobile grocery, and $1.99 at the New York Supermarket. Cucumbers sold for $0.89 each at the neighborhood market, but were 3 for $1 from the Veggie Mobile.

The difference means that poor families cannot only afford and access fresh produce, but can buy more than if they relied on the neighborhood options.

Instead of going to a big chain grocery store each week, where volume sales and competition mean lower prices, families in urban food deserts and rural communities tend to rely on gas station convenience stores, or corner stores where milk, bread and other staples cost more.

For more ideas on how to put an end to food deserts and increase access to healthy foods, check out the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place.

One in 12 Americans has diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the human and financial costs of this growing epidemic are devastating. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, non-traumatic lower-limb amputation, and kidney failure. In addition, two-thirds of people with diabetes will die from cardiovascular disease or stroke. The rising prevalence of diabetes is fueling increases in healthcare expenditures and insurance premiums, costing $18 billion each year in California alone.  

Rates of diabetes are highest and have risen the most rapidly among people of color and in lower-income communities. In California, 15 percent of Native Americans/ Alaska Natives, 10% of African Americans, and 8 percent of Latinos have diabetes compared to 6% of Caucasians. Diabetes prevalence is 8.4 percent among adults living in lower-income communities compared to 5.8 percent among adults in higher-income communities.

The number of Americans with diabetes increased by 15 percent in two years to 24 million, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 8 percent of the population now has the disease, mainly Type 2 diabetes, which is linked to obesity and sedentary living, the agency said in a report using data from 2007. A quarter of people ages 60 and older had diabetes, the agency said. The number of people worldwide with diabetes will double to 366 million by 2030, according to the World Health Organization, which calls the disease an epidemic. Most people with diabetes have resistance to insulin, which the body uses to convert blood sugar to energy. The C.D.C. report was its first update of the prevalence of diabetes since 2005, when it reported that about 21 million Americans had the disease. — New York Times

Healthy eating can reduce the incidence of obesity and diabetes, and local food environments influence the options available to individuals and families. A recent study demonstrates that people who live near an abundance of fast-food restaurants and convenience stores, compared to grocery stores and fresh produce vendors, have a significantly higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes. To help reduce the prevalence of diabetes, federal, state, and local lawmakers are urged to enact public policies to make healthy foods more readily available.

Bad, unsurprising news of the day: The number of Americans with diabetes rose to 24 million last year, according to new CDC estimates. It’s bad for obvious reasons; it’s unsurprising because the disease disproportionately affects the obese and the elderly, whose numbers are growing.The new figures represent an increase of three million over two years. One small piece of good news: The percentage of diabetics unaware they have the disease fell to 25% from 30% during the period, the CDC said. Awareness is key because good management can reduce diabetes-related risks such as heart attacks and strokes.Huge racial and ethnic disparities persist in diabetes rates. Nearly 12% of black Americans have diabetes, compared with 10.4% of Hispanics and 6.6% of whites. — Wall Street Journal

The tool at walkscore.com has been touted by hipsters, realtors, and advocates alike for its usefulness in calculating how “walkable” a neighborhood is. The basic premise is that a high walk score indicates a good neighborhood because of its proximity (in walking distance) to grocery stores, restaurants, shops and other amenities. I agree wholly with the site that “buying a house in a walkable neighborhood is good for your health and good for the environment.”

However, there’s a significant challenge with this tool.

The walk score tabulation does not distinguish between grocery stores and liquor stores, nor does it recognize a full-service restaurant separate from a fast-food joint.

Yes, my North Oakland (Calif.) community gets a promising score of 75 out of 100–technically “very walkable.” But let me tell you, my neighborhood is rife with liquor stores—six in a half mile radius–and a KFC, Carl’s Jr. and McDonald’s are within blocks of each other and me. In fact, I’d have to walk at least 20 minutes to a full-service grocery store or produce market.

Using the Retail Food Environment Index (RFEI) recently highlighted in the PolicyLink “Designed for Disease” report, I fall into the 28 percent of California adults who can’t even calculate how bad their food environment is because my home falls into the dismal category of having absolutely no access to produce or fresh food in walking distance.

The people at WalkScore do recognize the and highlight the positive health effects of living in a walkable neighborhood– and the limitations their data sets put on the score accuracy of a particular neighborhood. Most of the problems do seem to come from the way Google Maps organizes its data, rather than anything that WalkScore is doing.

The potential of this tool to highlight inequities is quite high. While no doubt cool, this tool needs a bit of a redesign to get to a neighborhood’s true “walkability.”

Check it out yourself (this is the map around our PolicyLink headquarters in downtown Oakland–apparently a “walker’s paradise”) :

For decades, advocates have been spinning their wheels trying to reduce health disparities. Health-care is a necessary but insufficient weapon in this battle, leading many to pursue environmental or place-based approaches to promoting health such as increasing access to healthy foods, improving air quality, and contributing to land use planning.

Now, lawyers across the country are joining this pursuit. A Boston hospital is using lawyers to demand accountability and fight for healthier living conditions for poor families. In Los Angeles, organizers are helping tenants living in unhealthy housing find legal counsel and press landlords to improve their rental properties. Strategies such as these are gaining traction and have been shown to reduce illness as well as time spent in a clinic or hospital for those who can least afford to be there.

Check out the embed player below for a recent story on Marketplace about the practice:

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Below is an excerpt from a post I wrote for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America Leadership Blog. To read the full post, click here.

The type of community we live in clearly has a tremendous impact on our health. That is why I am so excited and inspired to be a part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission to Build a Healthier America. By shining a light on the way our economic, social, and physical environments affect our health, the commission is helping to expand our national discussion on health beyond just health care.

Those key environmental effects are never more clear than in the neighborhoods loaded with unhealthier food options. In an era when we are acutely aware of the effect of our diets on our overall health, we are leaving millions of Americans adrift in neighborhoods where healthy eating is next to impossible. For many people, food “choices” are really nothing of the sort. People must first have a broad and healthy set of food options in order to be able to make healthy choices.

To learn more about the Commission and its mission, visit www.CommissionOnHealth.org

With food prices climbing and the economy on shaky legs, more and more Americans are taking the food security of their families and their communities into their own hands.

An insightful piece in today’s NY Times (”Urban Farmers’ Crops Go from Vacant Lot to Market“) shows how innovative residents of low-income communities are using training from local nonprofits and even some funding from city coffers to help kick-start urban farms.

I know that these urban farms have really helped invigorate my neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn. In fact, a 60-person delegation from the UN Commission on Sustainable Development is coming this weekend to Bed-Stuy to visit a couple community gardens, like the Bed-Stuy Farm (photo from their site).

Also, it’s worth pointing out that the Times’ story was written by Tracie McMillan, one of the best and most tenacious reporters when it comes to issues of food access and low-income communities. Visit her site to check out some of her recent work.