Today’s equity news

“Fast-food standards for meat top those for school lunches,” -   USA TODAY
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-12-08-school-lunch-standards_N.htm

In the past three years, the government has provided the nation’s schools with millions of pounds of beef and chicken that wouldn’t meet the quality or safety standards of many fast-food restaurants, from Jack in the Box and other burger places to chicken chains such as KFC, a USA TODAY investigation found.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the meat it buys for the National School Lunch Program “meets or exceeds standards in commercial products.”

That isn’t always the case. McDonald’s, Burger King and Costco, for instance, are far more rigorous in checking for bacteria and dangerous pathogens. They test the ground beef they buy five to 10 times more often than the USDA tests beef made for schools during a typical production day.

“FOSTER KIDS TO GET A HOME IN ONE YEAR, CITY SAYS,” - City Limits WEEKLY
http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/viewarticle.cfm?article_id=3844

When a local advocacy group releases a report aimed at changing city policy, it’s often ready to expect immediate resistance from the target of critique, and then perhaps slow alterations made over time.

But when the nonprofit Children’s Rights released a report last month analyzing how long it takes for foster children to obtain a permanent home, the city agency involved – the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS) – not only supported the release, but soon announced a related initiative aimed at shortening the length of time children remain in foster care.

This would be even more remarkable if the report hadn’t all but closed the case on what many in the city’s child welfare community have known for years: New York has one of the worst mechanisms for helping children move from foster care to permanent homes in the country. (It placed 44th among 47 states; see p. 71 of this state report.)

“Obama jobs plan: big ideas, but a big hole to fill in hiring,” - The Christian Science Monitor
http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/print/content/view/print/268029

President Obama proposed a new set of job-creation proposals Tuesday designed to confront a stark problem: Even though the rate of job cuts in the economy has eased, the pace of hiring remains far below normal.

That issue – how to spur hiring – is the central one for policymakers considering how to bring down America’s unemployment rate in the next year.

Mr. Obama said his proposals have the best chance to succeed, delivering the “greatest number of jobs [at] the greatest value for our economy.”

The USDA released a much-anticipated study of food deserts today. The full study can be found here. Below are statements from PolicyLink and The Food Trust about the study.

Statement from PolicyLink President Judith Bell

“The new USDA food desert report provides yet another confirmation that access to healthy food is a significant problem for millions of Americans. The report shows that about one in every 13 Americans – 23.5 million people — live in low-income communities that are more than a mile from the nearest large grocery store.

As more than 70 studies have shown during the past decade, the lack of access to healthy food is a real challenge in many low-income urban communities, rural communities, and communities of color. This is a public health issue, plain and simple. As we demonstrated in the 2008 report, Designed for Disease: The Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes, people living in neighborhoods crowded with fast-food and convenience stores but relatively few grocery or produce outlets have a significantly higher prevalence of obesity and diabetes. (The report was prepared by PolicyLink in partnership with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy).  Other studies demonstrate that in addition to providing access to healthy foods, supermarkets and large grocery stores are important neighborhood economic engines, bringing jobs and revitalization.

This USDA report adds to the growing body of research on the ways that where you live affects your health. Now is the time to implement proven, impactful policies to address America’s food desert crisis.”

Statement from John Weidman, Deputy Executive Director, The Food Trust

“Improving access to grocery stores in both urban and rural communities must be part of our national strategy to improve children’s health and prevent obesity and diabetes.  The Pennsylvania Fresh Food Financing Initiative has demonstrated that supermarkets can thrive in food deserts and offers a strong model for solving this problem nationally.   Expanding this program is one of the Top Ten recommendations of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Commission To Build a Healthier America.”

In findings that echo the results of the “Designed for Disease” report from last year, Berkeley and Columbia released a joint report today showing that kids who go to school in close proximity to fast food joints are at a much greater risk for obesity. The study looked at the obesity rates of 1 million California school children. The upshot from the LATimes:

The presence of an outlet within easy walking distance of a high school — about 530 feet or less — resulted in a 5.2% increase in the incidence of student obesity compared with the average for California youths, a correlation deemed “sizable” according to the findings.

The link vanished when these fast-food joints were located farther from campus, presumably because students couldn’t easily reach them. Nor was it present in schools located near full-service eateries, whose prices and service times don’t typically match student budgets, tastes or schedules.

“Fast food offers the most calories per price compared to other restaurants, and that’s combined with a high temptation factor for students,” said Stefano DellaVigna, a UC Berkeley economist and one of the paper’s authors.

A recap of this week’s equity news

“Nutrition grant will refresh local ‘food deserts’,” - The Courier-Journal
Grant to boost nutrition at two corner stores

They’re called “food deserts” — poor, urban neighborhoods where residents lack cars to drive to distant supermarkets, prompting many to rely on nearby fast food or convenience-store fare.

Now, after months of delays, a project is about to bring healthful food to two such “deserts” in Louisville by helping two corner stores in disadvantaged neighborhoods begin selling fresh fruits and vegetables.

“How Obama can partner with philanthropy,” - San Francisco Chronicle
 
With violence in the Mideast, the spreading economic crisis, the tragedy in Mumbai and the risk of state failure in troubled regions, President-elect Barack Obama has had a glimpse of the in-box that awaits him. Already on his checklist had been the problems of new poverty at home; uneven access to health care and quality education; the climate crisis; and the need for post-war reconciliation and reconstruction abroad.

Yet the president-elect was quick to acknowledge on election night that, “government can’t solve every problem.” He will need to tap all available sources of innovation, including from the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. In the case of the social sector, its most important asset may be its independence, not only from governments but from the snap judgments of markets or electoral politics, influenced by the 24-hour news cycle. In a world of complex problems, the social sector - philanthropy and those it supports - may be the only sector able to take risks, withstand criticism and make long-term investments in the public interest.

“A Pitch for Mass Transit,” - New York Times

Unlike President Bush, Barack Obama is going to enter office with a clear appreciation of the urgent problems of climate change and America’s growing dependency on foreign oil — and a strong commitment to address both.

One way he can do this is to give mass transit — trains, buses, commuter rails — the priority it deserves and the full financial and technological help it needs and has long been denied.

The good folks at the California Center for Public Health Advocacy sent around this great new YouTube video they made showing how impossible it is for real consumers to use the “helpful” menu labeling brochure produced by the fast-food companies.

From CCPHA’s email blast:

The restaurant industry continues to claim that nutritional brochures  are more helpful to consumers than putting the information directly on the menu board.

See what happens when real customers try to use the industry’s helpful brochures.  We hope you will watch this clip and then forward it to colleagues, friends and family.

…snip…

Support for menu labeling on menu boards and menus is increasing daily: today two members of LA County Board of Supervisors introduced a measure calling for mandatory menu labeling in the unincorporated areas of LA County, and Monday, Senator Padilla (author of SB 1420) cited the findings from the newly released study, Kids Meals: Obesity on the Menu, as another reason California must have strong menu labeling.

The inimitable Garry Tredeau gets in on the menu labeling action this week. Visit Doonesbury.com to follow Zonker’s long, sad journey through the post-labeling world.

Are our food options making us sick? According to a new report released today by PolicyLink, the balance of healthy-versus-unhealthy retail food options in your neighborhood is directly tied to your risk for diabetes and obesity.

The groundbreaking study, Designed for Disease: the Link Between Local Food Environments and Obesity and Diabetes, was released jointly with the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research and the California Center for Public Health Advocacy. It examines the correlation between the health of nearly 40,000 Californians and the mix of retail food outlets near their homes.

The key finding: people living in neighborhoods crowded with fast-food and convenience stores but relatively few grocery or produce outlets are at significantly higher risk of suffering from obesity and diabetes.

The findings are the latest in a growing batch of evidence that the obesity epidemic is at a crisis level. As PolicyLink Vice President of Research Victor Rubin said for the release of the new report:

“Clearly the obesity crisis in California can no longer be seen only as a fight over personal choices. Public policies drive the universe of food options from which we can choose. Families who live in communities with choices limited to high-calorie foods and beverages face substantially greater health risks. Policy makers at the state and local level can save lives by giving Californians healthier food options.”

The results lend even more weight to a recent USA Today lead editorial, which argued that the obesity epidemic is literally killing Americans at a younger and younger age — and disproportionately targeting poor Americans.

Everyone knows how to lose weight: exercise more and eat less, fatty foods in particular. But fast food, eaten on the run and in vast quantities, has too often replaced the leisurely sit-down dinners with healthier foods of years past. Further, obesity is increasing worldwide, and among the poor more than the affluent. Broad social changes underlie the trend, and so it will not be easily reversed. But where it is worst, among the poor, better access to preventive health care plainly is part of the answer.

A century ago, poorer Americans were more likely to have their lives shortened by hunger and malnutrition. It would be a tragic irony if the obesity epidemic has a similarly devastating and unequal impact.

The editorial builds off the stunning findings of this Harvard University report.

For more information on how to help build healthier communities, visit the PolicyLink Center for Health and Place. Also, check out a great blog about this subject from the Grassroots Leadership Network.