Learn About Roadrunner Food Banks Program to Link Health and Hunger

 

Quarterly Meeting on Tuesday, February 9  12 Noon

First Presbyterian Church (I-25 and Martin Luther King Blvd.)

Alissa Barnes, director of Community Initiatives at Roadrunner Food Bank, will talk about the food banks new program on health and hunger.  Alissa is a member of the Interfaith Hunger Coalitions Advocacy Committee.

Our Education and Advocacy Committees will also present updates of their work over the past several weeks.  We are also seeking volunteers to serve on a committee to plan an Interfaith Service for World Food Day on Sunday, October 16, 2016

Data shows us that food insecurity and health go hand in hand. Food-insecure individuals are more likely to experience colds, stomach aches and migraines and suffer from generally poorer health than food secure individuals. In 2014, Feeding America conducted the Hunger in America study and found some staggering statistics  about New Mexico’s pantry clients:

• Nearly half (46%) report being in poor or fair health;
• 59% report choosing between paying for medicine or medical care or buying food at least once in the past 12 months;
• 44% of hungry households said they have medical bills to pay, and;
• 75% report purchasing inexpensive, unhealthy food as the most common way to have at least some food at home to eat.

As a food bank , we are focused on addressing Health and Wellness and leading in the national trend of food banks partnering with health organizations. We were pleased to share some of our Health and Wellness Initiatives with the Beyond Flexner Conference.  The conference brought a group of medical students, educators, and physicians together  to discuss social determinants of health.

More information in these links:
Healthy Hubs – Partnering with Organizations to Increase Health Outcomes

Working Together for a Healthy and Well Nourished New Mexico

Healthcare and Food Delivery Advisory Council Meeting Report

Documentary Follows Refugee Students at New York City Summer Program

A new documentary, Refugee Kids: One Small School Takes On the World, made its debut in many communities around the U.S. this fall. The documentary, by award-winning filmmakers Renée Silverman and Peter Miller, follows students at a New York City summer program for children seeking asylum from the world’s most volatile conflicts.  Below is a trailer, followed by more information.


from Renee Silverman on Vimeo.

The film presents an intimate, emotionally gripping account of the students’ stories of escaping war and conflict and resettling in America, chronicling their triumphs and setbacks as their lives unfold over the course of one formative summer. Refugee Kids humanizes complex geopolitics and depict the challenges and urgency of immigration to America in an increasingly dangerous – and interconnected – world.

To find out if the film is showing in your community or if your group or coalition wants to help bring the documentary to your city or town in the near future, contact Kari Steeves (kari@refugeekidsfilm.com). No showings are yet scheduled in New Mexico,

Responsible Aquaculture Program

I spent time lately reading many of the arguments "pro and con" that that seem to pop up when Aquaculture is the topic. Numerous opinions have been expressed and there doesnt appear to be a shortage of media attention in certain areas. That robust activity is welcome. It exists in discussions of any industry or of any practice. As educated consumers we are entitled to review information, decide one way or another and make our choices.

Aquaculture isn’t a new idea, people have practiced Aquaculture for a few thousand years, yet in the modern world today, we still debate just about every news release on the subject. Sometimes we read news statements that are generally based in fact and other statements that contain a few elements of truth designed and emphasized to trigger certain feelings within the population.

Sadly there are a few attention focused presentations within the media that carry very little true research value or census value, and lean toward a more mumble and jumble “argument” that almost always attempts to pigeon hole an industry while presenting the “we told you so attitude” directed at the normal consumer. The reasoning behind this isn’t within my ability to explain.

Last year I wrote a few pages concerning the history and needs satisfied by Aquaculture. In other writings I also talked about the need for improvement.

The Global Aquaculture Alliance efforts to improve the way that Aquaculture is conducted should not go un-noticed.

Statements from the website:

The Responsible Aquaculture Program was developed to promote best management practices for aquaculture operators. The RAP program encourages the culture of safe, wholesome seafood in an environmentally and socially responsible manner. More importantly, it is also intended to improve the efficiency and long-term sustainability of the aquaculture industry.

The Responsible Aquaculture Program began as a straightforward set of "Guiding Principles for Responsible Aquaculture" that promote a cooperative approach to establishing aquaculture operations that reflect environmental, economic, and social sustainability. The principles call for minimal ecological impacts, water conservation, improved feed and drug use, and reductions in effluents.

The Global Aquaculture Alliance is an international, nonprofit trade association dedicated to advancing environmentally and socially responsible aquaculture. GAA recognizes that aquaculture "the culture and farming of fish, shellfish and other aquatic organisms" is the only sustainable means of increasing seafood supply to meet growing food needs.””

Give the link a look.

If we didn’t farm anything period, full stop, where would we be? Can we feed 6 billion people on politics or advertising? Everyday people supply veggies, meats and fish to the world. Managing the resources will play a major factor in the future. Increasing the "food" and ecomonic value of the resources is a factor best left out of media spins.



Rob Freeman

Summer Feeding Program in Albuquerque Linked Hunger and Health

The Bread for the World Institutes 2016 Hunger Report, released on November 23, took the broad view of hunger as a health issue. A report published the same week by New Mexico Voices for Children examined the impact that a proposed tax on groceries would have on health and hunger in our state.

There are other local efforts underway to link hunger, nutrition and health.  First Choice Community Health Care launched a pilot program this past summer aimed at addressing child hunger as a health issue. The program, which took place June 1-August 7, was developed in partnership with the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department (CYFD) and the Bernalillo County Office of Health and Social Services.

The pilot program was put in place at the South Valley Health Commons in Albuquerque, offering any child between the ages of 1 and 18 access to a nutritious free lunch. The pre-packaged meals distributed at the Commons met USDAs nutrition standards and were prepared by APS Food Services, which has created a balanced menu that includes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and low fat milk.

The program was the first of its kind at a primary care clinic, where pediatricians look for signs of malnutrition, including obesity.

First Choice is considering the possibility of expanding the program to its seven other locations in the metro area, as the USDA seeks places to expand its impact beyond the traditional school breakfast and lunch programs nationwide. “Hunger is a health issue in many ways,” said Dr. Will Kaufman, a local physician who specializes on nutrition and health. “Families report skipping meals and buying cheaper food to stretch their budgets, which can mean food that is high in fat, sugar and calories, and low in nutritional value.”

The children’s feeding program is one of several strategies First Choice is using to address hunger and nutrition. Patients also participate in La Cosecha Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, which sells low cost bags of fresh, vegetables grown by South Valley farmers each week of the growing season, delivered to the South Valley Health Commons.

The CSA food is subsidized by Presbyterian Healthcare Services, which helped organize a summit in Albuquerque on health and hunger in May of this year, in partnership with ProMedica and The Alliance to End Hunger.  Clients also participate in the WIC program, which provides supplemental food for children and pregnant and breastfeeding mothers, including vouchers to spend on produce at Farmers Markets.

First Choice also helped launch a mobile farmers market that made stops throughout the South Valley and International District of Albuquerque during the summer. The mobile van, provided by Bernalillo County,  featured healthy cooking demonstrations, a mobile pantry stocked by The Storehouse and recipes.

Food Prescription Program Comes to Albuquerque

 “I would rather see health care in the grocery store than in the pharmacy.”  -David Perry, program director, Zenger Farms, Portland, Oregon

 “Food should be considered a treatment option for our patients,” -Lee Hammerling, MD, chief medical officer and chief physician executive,  ProMedica, Toledo, Ohio


Food Prescription programs make it easier for low-income patients and their families to access the fresh fruits and vegetables they need in order to ensure that they are eating balanced, healthy diets. The programs generally begin with a partnership between a hospital and a local farmer’s market or CSA (community supported agriculture) to increase access for people who need access to nutritious food to improve their health.

"Although Food Prescription programs are relatively new, pilot programs have shown promising results in improving health outcomes in communities where they have been implemented," wrote Molly Miller in an article published by Stakeholder Health in 2014.

According to Miller, there is already some evidence that the food prescription programs are working.  She notes that the The Fresh Prescription Program, which seeks to build partnerships between the local food system, the healthcare system, and low-income patients in the Detroit area, has shown some signs of promise.  See above video about the Community Health and Social Services (CHASS) Center.  

Roadrunner Food Bank Opens Healthy Foods Center

Produce at Railyard Market

In Albuquerque, Roadrunner Food Bank has launched a food prescription pilot program in partnership with five local clinics. The program has been in place for several months but was only announced to the general public on Feb. 11 at the grand opening of the Healthy Food Center, located at the food bank, 5840 Office NE.   Read more in Albuquerque Journal.

The health partners participating in the program are three Community Dental Services clinics and two University of New Mexico Hospital clinics. Here is how it works: the five clinics do a sort of triage among their patients.  "Patients are asked about their food situation. If they answer in a way that indicates they aren’t getting enough to eat or are skipping meals, the health care partner issues a ‘prescription’ to come here,” said Alissa Barnes,  Roadrunner Food Bank’s director of community initiatives.

The prescription provides for one weekly trip to the Healthy Foods Center for a year, where the clients can “choose the products that are right for their home,” Barnes said. The caveat: only clients with these referrals can get food from the on-site pantry.

As the name of the program implies, the focus of the program is entirely on health. “We have a lot of patients with Type II Diabetes, so we don’t offer them anything with added sugar. For those with hypertension, we offer them the low-sodium vegetables. For those with vitamin D deficiencies, we offer more whole grains, tuna fish, and milk so they can get that extra Vitamin D," said Angela Smith, a diet technician with Promedica, a health care provider in Toledo, Ohio.  Read more about Promedicas Food Pharmacy.

Working Together
Promedica has partnered with the Alliance to End Hunger and several local health care providers around the country to examine the connections between health and hunger.  The two organizations held a conference on this topic in partnership with Presbyterian Community Health in June, 2015.  One of the keynote speakers was Ambassador Tony Hall, director emeritus of the Alliance to End Hunger. Other cities have hosted similar conferences, including Columbus, Ohio last fall. 

The partnerships between health care providers and CSAs has worked well in other parts of the country. In Portland, Zenger Farm partnered with Multnomah County Health Department and the National College of Natural Medicine in a program that was started in 2014.

According to Barnes, Roadrunner Food Banks pilot program in Albuquerque will continue to the end of the year, and then “other health care clinics will be slowly rolled in.” The Healthy Foods Center will eventually incorporate other services, including immunizations, tax preparation, nutrition education and health screenings, she said.

Presbyterian Community Health, which recently recently launched a program offering a free healthy meal to children and youth seven days a week, is likely to join the food prescription effort in a more direct way soon. The program has already created a strong partnership with La Cosecha CSA. (See more in this video).