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Health

Fresh Moves mobile food market hits Chicago streets

by Cassandra West June 22, 2011 Community
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In urban communities known as “food deserts,” fresh, healthy produce is often nowhere to be found. Processed meats, sodas and chips, well, those are available in abundance. To improve nutrition and curb digesting too many empty calories, residents in food deserts must have access to more fruits and vegetables. Now, there’s an option. Fresh Moves, [...]

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Obama to sign Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act

by Cassandra West December 11, 2010 Health
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President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will deliver remarks and the President will sign into law the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 on Monday, Dec. 13. Cabinet Secretaries, Congress members and advocacy group leaders who worked to promote and pass the Act with join the Obamas for the signing at Harriet Tubman [...]

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Federal grant helps Chicago fight childhood obesity

by Editor September 20, 2010 Health

By Susan Richardson Long before First Lady Michelle Obama put childhood obesity in the national spotlight, the Consortium to Lower Obesity in Chicago Children was working to combat this health epidemic.  Last week, the federal government recognized the organization’s work when it announced that it had awarded nearly $6 million to the Consortium, which partnered [...]

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CDC: Adults eating less fruit, not enough veggies

by Cassandra West September 10, 2010 Health
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Americans may be growing more vegetables in their back yards and community gardens, but most still don’t eat enough vegetables, and fruit consumption is actually falling, according to a new government report released Thursday that shows a state by state breakdown. About one-third of adults in the U.S. had two or more servings of fruit [...]

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USDA will expand support for school food gardens

by Editor September 7, 2010 Community gardening

By Susan Richardson Just in time for the beginning of the school year, US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced a $1 million pilot program to develop and manage community gardens at high-poverty schools in five states. Funded through the National School Lunch Act, the program targets schools where 50 percent or more of students [...]

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Food gardens help revitalize Chicago’s Englewood

by Editor July 19, 2010 Community

  By Susan Richardson Within earshot of the Green Line on a residential street in Englewood, Dip Ross sells chips and soft drinks and locally grown produce at his food stand. Bell peppers, onions, corn and squash are sold along with beef nachos and snow cones.  The produce comes from Rowan Trees Farm, a block [...]

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USDA seeks public comments on new food guidelines

by Editor June 27, 2010 Agriculture

By Susan Richardson The U.S. Department of Agriculture is taking public comments through July 15 on the proposed 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the basis for important policy decisions about the Food Pyramid, school meals, the WIC Program, and other nutrition programs managed by the USDA.  Written by 13 prominent independent experts in nutrition and [...]

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Documentary explores history of the School Lunch Program

by Editor June 19, 2010 Agribusiness

By Susan Richardson Lunch Line, a new documentary about the history of the school lunch program, comes at  an important time. The 64-year-old  program is up for reauthorization by Congress as part of the Child Nutrition Act, bringing attention to what children are eating, where it comes from and the role of the federal government  in ushering food [...]

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