Healthy Living

Healthy Living Work Group - updated 12/7/2019 JM

Food Literacy Grant 2020 : May 1, 2020 - April 30, 2021 - sent to Ben at City Hall - 2/20/2020

Food Literacy Grant 2020 DRAFT WITH NOTES

Requirements:

City to approve grant by: February 25, 2020

Draft Due to be sent for review: February 28, 2020

Due: March 20, 2020

NNLM Membership ID: 13049

Applicant needs NNLM account: DS and JM both have accounts that are connected to the WPL account

Institution Tax ID: 04-6001418

Institution DUNS number:

Partner Organizations:

Letters of institutional commitment or support

Budget Template

Personnel resumes /CVs

NNLM/NER Grant Ideas - jm, ds

Grant Procedure on city side: PC

2/11/2020: Cara sent the following to the city grant person, Ben, for his review and Cara will submit the intent to the city council meeting on March 3.

The Worcester Public Library would like to apply for a National Network of Libraries of Medicine, New England Region (NNLM/NER) grant to educate patrons on how to make healthy food choices through nutrition classes and healthy cooking classes. The Worcester area has high rates of heart disease, diabetes, and hypertension. This grant would help us improve community health starting with what we eat. We would be asking for $5,000 to cover the costs of the nutritionist, chefs, and food equipment for the cooking classes. The due date for the grant is March 20, 2020. Please see NNLM’s Funding Page for more information.

Program ideas:

Keep Your Mind Sharp - puzzles, problem-solving, word searches?

Caregiver 101 - how to care for yourself and your loved one when you are in the role of caregiver - with practical advice

Focus on prevention/anti-aging/disease prevention - Judy Palken may have a class on preventive care....

Nutrition

Current Program:

Nutrition Classes with Judy Palken, Registered Dietitian

Summer 2019 - present

Great feedback from patrons; great communicator

From UMass Med: Judy is very interested in healthful dietary patterns such as the Mediterranean diet, high fiber eating, and the many health benefits of plant phytochemicals. She likes to teach about diet as preventive healthcare, and creative ways to make dietary changes for cardiovascular health, diabetes, gastrointestinal problems, and overweight. She also greatly enjoys recipe development, writing about nutrition, and creating nutrition education materials. She collects diet and activity data for clinical studies, and writes our nutrition blogs.

Topics:

• A Look at Food Labels - Food labels can sometimes be confusing and even misleading. What is important to focus on; what should we take with a grain of salt? We will examine some food labels, and you will leave better equipped to do your healthful food shopping.

• A Focus on the Kitchen - In this most important of rooms, how can we plan, organize, and use our creativity so that we make good dietary choices? Learn some tips, and maybe share some of your own.

• Tea for Health - Join us and learn about the health benefits of tea, and the different varieties that you can buy. Even if you are not a big tea-drinker, come and find out how you can incorporate more of it into your life.

• Stay Healthy with Carb Control - The health effects of eating too many of the wrong carbohydrates will be discussed. Learn which carbs are very good for health, and how to cut back on the ones that we should all limit.

• Health Holiday Eating - Learn holiday eating strategies to get form Halloween to New Year's Eve, enjoying every holiday in-between, feeling great and eating well.

• The Mediterranean Diet - What is it about the Mediterranean way of eating that is so good for our health? Learn about the proven health benefits of specific Mediterranean foods and get delicious recipes to try at home.

• The Art of Good Nutrition - Come learn what to eat, given our current knowledge of the science of nutrition. Improve your health and feel better by eating great foods

• Sugar: Some Bitter Truths - Learn where sugar is hiding, why it is a problem, and strategies for cutting back on the white stuff.

• Great Whole Grains - What is a whole grain, and what makes it different from other grains? How can we eat them and enjoy them? Come find out!

• Get your fruits and veggies

• Great proteins

• Carbs

• Your healthy plate

• Snack right

• Changing your eating behavior

• Tell me About Fats

• The Lowdown on Protein

• Weight Control

• Overeating, hunger and satiety

• Planning ahead, changing eating behaviors

Past programs:

Nutrition for Beginners

Summer 2017 - Spring 2018

Presented by UMass Extension School - SNAP ED Adult Workshops, Rosalia Flores, Dawn Lovejoy, Kate Mariani

Patron feedback was mixed; organization was not always reliable, did not show up for 2? programs

Topics:

• • The Dietary Guidelines - Healthy eating makes us feel better! Learn how to make healthy food choices and create well- balanced meals plan based on the dietary guidelines

  • Healthy Eating for Healthy Living - Learn how to plan healthy meals using MyPlate. We will cover healthy choices in each of the five food groups and appropriate portion sizes.

  • Reading Food Labels - Learn how to read a food label, compare information, and understand the percentages for daily values.

  • Shop Wisely on a Budget - Become a wise shopper! Join us to learn how to eat better on a budget, and get tips on how to keep you and your family healthy.

  • Benefits of fruits and vegetables - Not sure how to prepare fresh fruits and vegetables? Keep it simple! Learn how to incorporate fruits and vegetables in your meals using our easy recipes.

  • Moderation is the Key – Cutting Back on Fats - It is true that drastic changes are harder to maintain. It’s easier to make small changes in our favorite foods by lowering the fat and watching the portion sizes.

  • Choosing Healthy Snacks – Limiting Sugars - Learn how to identify the different names for sugar and the dangers of added sugars. We will discuss simple recipe modifications and healthy options for a tasty treat.

Diabetes

Presented by Judy Palken

• January 15, 2020, Diabetes: Prevent, Treat, Eat - Prediabetes and Type 2 diabetes affect millions of Americans, and have serious health consequences. If you know you have prediabetes, or have a family history of diabetes, how can you prevent the progression to diabetes? If you have diabetes, how can you best control it? Come and learn the most important evidence-based diet and lifestyle changes you can make.

Presented by American Diabetes Association presentation by Rev. Al Whitaker

• March 24th, 2018, Making Healthy Choices for People Living with Diabetes - If you or someone you care for has diabetes, then you know how important it is to eat the right foods. A Certified Diabetes Educator from the American Diabetes Association will provide you with examples of good carbohydrates, portion control, plate method, glycemix index, appropriate healthy food choices, and how to maintain a daily food log.

Dementia/Alzheimer's

Presented by Denise Thomas, Alzheimer's Association

• October 23, 2019, Healthy Living for the Brain and Body

• June 28th, 2017, Healthy Living for the Brain and Body

• January 28, 2017 Away From Her; Film Presentation and Discussion

Presented by Catherine Martin, NNLM NER

• June 19th, 2019, Dementia and Aging information

Meeting Notes - 2/1/2018

REVIEW

· GOAL: “Seed to Table” is the group’s mission (thanks Ping!) Better quality health for our community, food is fundamental, food is medicine

· Schedule programs monthly on Saturdays

· 3 areas of focus: Food/Cooking (Dot), Nutrition (Jen), Sustainable living/source local (Allison)

ACTION ITEMS

Allison:

· Initial draft of sustainable living program proposals ü (see attached – lots of great ideas!)

· List of local resources from colleague ü (see below)

· Research local farms to present a class on container/herb gardening in the spring (possibly March)

· Finalize meeting with Chris Humphrey of UGROW

· Outreach to SEAC for garden club/community garden

Jen:

· Research local nutritionists to present programs to run right before or after cooking programs

o UMass Medical School

o UMass Extension: http://ag.umass.edu/nutrition/office-locations/worcester

· Finalize with American Diabetes Association to present program to coincide with Fresh Whole Soups cooking program in March

Dot:

· Research additional local chefs to present cooking programs

· Community outreach: contact Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s for classes on how to buy organically, and other topics they could present to our patrons.

Resources from Allison’s colleague:

--The Regional Environmental Council (they run all the city farmer's markets and a really amazing youth urban farming initiative called YouthGrow). They have a pretty well done website that includes info on all their staff/who does what, so I'll let you decide who to specifically reach out to about your program (though my friend Grace Silowski--my mom-of-a-12-month-old friend--is usually who I start with over there...I also know Bettny Masur and Hanh Lam who do loads of work specifically with YouthGrow) . https://www.recworcester.org/

--Cotyledon Farm is a local, small CSA that our friend Amanda Barker runs just outside of town in Cherry Valley/Leicester. Amanda used to run Worcester's only urban farm CSA on Southbridge Street called Nuestro Huerto. She may be a good person to connect to! https://cotyledonfarm.wordpress.com/

--Dismas Farm in...either Rutland or Oakham is another great, local CSA. They also vend every Saturday at the Canal District Farmer's Market (at Crompton Place). Jen Burt is their rad and wonderful farmer. She is actually a

NH native, too! She is someone who would be a great contact--Dismas is such a cool org that offers opportunities to formerly incarcerated folks and has such a lovely farm!

http://www.dismasisfamily.org/

--Steve Bandarra is the director of sustainability at Worcester State University and relatively recently helped launch one of those shipping container gardens on campus. I believe it was both as a way for students to learn more about sustainable horticulture and also the dining hall may utilize some of the food grow therein? Not positive, but speaking of, Rich Perna is the director of the dining hall on that campus and WSU has been a really great leader in sustainable efforts for college dining halls...I believe they won an award for composting all their food waste sometime in the last 6 years.

--I don't necessary know them, but the folks who run some of the newer, trendier spots in town (Birch Tree, Kummerspeck, Dead Horse Hill, Lock 50) seem super focused on using local, sustainable options in their food.

--Other entities worth considering connecting to may include the Worc. County Food Bank (along with being the food bank for the county, supplying tons of small food pantries with goods, they also house the Regional Food Hub--which is a commercial kitchen folks are able to utilize on an hourly basis...great for small, local businesses getting off the ground...perhaps may be a bit cost prohibitive for some, but just the same) and Woo Food (they are...a commission of some kind? They give ratings to local businesses that are offering healthy options)

Allison's notes