Last week, I went to Jackson for the Health Improvement Organization's Kickoff Event. I had no idea what this meant at first but I figured it would be a good opportunity to meet some new people. It ended up being SUPER cool and extremely inspiring, and I'm so glad I was able to attend.
The Health Improvement Organization is a committee sponsored by Allegiance Health, a hospital in Jackson. Jackson High School sponsored a pretty healthy lunch for everyone (a couple hundred people attended) and following the lunch there was a presentation of the HIO Coordinating Council’s Community Action Plan. The plan is years in the making, and includes a research component, showing the current health statistics of Jackson residents (among the worst in the State of Michigan), as well as a thorough plan for the steps necessary to improve these statistics. Now the plan is completed and ready to be put into action throughout the county. We all received printed copies of the plan and I've been reviewing it in detail over the last week - it's pretty awesome.
It was really great to see a group of people so passionate about improving the health statistics in their area. I was able to get in touch with the leadership who created the plan, and it looks like my work in the schools can be incorporated into the school / kids education component of the overall master plan. Pretty cool step forward.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Fun Day in Jackson
On Friday, I went out to Jackson and it was a really fun day. My FSEP supervisor, Michaelle, and I made some great progress: we continued our brainstorming and actually started putting names and dates into the overall agenda. In the next few weeks I'll be making several more trips to Jackson for meetings with community health organizations, the school district, and events where I'll be helping to give the community an introduction to the Farm to School Program.
I got to spend the rest of the afternoon on with a guy named Chris, the director of the Dahlem Eco Farm in Jackson. He was about my age, a lifelong resident of Jackson, very proud of the city, a vegetarian, and very passionate about changing the way food is produced and made available to our communities. He and I have a lot in common and it made for some very interesting discussions about food and how we can help our population.
Chris took me on a mini-tour of Downtown Jackson and we got lunch from the Pickle Barrel, where I had one of the best black bean burgers I've ever tried. We ate our lunch outside in a park and discussed the all-too-important concept of how the growing health crisis is this country is a direct result of our diet. We talked about where we both saw ourselves in ten years and Chris said he saw himself owning a farm, and his own indoor Farmers Market in Jackson.
Chris then took me to check out Jackson's existing Farmers Market. We stopped at a plum stand, and he touched and analyzed all the different plums, commenting on what great condition they were in. He took out five dollars, bought a quart of plums, and ate one right there at the table. I just watched while he commented on how awesome the plum was. It was so cool to meet someone else who understands the greatness of fresh fruits and vegetables and appreciates them the same way I do.
This week we will be working on planning an event in the third week of September at the Jackson Public Library, where parents, students, and interested community members can come find out about all of the positive changes being made to the lunch program in Jackson Public Schools and how F2S in the Classroom is being implemented. I've always been afraid of public speaking, and I have a feeling that's going to have to be thrown to the wayside very quickly... yikes.
I got to spend the rest of the afternoon on with a guy named Chris, the director of the Dahlem Eco Farm in Jackson. He was about my age, a lifelong resident of Jackson, very proud of the city, a vegetarian, and very passionate about changing the way food is produced and made available to our communities. He and I have a lot in common and it made for some very interesting discussions about food and how we can help our population.
Chris took me on a mini-tour of Downtown Jackson and we got lunch from the Pickle Barrel, where I had one of the best black bean burgers I've ever tried. We ate our lunch outside in a park and discussed the all-too-important concept of how the growing health crisis is this country is a direct result of our diet. We talked about where we both saw ourselves in ten years and Chris said he saw himself owning a farm, and his own indoor Farmers Market in Jackson.
Chris then took me to check out Jackson's existing Farmers Market. We stopped at a plum stand, and he touched and analyzed all the different plums, commenting on what great condition they were in. He took out five dollars, bought a quart of plums, and ate one right there at the table. I just watched while he commented on how awesome the plum was. It was so cool to meet someone else who understands the greatness of fresh fruits and vegetables and appreciates them the same way I do.
This week we will be working on planning an event in the third week of September at the Jackson Public Library, where parents, students, and interested community members can come find out about all of the positive changes being made to the lunch program in Jackson Public Schools and how F2S in the Classroom is being implemented. I've always been afraid of public speaking, and I have a feeling that's going to have to be thrown to the wayside very quickly... yikes.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
VegNews Article
This is an article that hopefully will be published in VegNews Magazine this Fall:
Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP), a non-profit in Southeast Michigan, has been helping school districts across the region implement farm to school programs since 2006. Working with more than 15 school districts in Jackson, Washtenaw, Wayne, Monroe and Lenawee counties, FSEP has brought farmers and food service directors together and helped develop successful, sustainable farm to school programs unique to each school district.
Farm to School as three components; Cafeteria, Classroom and Community and FSEP’s primary focus has been on the first “C” Cafeteria. By helping food service directors and farmers work out the details of sourcing, procurement procedures and facility needs, FSEP’s farm to school programs have served over 20 different locally sourced fruits and vegetables throughout the school year, most of which are not commonly found in school food service.
As FSEP’s Farm to School programs continue to grow, we look forward to beginning work on the second “C” Classroom. This fall FSEP will pilot a classroom component of the Farm to School program in Jackson Public Schools. We will work with teachers, administrators, parents and students to develop engaging activities and events that will support the cafeteria’s efforts of serving fresh, locally sourced food. The program will consist of things such as monthly activities and educational workshops, including field trips, farmer classroom visits, cooking demonstrations, celebrating cultural foods, contests for classrooms who eat the most vegetables, menu options with legumes instead of meat, a vegetable of the month, school gardens, wellness fairs, and many more opportunities for kids to learn, appreciate, and have fun with good nutrition.
The Farm to School program is aimed at inspiring both students and their parents to eat locally, be healthy and become educated about the benefits of replacing processed and fried foods with fresh fruits and vegetables. FSEP is currently in the planning stages of the classroom component of the farm to school program and we need your help. This is a great opportunity for you to make an enormous impact on a child’s life and work with a great team of volunteers. If you are a VegMichigan member living in or near the Jackson area, and would like to get involved, please contact us at quallsj@fsepmichigan.org or (734) 222.3817.
To learn more about Food System Economic Partnership visit our website at www.fsepmichigan.org
Food System Economic Partnership (FSEP), a non-profit in Southeast Michigan, has been helping school districts across the region implement farm to school programs since 2006. Working with more than 15 school districts in Jackson, Washtenaw, Wayne, Monroe and Lenawee counties, FSEP has brought farmers and food service directors together and helped develop successful, sustainable farm to school programs unique to each school district.
Farm to School as three components; Cafeteria, Classroom and Community and FSEP’s primary focus has been on the first “C” Cafeteria. By helping food service directors and farmers work out the details of sourcing, procurement procedures and facility needs, FSEP’s farm to school programs have served over 20 different locally sourced fruits and vegetables throughout the school year, most of which are not commonly found in school food service.
As FSEP’s Farm to School programs continue to grow, we look forward to beginning work on the second “C” Classroom. This fall FSEP will pilot a classroom component of the Farm to School program in Jackson Public Schools. We will work with teachers, administrators, parents and students to develop engaging activities and events that will support the cafeteria’s efforts of serving fresh, locally sourced food. The program will consist of things such as monthly activities and educational workshops, including field trips, farmer classroom visits, cooking demonstrations, celebrating cultural foods, contests for classrooms who eat the most vegetables, menu options with legumes instead of meat, a vegetable of the month, school gardens, wellness fairs, and many more opportunities for kids to learn, appreciate, and have fun with good nutrition.
The Farm to School program is aimed at inspiring both students and their parents to eat locally, be healthy and become educated about the benefits of replacing processed and fried foods with fresh fruits and vegetables. FSEP is currently in the planning stages of the classroom component of the farm to school program and we need your help. This is a great opportunity for you to make an enormous impact on a child’s life and work with a great team of volunteers. If you are a VegMichigan member living in or near the Jackson area, and would like to get involved, please contact us at quallsj@fsepmichigan.org or (734) 222.3817.
To learn more about Food System Economic Partnership visit our website at www.fsepmichigan.org
Starting My Research Project
Today I am starting a research project in Jackson. As a supplement to the Farm to School in the Classroom program, I think it's a good idea to get an idea of what kind of food the parents and students are eating at home. I also want to get a feel for how much they currently know about nutrition, and determine their level of enthusiasm for the Farm to School program in Jackson.
I'm starting with a survey that will be filled out by the students at the school. I'm asking just a few basic questions about fruits and vegetables, vitamins, 'which is the healthiest snack,' etc. I'm curious to find out how much the kids know at this point. The second part is another survey to be sent home to the parents. In this survey, I want to know what they pack in their kids lunches, what they eat for dinner, how much fast food they are consuming, etc. At the end of the coming school year I plan to follow up with another survey to see if the data changes. I think this data will make a cool addition to the case study I'll be writing up about the program.
I'm starting with a survey that will be filled out by the students at the school. I'm asking just a few basic questions about fruits and vegetables, vitamins, 'which is the healthiest snack,' etc. I'm curious to find out how much the kids know at this point. The second part is another survey to be sent home to the parents. In this survey, I want to know what they pack in their kids lunches, what they eat for dinner, how much fast food they are consuming, etc. At the end of the coming school year I plan to follow up with another survey to see if the data changes. I think this data will make a cool addition to the case study I'll be writing up about the program.
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Tonight's Pathophysiology Lecture
Sometimes it's hard to smile and push forward when it seems like everyone I know intentionally works against my efforts. The lecture in my Pathophysiology class tonight was about Atherosclerosis, Hypertension, and Cardiac Pathophysiology. Having it broken down for us on a higher level was interesting, reaffirming, and also extremely frustrating for me. I'll never understand why I just get it and so many others don't. These diseases that so horribly affect the condition of our precious heart and blood vessels are directly related to the amount of saturated fat we consume in our diets, which accumulates as plaque in our vessels. It's simple biochemistry really. Saturated fat = animal products = solid at room temperature = solid in your blood vessels. Poly and monounsaturated fat = plant based fat = liquid at room temperature = does NOT stick in our blood vessels = NO PLAQUE. I don't understand what is so incredibly hard for people to understand about this concept. Hyperlipidemia = Heart Disease = Death. Why then, do we continue to chow down on meat and dairy products loaded with saturated fat, even perhaps being taught that it's healthy for us, while in reality it's the #1 killer of both men and women today.
Even worse, we learned tonight that the statistics of how we diagnose and treat atherosclerosis is evolving in America. We are now diagnosing and treating SEVEN YEAR OLDS for plaque in the arteries. Children are starting to show signs of atherosclerosis in their first decade of life. Where does everyone think these statistics are coming from? Could it be the 70% increase in American meat and dairy consumption in the last 100 years? Someone please tell me how is this acceptable?
And here's the kicker, that sent me over the edge. My colleagues in class, the ones studying to become YOUR future practitioners, heard the exact same lecture that I did tonight. They then proceeded to complain about how doctors have set the standard too high for what constitutes as a healthy diet. One of my fellow students spoke up, asking "isn't it normal to expect that as a middle aged adult, we're just going to have vessel damage?" While I asked myself, "Why is causing this UNNECESSARY damage to our bodies considered acceptable and to be expected in this country?" Why would anyone just assume that it's fine, to damage our bodies to the point that it eventually kills us, without caring about how it can easily be avoided? He then came to the conclusion of "great, now we all have to eat like rabbits to save our blood vessels." Well, guess what, sir. Have you ever seen any rabbits running around with Coronary Heart Disease and blocked vessels? That guy could be your future practitioner someday. And then, of course, half the class went outside to smoke.
So I'm going to bed now, with a stomach full of a vegan sub from Subway which will NOT be stuck in my blood vessels in the morning, and a strong faith that karma will continue to support my daily fight to help change this downward spiral. The same faith that makes me so determined to walk this walk, every single day.
Even worse, we learned tonight that the statistics of how we diagnose and treat atherosclerosis is evolving in America. We are now diagnosing and treating SEVEN YEAR OLDS for plaque in the arteries. Children are starting to show signs of atherosclerosis in their first decade of life. Where does everyone think these statistics are coming from? Could it be the 70% increase in American meat and dairy consumption in the last 100 years? Someone please tell me how is this acceptable?
And here's the kicker, that sent me over the edge. My colleagues in class, the ones studying to become YOUR future practitioners, heard the exact same lecture that I did tonight. They then proceeded to complain about how doctors have set the standard too high for what constitutes as a healthy diet. One of my fellow students spoke up, asking "isn't it normal to expect that as a middle aged adult, we're just going to have vessel damage?" While I asked myself, "Why is causing this UNNECESSARY damage to our bodies considered acceptable and to be expected in this country?" Why would anyone just assume that it's fine, to damage our bodies to the point that it eventually kills us, without caring about how it can easily be avoided? He then came to the conclusion of "great, now we all have to eat like rabbits to save our blood vessels." Well, guess what, sir. Have you ever seen any rabbits running around with Coronary Heart Disease and blocked vessels? That guy could be your future practitioner someday. And then, of course, half the class went outside to smoke.
So I'm going to bed now, with a stomach full of a vegan sub from Subway which will NOT be stuck in my blood vessels in the morning, and a strong faith that karma will continue to support my daily fight to help change this downward spiral. The same faith that makes me so determined to walk this walk, every single day.
Update: "Farm to School in The Classroom"
That's going to be the name of the program. "Farm to School in the Classroom." Right now things are slow but moving forward slowly. We really can't implement much until the administrators are back in the schools in preparation for the school year to begin. We have a ton of people to talk to, meetings to have, things to plan out and brainstorm, things that need to be written and created, etc. I'll be starting on that in the next couple weeks. I think I need to move to Jackson for a whole week, to really get some of this stuff going.
Right now it feels like an extraordinary amount of work to do in just a little over a month's time. But, we'll get there. This weekend I'll be working on creating a survey to be sent out to the parents in Jackson. It's a research project I wanted to conduct to get an idea of where families stand currently, as far as their own and their child's nutritional habits at home. I'll be very eager to send that out and get some feedback to analyze. I wrote an article last week for VegNews Magazine, a publication by the VegMichigan organization. In it I had the opportunity to discuss the Farm to School Program and ask for volunteers to help out. Hopefully they approve and publish that soon.
Right now it feels like an extraordinary amount of work to do in just a little over a month's time. But, we'll get there. This weekend I'll be working on creating a survey to be sent out to the parents in Jackson. It's a research project I wanted to conduct to get an idea of where families stand currently, as far as their own and their child's nutritional habits at home. I'll be very eager to send that out and get some feedback to analyze. I wrote an article last week for VegNews Magazine, a publication by the VegMichigan organization. In it I had the opportunity to discuss the Farm to School Program and ask for volunteers to help out. Hopefully they approve and publish that soon.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Baby Steps Toward Changing a School District
I sent an e-mail tonight to the director of the food service program at Birmingham Public Schools. I copied the e-mail below. It only took an hour of my time and I think it's little steps like this that could come back to make a huge impact.
"I had a meeting last week with with the Principal at Harlan Elementary, and she gave me your contact information. I wanted to write you and introduce myself. I'm a good friend of Eric Heim, a teacher at Harlan, and he asked me to help him reach out. To sum it up, I'm a pre-med student really just trying to make a difference in the community and to advocate for things I am passionate about. I volunteer extensively in our local communities and as a supplement to my academic goals, I started volunteering for an organization called the Food System Economic Partnership, based in Ann Arbor. This organization is allowing me the opportunity to work directly with students and parents, educating them about healthy eating and disease prevention. I was telling Eric a little bit about what this organization does for school districts and he became very interested in trying to incorporate some of these things at Harlan. The Principal thought it was a great idea but suggested that you would be the best person to contact.
As I'm sure you have noticed, a major revolution is starting to take shape in our country in terms of realizing the negative effects of our eating habits. Examples of this include movies such as Food Inc., Supersize Me, the new 'Forks over Knives' movie that comes out in the fall, and Jamie Oliver's TV show. This information is now becoming mainstream. Over the last 70 years, the food we consume has drastically changed from the simple 'farm fresh food' we ate a hundred years ago, to processed food filled with hormones and chemicals, fast foods, and sugary snacks, with little to no emphasis on promoting food that comes from the earth. We're feeding our kids fried food, chicken remains shaped into a nugget, and vegetables that have lost nearly all nutritional value in the processing, shipping, and preparatory process. We are teaching our future generations to consume the food that is killing our current generations. It doesn't have to be like this and it shouldn't be. As a result, the health statistics of our population have spiraled out of control, especially the statistics of childhood diseases such as obesity, Type II Diabetes, and even pediatric cancer. In my own family, I've lost every one of my loved ones over 60 years old, to cancer. That is my motivation for my career change and for my passion to make a difference. We must do what we can to turn this ship around, and it absolutely has to become a priority in our school districts.
I'm contacting you as a member of the community and as a friend to Eric, not on behalf of FSEP. But I will tell you what I know about the organization. FSEP is a nonprofit involved with promoting Michigan farms. Their 'Farm to School' program links local farmers with school districts, our colleges (and our hospitals). This organization is working to change the kind of food products being served in our institutions. They don't supply food, they just connect districts and their lunch program management companies (such as Sodexho) with local farmers to get fresh food at a reasonable price. Fifteen school districts in five of our local counties (such as Jackson, Ann Arbor, schools in Livingston and Wayne County, etc.) are currently working with FSEP to change their lunch programs. The city of Jackson, where 65% of the student population qualifies for free lunch, is currently implementing a healthy food program in their schools. This proves that change is possible in any district. Schools have implemented 'Local Food Fridays' and in some districts the kids are eating fresh food as much as 3 days a week. But any change is better than no change at all. As a result, the statistics in these schools are improving. The kids are eating and liking new vegetables, parents are on board and encouraging their kids to eat the school lunch, attendance rates are going up, and student performance is rising. They are also gaining a competitive edge over other neighboring districts because parents want to see that their kids are eating fresh, local food. Eric said he walked into the lunchroom recently and looked at his students lunches - chicken nuggets that were pink inside, french fries, fruit roll ups, candy, pop, etc., and it made him upset. The Birmingham school district can pioneer a health revolution too by working to change the products that are served to its students.
I am new to FSEP and I don't know the ins and outs and costs and numbers that you would want to know. I know it doesn't cost anything to work with FSEP. I'm just reaching out to you because it was important to Eric, and to let you know that there are excellent resources available to create an opportunity like this in the Birmingham School District. The majority of my volunteer work will be in the Jackson School District this summer. But I would be more than happy to help however I can in implementing a program like this in Birmingham and I know Eric is on board to help too. Maybe just a prototype program at Harlan to see how things go. I heard that Harlan won a 'green school' award this past year. Maybe it would be a good idea to supplement the award by pursuing sustainability as a whole entity, including helping Harlan's kids to be the healthiest they can be in all aspects of their lives. In addition to modifying the kinds of food ordered for the lunch program, there are so many things being done in schools that don't involve spending a lot of money. School gardens, where the kids help maintain and learn about the value of organic vegetables. Chefs are coming in and teaching kids how to cook, kids are cooking for their parents and getting them involved, activities are getting kids emotionally involved and excited about healthy food, teachers are eating with their kids once a week to set an example for what a healthy lunch consists of, schools are embracing foods from various cultures and introducing an appreciation for ethnic foods. And there is so much more."
The rest of the email just consisted of my contact information and a request for a formal meeting. Hopefully the words I chose were impactful enough to start making the necessary steps toward change in this district.
"I had a meeting last week with with the Principal at Harlan Elementary, and she gave me your contact information. I wanted to write you and introduce myself. I'm a good friend of Eric Heim, a teacher at Harlan, and he asked me to help him reach out. To sum it up, I'm a pre-med student really just trying to make a difference in the community and to advocate for things I am passionate about. I volunteer extensively in our local communities and as a supplement to my academic goals, I started volunteering for an organization called the Food System Economic Partnership, based in Ann Arbor. This organization is allowing me the opportunity to work directly with students and parents, educating them about healthy eating and disease prevention. I was telling Eric a little bit about what this organization does for school districts and he became very interested in trying to incorporate some of these things at Harlan. The Principal thought it was a great idea but suggested that you would be the best person to contact.
As I'm sure you have noticed, a major revolution is starting to take shape in our country in terms of realizing the negative effects of our eating habits. Examples of this include movies such as Food Inc., Supersize Me, the new 'Forks over Knives' movie that comes out in the fall, and Jamie Oliver's TV show. This information is now becoming mainstream. Over the last 70 years, the food we consume has drastically changed from the simple 'farm fresh food' we ate a hundred years ago, to processed food filled with hormones and chemicals, fast foods, and sugary snacks, with little to no emphasis on promoting food that comes from the earth. We're feeding our kids fried food, chicken remains shaped into a nugget, and vegetables that have lost nearly all nutritional value in the processing, shipping, and preparatory process. We are teaching our future generations to consume the food that is killing our current generations. It doesn't have to be like this and it shouldn't be. As a result, the health statistics of our population have spiraled out of control, especially the statistics of childhood diseases such as obesity, Type II Diabetes, and even pediatric cancer. In my own family, I've lost every one of my loved ones over 60 years old, to cancer. That is my motivation for my career change and for my passion to make a difference. We must do what we can to turn this ship around, and it absolutely has to become a priority in our school districts.
I'm contacting you as a member of the community and as a friend to Eric, not on behalf of FSEP. But I will tell you what I know about the organization. FSEP is a nonprofit involved with promoting Michigan farms. Their 'Farm to School' program links local farmers with school districts, our colleges (and our hospitals). This organization is working to change the kind of food products being served in our institutions. They don't supply food, they just connect districts and their lunch program management companies (such as Sodexho) with local farmers to get fresh food at a reasonable price. Fifteen school districts in five of our local counties (such as Jackson, Ann Arbor, schools in Livingston and Wayne County, etc.) are currently working with FSEP to change their lunch programs. The city of Jackson, where 65% of the student population qualifies for free lunch, is currently implementing a healthy food program in their schools. This proves that change is possible in any district. Schools have implemented 'Local Food Fridays' and in some districts the kids are eating fresh food as much as 3 days a week. But any change is better than no change at all. As a result, the statistics in these schools are improving. The kids are eating and liking new vegetables, parents are on board and encouraging their kids to eat the school lunch, attendance rates are going up, and student performance is rising. They are also gaining a competitive edge over other neighboring districts because parents want to see that their kids are eating fresh, local food. Eric said he walked into the lunchroom recently and looked at his students lunches - chicken nuggets that were pink inside, french fries, fruit roll ups, candy, pop, etc., and it made him upset. The Birmingham school district can pioneer a health revolution too by working to change the products that are served to its students.
I am new to FSEP and I don't know the ins and outs and costs and numbers that you would want to know. I know it doesn't cost anything to work with FSEP. I'm just reaching out to you because it was important to Eric, and to let you know that there are excellent resources available to create an opportunity like this in the Birmingham School District. The majority of my volunteer work will be in the Jackson School District this summer. But I would be more than happy to help however I can in implementing a program like this in Birmingham and I know Eric is on board to help too. Maybe just a prototype program at Harlan to see how things go. I heard that Harlan won a 'green school' award this past year. Maybe it would be a good idea to supplement the award by pursuing sustainability as a whole entity, including helping Harlan's kids to be the healthiest they can be in all aspects of their lives. In addition to modifying the kinds of food ordered for the lunch program, there are so many things being done in schools that don't involve spending a lot of money. School gardens, where the kids help maintain and learn about the value of organic vegetables. Chefs are coming in and teaching kids how to cook, kids are cooking for their parents and getting them involved, activities are getting kids emotionally involved and excited about healthy food, teachers are eating with their kids once a week to set an example for what a healthy lunch consists of, schools are embracing foods from various cultures and introducing an appreciation for ethnic foods. And there is so much more."
The rest of the email just consisted of my contact information and a request for a formal meeting. Hopefully the words I chose were impactful enough to start making the necessary steps toward change in this district.
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