183702 Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool: Community strategies to address sustainable food systems

Tuesday, October 28, 2008: 9:15 AM

Linda M. Shak, MSW , Prevention Institute, Oakland, CA
Rhianna JoIris Babka, BA , School of Social Welfare, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
Leslie Mikkelsen, MPH, RD , Prevention Institute, Oakland, CA
     
Concerns about our current food system have created increasing interest in sustainable food systems. This new movement is focused on growing and production methods that protect the environment and promote health and well-being. Public health professionals have an important role to play in supporting policy and environmental change solutions that protect both health and the environment. Prevention Institute has updated its Environmental Nutrition and Activity Community Tool (ENACT) to link concerns about improving human health with a stronger set of outcomes related to a sustainable food system.

ENACT, an interactive web-based tool, offers an array of achievable actions for making improvements to eating and activity environments in seven sectors: childcare, school, afterschool, community, workplace, healthcare and government. With funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, ENACT has been expanded to include over 20 new and enhanced sustainable food system strategies within the seven environments.

This presentation provides an overview of the health concerns associated with our current food system and the role public health can play in supporting a more sustainable system. Participants will become familiar with the ENACT tool and learn about specific strategies that support health and a sustainable food system. Highlighted strategies include developing regional processing and distribution infrastructure, creating sustainable food purchasing policies within government and other institutions, and establishing community gardens and urban agriculture initiatives.

Learning Objectives:
• Articulate 3-5 health consequences of the industrialized food system. • Identify 3-5 specific sustainable food system strategies that can be utilized at the community-level to support the environment and improve human health. • Understand how to use ENACT as a planning and assessment tool.

Keywords: Environment, Food and Nutrition

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: of my extensive experience developing tools for community-based practice to promote health and prevent illness.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

See more of: Industrial Agriculture: Health Threats and Solutions (jointly organized by the Environment and Food & Nutrition Sections)
See more of: Environment