Healthy Eating

Healthy eating is important to maintaining healthy lives, yet eating healthy is not always as simple as it should be. Many supermarkets, restaurants and fast food chains sell high calorie processed foods, and access to fresh fruits and vegetables can be difficult, especially in food deserts where the nearest grocery store might be miles away.

Fortunately, there has been a recent explosion of interest in the food we eat – from its origins, to its production methods, to its relationship with our health. This has led to a growth in healthy and sustainable food production and consumption, through an expansion of backyard and urban gardens, local farmers markets, and community supported agriculture, resulting in healthier items on the menu. Our communities will see direct health benefits from increased access to healthy food.

Resources

Infographics

National

  • application/pdf icon5 Reasons to Eat Local for the Holidays

    Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, November 2014

  • The Relationship Between State Policies for Competitive Foods and School Nutrition Practices in the United States

    Center for Disease Control and Prevention

  • Choose My Plate: super tracker and other tools

    USDA

  • A Half-Empty Plate: Fruit and Vegetable Affordability and Access Challenges in America

    Food Research and Action Center, December 2011

  • Health in Mind: Improving education through wellness

    Health Schools Campaign

  • Soda’s Evil Twin – The Dangers of Fruit Drinks

    Infographic from HealthScience.net

  • It’s Dinnertime: A Report on Low-Income Families’ Efforts to Plan, Shop for and Cook Healthy Meals

    APCO Insights, January 2012. Link will open a pdf.

  • Agriculture: Investing in Natural Capital

    Makes a case for investing in “greening” the agriculture3 sector, emphasizing the potential global benefits of making this transition. It provides evidence to inspire policymakers to support increased green investment and guidance on how to enable this transformation, which aims to enhance food security, reduce poverty, improve nutrition and health, create rural jobs, and reduce pressure on the environment, including reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions (GHGs). United Nations Environment Programme, 2011.

  • application/pdf iconTransforming U.S. Agriculture: Achieving sustainable agricultural systems will require transformative changes in markets, policy

    Science, VOL 332, MAY 6, 2011.

  • The Grocery Gap: Who Has Access to Healthy Food and Why It Matters

    Policy Link

  • Promising Strategies for Creating Healthy Eating and Active Living Environments

    Prepared by the Prevention Institute

  • Healthy Food for All: Building Equitable and Sustainable Food Systems in Detroit and Oakland

    Policy Link, July 2009

  • Food prices, access to food outlets and child weight

    Economics and Human Biology; Vol 7, 2009; Lisa M. Powell, Yanjun Bao

  • Food Politics blog, by Marion Nestle

    Marion Nestle is Paulette Goddard Professor in the Department of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health and Professor of Sociology at New York University.

  • Farm to School

    Farm to School connects schools (K-12) and local farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student nutrition, providing agriculture, health and nutrition education opportunities, and supporting local and regional farmers.

  • CivilEats.com

    CivilEats.com - Civil Eats promotes critical thought about sustainable agriculture and food systems as part of building economically and socially just communities.

  • Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food: Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, June 2009

  • Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food

    Measuring and Understanding Food Deserts and Their Consequences, U.S. Department of Agriculture, June 2009

  • 2007 Census of Agriculture

    U.S. Department of Agriculture, February 2009

  • The Food Action and Research Center (FRAC)

    Working to improve public policies and public-private partnerships to eradicate hunger and undernutrition in the United States.

  • Competitive Beverage Guidelines

    Take a Stand for Healthy Students: The Alliance for a Healthier Generation – Guidelines for Competitive Foods and Beverages

  • Competitive Foods Guidelines

    Take a Stand for Healthy Students: The Alliance for a Healthier Generation – Guidelines for Competitive Foods and Beverages

  • Availability of Competitive Foods and Beverages: New Findings from US Elementary Schools

    Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, November 2010

  • application/pdf iconRecommended Community Strategies and Measurements to Prevent Obesity in the United States

    Center for Disease Control and Prevention, July 2009

  • Preventing Childhood Obesity: A School Health Policy Guide

    Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, May 2009

  • Obesity, Food Insecurity and the Federal Child Nutrition Programs

    Understanding the Linkages, Food Action and Research Center, February 2007

  • Make a Difference at Your School: Key Strategies to Prevent Obesity

    Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

  • Let's Move

    America’s Move to Raise a Healthier Generations of Kids

  • Action Strategies Toolkit: A guide for local and state leaders working to create healthy communities and prevent childhood obesity

    Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, May 2009

  • F as in Fat: How Obesity Threatens America's Future

    Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, June 2010

  • Childhood Obesity Program Area

    Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Regional

News

Regional

  • Assistance effort pays off at farmers markets
    The Kansas City Star, June 3, 2015
    2015-06-05 10:54
  • KCK health advocates seek to counter junk food marketing strategies
    By Alex Smith for KCUR, May 19, 2015
    2015-05-21 20:29
  • KCK health advocates seek to counter junk food marketing strategies
    KCUR, May 19, 2015
    2015-05-20 09:46
  • New Kansas bill would eliminate tax on fruits & vegetables
    KSHB Kansas City, March 3, 2015
    2015-03-04 11:18
  • Campaign announced to exempt food from Kansas sales tax
    KHI News Service, December 18, 2014
    2014-12-19 17:29
  • At Raytown school, BackSnacks come with lessons in nutrition, other help
    Kansas City Star, December 14, 2014
    2014-12-15 13:42
More News

From the Blogs

Local Health Buzz