In This Edition...

Jointuse.org Honored with Excellence in

New Communications Award

Prevention Institute and Berkeley Media Studies Group were honored last month with the 2009 Excellence in New Communications Award for creating jointuse.org, an innovative website that gives advocates the tools and resources they need to create safe places for children to play and be active. “Prevention Institute and Berkeley Media Studies Group’s jointuse.org site is an impressive example of the successful and innovative use of new tools, technologies, solutions and practices to enhance communications and relationships,” commented Jen McClure, founder and president of the Society for New Communications. Read the winning case study on jointuse.org.

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PHLP Releases Joint Use Toolkit

Planning for Healthy Places has just released a new toolkit, Opening School Grounds to the Community After Hours: A Toolkit for Increasing Physical Activity Through Joint Use Agreements.  This new toolkit serves as a valuable resource for communities across California who are working to increase access to school based recreational facilities. The toolkit also includes four California model joint use agreements which are available in editable versions the PHLP website. Strategic Alliance would like to congratulate the PHLP team for their hard work in creating a much needed resource and supporting the creation of joint use agreements across the state. 

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Congressional Resolution Delivers Fresh Food to Low Income Neighborhoods

On December 15th, a bi-partisan group in the U.S. House of Representatives proposed a resolution designed to increase access to healthy foods and create jobs in low-income communities across the country. Headed up by U.S. Rep. Allyson Schwartz, with 32 co-sponsors in Congress, the resolution establishes a national financing program to provide an effective and economically sustainable solution to limited access to healthy foods in underserved communities. The National Fresh Food Financing Initiative (NFFFI) will support efforts of the private sector to open retail outlets, (i.e. grocery stores and supermarkets) which would provide Americans with healthier food options. The initiative will improve the health of many Americans and stimulate local economic development and job creation. Strategic Alliance congratulates PolicyLink for successfully helping NFFFI gain traction at the national level!

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Federal Trade Commission Addresses Food Marketing to Children; Requires More Work on Behalf of Advocates

Consortium Leads Successful FTC Filing

In late November, a workgroup of advocates and academics assembled by the Center for Science in the Public Interest and Berkeley Media Studies Group asked the Federal Trade Commission to redefine its definition of programming targeted to children and teens. As a follow-up to the FTC 2008 report, Marketing Foods to Children and Adolescents: A Review of Industry Expenditures, Activities, and Self-Regulation, the workgroup urged the FTC at the “Food Marketing to Children Workshop” to collect more data on targeted marketing, privacy, and to expand the collection to program distributors who carry the ads as well as food marketers. Says the workgroup, "The Commission should inquire into industry expenditure and exposure data for marketing that reaches large numbers of children and adolescents even when they are a small percentage of the overall audience." As a result, the FTC will now commission a new study that will gauge how well the industry has self-regulated since 2006. The new study will also include information on marketing to children (2-11) and adolescents (12-17) and will seek information on marketing to youth based on gender, race, ethnicity, and/or income levels.

Sizing Up Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity Forum

On December 15th, the Federal Trade Commission assembled industry representatives, federal regulators, consumer groups, scientific researchers, and legal scholars for a public forum to discuss issues related to food marketing to children. In his opening remarks, FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz, acknowledged the food and cable industry’s role as "only one factor" in contributing to childhood obesity, but warned that many in Congress will call for more direct regulatory oversight "if action doesn't come from the private sector." Fortunately, these ‘calls’ are already happening: policymakers have begun to introduce and draft legislation that would strengthen government regulations and limit food marketing to children.

• Representative Jim Moran (D-VA) has introduced a “Healthy Kids Act” (HR 4053), which tackles food marketing to children. The bill would restore the Federal Trade Commission's ability to regulate food marketing to children, limit junk food TV ads through FCC, limit sales of unhealthy foods sold in competition with school meals, authorize grants, and create an Office of Childhood Obesity at the US Department of Health and Human Services.

• Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) has proposed repealing the limitation on the FTC's rulemaking authority over children's advertising that Congress put in place in the late 1970s.

• Representative Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) has circulated a letter to Congressional colleagues stating that he intends to introduce legislation to eliminate the current tax deduction for advertising of "fast food and junk food" marketed to children.

At the public forum, the Interagency Working Group on Food Marketed to Children (which includes representatives from the FTC, Food and Drug Administration, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Department of Agriculture) also tentatively proposed a set of recommended nutritional standards for foods marketed to children, aged 2-17.

As the research around the impact of unhealthy media environments grows, 2010 will provide more opportunities for healthy food and activity advocates to urge legislators to restrict the ability of food and beverage companies to market unhealthy food. To learn more food marketing and its impact, please visit the ENACT Tool.

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California Pan-Ethnic Health Network Convening Series:

Show Me the Money: Changing the Inequalities in California's Tax Policy

After successful convenings in Oakland, Los Angeles, and San Diego, CPEHN convenings are back by popular demand! With budget cuts ravaging our schools, clinics, and other important services, it is more important than ever to understand our state's budget and tax system and work collectively to ensure it reflects the needs of our communities.

Featuring presentations by internationally-recognized trainer Kim Klein and local community members, CPEHN's interactive convening will include:

• How to understand California's tax system 
• Local representatives speaking on the impact that statewide tax and budget decisions have on their communities
• Updates on statewide reform movements including the constitutional convention and 2010 ballot initiatives
• Opportunities to strategize, mobilize, and advocate for progressive solutions

Fresno - February 3, 2010

San Bernardino - February 23, 2010

Continental Breakfast and Lunch Will Be Provided

Registration is $25 for General Public, $10 for CPEHN Network Members

Scholarships are available.

Space is filling up quickly, click here to register!

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Physical Education Research for Kids (PERK) Briefing

February 4th, 2:00 to 3:30 pm, California State Capitol Room 4202, Sacramento, CA

California Center for Public Health Advocacy's 10th Anniversary Awards Luncheon

Friday, Mar. 27, 2009 12:00 PM  - 2:00 PM, Berkeley, CA

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Thanks for reading!  The Strategic Alliance is currently engaged in building a broad and diverse statewide membership.  If you were forwarded this e-mail and want to receive your own copy in the future, please click here or e-mail shakirah@preventioninstitute.org.  And if you’re already a member, please forward this message to your colleagues so we can continue to strengthen our coalition.  Thank you!

WHAT IS THE STRATEGIC ALLIANCE?

The Strategic Alliance is reframing the debate on nutrition and physical activity away from a focus solely on individual choice and lifestyle towards one of environmental influences and corporate and government responsibility. Current Steering Committee members are: California Adolescent Nutrition and Fitness Program (CANFit), California Center for Public Health Advocacy (CCPHA), California Food Policy Advocates (CFPA), California Pan-Ethnic Health Network, California Park and Recreation Society (CPRS) , California Project LEAN, California WIC Association (CWA), Child Care Food Program Roundtable, Latino Health Access, Partnership for the Public’s Health, PolicyLink, Prevention Institute, Samuels & Associates and Public Health Law & Policy.

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