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Posts Tagged: policy
Celebration Corner
Niederholzer named Certified Crop Adviser of the Year in Western Region
The award recognizes a certified crop adviser who has shown exceptional dedication and leadership that has made an impact in the organization and industry.
Niederholzer, who became a UCCE advisor in 2002, works with prunes, almonds, pears, apple, cherry, olive, plum, citrus, and pomegranate in Colusa, Sutter and Yuba counties. His studies include orchard mineral nutrition, rootstock evaluation, cropload management, and airblast spray coverage and drift.
“It was a surprise and an honor to get that award from a great organization,” he said.
The award for Certified Crop Adviser of the Year in the Western Region acknowledges a member's exemplary dedication and contributions to agriculture as a Certified Crop Adviser. This individual also actively encourages and leads others to advocate for agricultural practices that are advantageous for both farmers and the environment.
Niederholzer was a member of the WRCCA Board of Directors from 2006-2022. While on the Board, he served on the WRCCA Testing and Continuing Education Committee, including 10 years as committee chair. His efforts included spearheading an esteemed CCA Exam Preparation course.
Supervisors recognize Macon's contribution to local agriculture
The Nevada County Board of Supervisors recognized Dan Macon as a well-respected and important pillar of the county's agricultural community.
At its board meeting on Sept. 24, the supervisors presented Macon with a Certificate of Recognition for his many years of dedication and excellent service to Nevada County agriculture.
In 2017, Macon became the livestock and natural resources advisor for Placer, Nevada, Sutter and Yuba counties. Since 2020, Macon has served as UCCE county director for Placer and Nevada counties and livestock and natural resources advisor.
“I'm truly humbled by the recognition,” said Macon. “Cooperative Extension can't exist without strong county and community partnerships, and my family and I have been so fortunate to be part of the Nevada County agriculture community for so many years.”
In addition to being a UCCE advisor and county director, he has operated Flying Mule Farm, raising a small-scale commercial flock of sheep near Auburn. Macon, whose wife Sami passed away last year, is in the process of transferring to UCCE in Calaveras County to live closer to family and help care for his ailing mother.
“Dan's leadership has made a lasting impact on Nevada County,” said Nevada County Agricultural Commissioner Chris de Nijs. “His work not only strengthened our local agriculture both from a land management and economic perspective, but also set a benchmark for excellence and resiliency in the field. He will continue to be a pillar of the ag community, and I with him the best of luck in his new adventures!”
Legislators honor NPI's 10-year anniversary with resolution
California Senator Nancy Skinner and Assemblymember Mia Bonta honored the Nutrition Policy Institute with a joint California Legislature members resolution to recognize its decade of positive impact.
Founded on Feb. 18, 2014, within UC ANR, NPI's research has informed policies such as free school meals for over 6 million students and funding for school kitchen equipment. NPI's work led to increased recess for students, enhanced funding for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women Infants and Children (commonly known as WIC), healthier beverage policies in childcare, and food security initiatives at UC campuses.
Based on NPI research, efforts also have been made to expand Farm to Corrections food programs and improve CalFresh Healthy Living interventions, enhancing fitness and diet-related outcomes for children. As a trusted resource for legislators and policymakers, NPI provides science-based policy recommendations, contributing significantly to public health in California.
Webinar: Building resilient communities by changing policy, systems and environment
Speakers include:
- Janessa Hartmann, UC Cooperative Extension community nutrition and health advisor for Shasta, Trinity and Tehama counties
- Irene Padasas, UCCE community nutrition and health advisor for Tulare, Kings, Fresno, and Madera counties.
- Natalie Price, UCCE community nutrition and health advisor forLos Angeles County,
- Veronica VanCleave-Hunt, UCCE community nutrition, health advisor and food security advisor for Butte, Colusa, Glenn, Sutter and Yuba counties
Participants will learn:
- What PSEs are
- Examples of PSE interventions and how they can improve community health
- How to communicate PSEs in our work
Register at https://shorturl.at/i5X8g. For more information, contact Hartmann at jlhartmann@ucanr.edu.
Food waste, nutrition in prison focus of webinars Feb. 22, 29
The UC ANR Sustainable Food Systems Strategic Initiative Panel will be hosting two 90-minute public webinars in February about food waste (Feb. 22) and nutrition in correctional systems (Feb. 29). UC ANR staff and academics, collaborators and partners and the public are invited to participate in the free webinars.
The UC ANR Sustainable Food Systems Emerging Issues Webinar Serieswill first cover food waste on Feb. 22.
“The Sustainable Food Systems strategic initiative panel aimed to highlight innovative solutions to emerging issues within the food system from field-to-fork,” said Danielle Lee, UC Nutrition Policy Institute director of communications and research engagement.
“Over one-third of all available food in the U.S. is uneaten through food loss or waste – totaling up to over $160 billion – which has negative impacts on food security and the climate,” she said. “Households could save over $370 per person each year by reducing or preventing food waste. Additionally, when uneaten food ends up in the landfill, it generates greenhouse gases, and landfills are now the third largest producers of methane in the U.S.”
“California's adoption of SB 1383 aims to solve these problems,” Lee said. “You'll meet experts who are implementing consumer education and organic waste recycling programs aligned with SB 1383.”
The second webinar, on Feb. 29, will focus on nutritious foods for residents of correctional facilities.
“We also wanted to touch on novel, local food distribution systems that can be used to support nutrition security through improved access to affordable, healthy and nutritious foods for underserved communities,” Lee said.
“We chose incarcerated people as our case study population for two reasons – the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is the single largest public purchaser of food in the state and studies have shown that 63% of incarcerated individuals rarely or never have fresh vegetables and 55% rarely or never have fresh fruit.”
California has two policies that can support institutional procurement of fresh produce – AB 822 and AB 778.
“The Harvest of the Month program is an innovative solution to implementing these policies while supporting improved nutrition security for incarcerated individuals,” Lee said. “Prison gardening programs can not only provide therapeutic benefits to residents, but also reduce recidivism rates and serve as workforce development opportunities to better prepare residents for returning to their communities post-incarceration.”
Part 1 - Harvesting Solutions: A Trio of Perspectives on Addressing Food Waste from Field to Fork
Thursday, Feb 22, at 10-11:30 a.m. PT
To minimize food waste, three experts explore factors influencing food loss and waste, delve into innovative recycling techniques, and explore statewide initiatives targeting household food waste. Experts in postharvest handling, food waste recycling and community education will share research findings and strategies.
Agenda:
- An overview of food waste in fruits and vegetables
Deirdre Holcroft, Holcroft Postharvest Consulting - Exploring means to extract embodied energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions in food waste recycling
Michael Cohen, UC Cooperative Extension organic materials management and agri-food systems advisor for Santa Clara County - The opportunities in statewide programs in reducing household food waste: Results from UC ANR household food practice needs assessment
Yu Meng, UC Cooperative Extension youth, family and community advisor in Riverside, San Bernardino and Imperial counties
Part 2 - Farm to Corrections: Cultivating Justice through Nutrition and Gardening Initiatives
Thursday, Feb. 29, at 10-11:30 a.m. PT
Experts share insights on groundbreaking initiatives for justice-involved individuals' access to California-grown produce and nutrition and gardening education. Innovative initiatives such as a “Harvest of the Month” program by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation in collaboration with the Nutrition Policy Institute and Impact Justice aim to increase access to fresh, locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables and trauma-informed nutrition workshops. They also highlight the impact of UC Master Gardener projects on rehabilitation and workforce development.
Agenda:
- Produce during and after prison: Increasing justice-impacted individuals' access to California-grown produce and nutrition education
Carolyn Chelius, UC ANR Nutrition Policy Institute; Heile Gantan, Impact Justice; Lance Eshelman, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations - UC Master Gardeners Prison Gardens Projects
Missy Gable, director of the UC Master Gardener Program
Learn more and register at https://ucanr.edu/sites/StrategicInitiatives/Sustainable_Food_Systems/Events.
Woodward-Lopez retires after 23 years of leadership in advancing nutrition
Young people across California and the U.S. enjoy healthier, more nutritious food options at school, thanks to the contributions of Gail Woodward-Lopez, who retired on July 1 as the associate director of research at the Nutrition Policy Institute, a part of University of California Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Woodward-Lopez officially joined UC ANR in 2015, when she and other researchers at the Atkins Center for Weight and Health at UC Berkeley merged with NPI. But her association with UC ANR goes back much further, as her work at CWH was always directed by UC Cooperative Extension academics – including the research that paved the way for California's “junk food ban” in schools.
Two groundbreaking bills, signed in 2005, set nutrition standards in California for “competitive foods”– the items sold in vending machines and from food service a la carte (as opposed to federally subsidized school meals). That legislation – which inspired similar policy changes across the country – was informed by the work of Woodward-Lopez and her colleagues, who had looked at the financial impact of establishing those standards.
“Our study was so pivotal that I literally had people calling me from the floor of the Senate or the Assembly when they were debating that legislation,” recalled Woodward-Lopez.
Changing perceptions of population weight gain
Originally intending to pursue a career in neurobiology, Woodward-Lopez found that lab work didn't suit her temperament. Seeking to work more directly on social issues, she embarked on a public health path, with an emphasis on nutritional aspects that incorporated her interest in biological sciences.
Woodward-Lopez's early work focused on a challenge that was just beginning to catch the attention of researchers: the rapid rise in the Body Mass Index (BMI) among the U.S. population. In tracing the causes of this epidemic, she and her colleagues shifted academic and public attention toward the host of environmental factors that contribute to weight gain – instead of focusing exclusively on an individual's choice to eat healthy and be physically active.
Woodward-Lopez, who helped set the identity and agenda of the Center for Weight and Health when it was founded in 2000, moved policy and practice beyond educational approaches and public awareness campaigns. As she noted: “No one thinks sugar-sweetened beverages are good for you.”
“Education alone is not going to work if people do not have access to the healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity, if they're not safe in their neighborhoods, or if they can't afford the healthy options,” she explained.
Given her seminal role in the field, Kaiser Permanente sought out Woodward-Lopez as a “thought partner” on the organization's community-based obesity prevention programs and school health work.
“Gail brought deep rigor and expertise, of course, but also a super-practical, community-focused perspective to our work,” said Loel Solomon, professor of health systems science at the Kaiser Permanente Bernard J. Tyson School of Medicine. “Her integrity and values around health equity were evident in everything we did together, and our communities are so much the better for it.”
Elevating and enhancing CalFresh Healthy Living
At the Nutrition Policy Institute, the focus of Woodward-Lopez's work has been refining the evaluation and delivery of SNAP-Ed, the educational component of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (commonly referred to as “food stamps”). Known in California as CalFresh Healthy Living, SNAP-Ed represents the largest single source of ongoing funding for nutrition and physical activity promotion in the state.
“The program can really impact millions of people,” Woodward-Lopez said. “For county health departments, this is one of their main sources of funding and provides the backbone for everything else they do in nutrition and physical activity.”
But given the unevenness and variety of interventions implemented by local health departments, determining the efficacy of those efforts is a daunting task. Woodward-Lopez and her NPI colleagues have been instrumental in devising creative approaches that help pinpoint the most effective public health measures.
For example, researchers found that combining school policy changes with increased opportunities for physical activity was the best strategy to encourage student fitness. They discovered that health departments diverting resources away from nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic disproportionately affected communities of color. And they also continue to emphasize that interventions need to be tailored to the specific cultural and political conditions within a community.
“I think in all of the work we do, we try to come up with those practical applications – what does this mean for communities? How can we do this differently? How are our findings actionable?” Woodward-Lopez said.
Her contributions toward the evaluation of California Department of Public Health SNAP-Ed have impressed and inspired Lauren MacKenzie Whetstone, chief of CDPH's Research, Evaluation and Strategic Alignment Section, Nutrition Education and Obesity Prevention Branch.
“Gail and her team have elevated the quality of our evaluation work and the evaluation support that we provide to local health department grantees,” said MacKenzie Whetstone, who has known Woodward-Lopez for nearly a decade. “Gail contributed substantially to statewide SNAP-Ed evaluation as well, again working collaboratively to ensure high quality evaluation. Our work is all the stronger due to Gail's dedication to excellent SNAP-Ed evaluation.”
To the benefit of the field and community health, Woodward-Lopez plans to remain engaged in her life's work. While she looks forward to spending more time with loved ones, traveling and pursuing her interests in art and music, she will remain a guiding voice for advancing public health.
“I'd really like to get more involved in policy through advocacy and through doing things like writing letters to the editor or social media commentary,” she said. “I already have some ideas for some editorials I want to write.”
NPI work underpins historic White House conference on hunger, nutrition, health
At the first White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health convened since 1969, President Biden announced on Sept. 28 a national strategy “to end hunger in America and increase healthy eating and physical activity by 2030 so fewer Americans experience diet-related diseases.” Much of the foundational research undergirding the strategy has been informed in part by the Nutrition Policy Institute, a program of UC Agriculture and Natural Resources.
“Science is the work of many – and no one study answers all the questions – but we have a tremendous body of work that has contributed to this conference, building from all the programs and changes that were made from the last conference,” said NPI director Lorrene Ritchie.
The original Nixon-era conference produced about 1,800 recommendations – and 1,600 were eventually implemented in the subsequent years, according to Stacy Dean, U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services.
A litany of far-reaching programs grew from or were propelled by the 1969 conference: the School Breakfast Program, WIC (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children), SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program)-Ed and CalFresh Healthy Living UC, the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program and more.
This history illustrates the potential for sweeping change from this 2022 conference – which gathered about 500 experts and advocates (with 1,000 more participating online) – and from the national strategy that represents the Biden-Harris administration's “playbook.”
“Does that document have everything in it that we would like? No – but, oh my goodness, if we could accomplish all the things that they've laid out, what a transformational impact it would have,” said Ritchie, adding that she was thrilled that the highest levels of government are prioritizing hunger and nutrition-related chronic disease.
Including beverages in the conversation
“NPI's recommendations were built on lots of work by many water researchers and advocates over the years; they're based on many years of thinking by many people,” Hecht said.
Christina and Ken Hecht, NPI policy director, also submitted recommendations as part of the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Reduction Workgroup, which brings together experts from national, state and local organizations. Several of their key proposals, such as targeting the marketing of sugary drinks and clarifying front-of-package nutrition labels, appear as recommended steps in the national strategy document.
Other nutrition policy changes compiled by Christina Hecht – like updating the Federal Food Service Guidelines used on federal properties and in federal programs – are also reflected in the national strategy, albeit without specifically mentioning sugary drinks. Nonetheless, Hecht believes doors have been opened for future discussions that could incorporate and promote healthy beverages.
“What those doors require are continuing to develop the evidence base, continuing to translate and share the evidence base, and continuing the advocacy to bring that evidence base to the attention of decision makers,” she said.
University of California setting an example
Suzanna Martinez, an NPI-affiliated researcher who attended the White House conference, said she hopes the convening generates momentum for two bills before Congress that would help alleviate food insecurity in higher education: one that provides funding for campuses to address students' basic needs, and another that reduces barriers to SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps). The national strategy document explicitly acknowledges that “SNAP's college student eligibility restrictions are out of date given the current population who seek higher education credentials.”
Martinez, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at University of California San Francisco, was invited to the conference because she's part of a group driving the UC's effort to halve the number of students facing food insecurity across the system by 2030. That commitment, and UC Berkeley's work on basic needs, were highlighted by Second Gentleman Douglas Emhoff during the closing plenary session.
“The work that we're doing here in California tends to set the stage for what happens in other states,” said Martinez, who also cited California's pioneering effort to provide meals for all public school students.
NPI's ongoing work evaluating universal school meals in California and other states is just one example of how its academics and staff are refining innovative programs so they can be adopted more effectively and broadly (perhaps nationally). In fact, the White House identified “healthy school meals for all” as the top strategy for improving food access and affordability, and Ritchie applauds the administration's consistent emphasis on early interventions for healthier outcomes.
“The earlier you can create healthy habits – meaning in utero all the way through childhood – the more likely you are going to have adults who don't end up with nutrition-related chronic diseases,” she explained. “The last thing you want to do is to wait until people are really sick before they start to change their habits.”
Another overarching theme that excites Ritchie is the national strategy's “whole of government” approach to addressing a host of nutrition and hunger issues. One example is how the strategy calls for agencies not traditionally associated with food to contribute to reducing waste, such as the Department of the Treasury clarifying tax benefits for businesses that donate food.
“Throughout the document, over and over again, there are countless examples of creating synergies across government agencies and with local and state governments that can help move the needle,” Ritchie said. “It's just this kind of bold call to action that we really need.”
