Thursday, February 14, 2013

Madelia Moves Towards A More Walkable Community!




Since its inception this past Fall, Madelia Active Living Coalition has moving full speed towards a more walkable/bikeable community. The committee, which includes a broad community membership, is looking at several ways to improve pedestrian travel throughout the city of Madelia. Here are some highlights of their progress:

-          Partnering with community members and the local school district to develop a SRTS program which includes development of a community-led walking school bus program as well as completing a needs assessment to ensure adequate number of crossing guards, painted crosswalks and safety mechanisms, such as removing on-street parking on Main Street next to the school.

-          After completing their walkability assessment, the coalition learned there has been no sidewalk construction in the community in over 80 years, resulting in unsafe conditions for pedestrians. As a result, the group has identified 3 different routes through the community they plan to create a “sharrow” or shared roadway to encourage more safe pedestrian travel. In addition, the group will work with the city to ensure adequate street light to improve safety.

-          The assessment also identified a lack of bike parking and the group plans to improve bike parking as well as bike education in partnership with the school district, law enforcement, hospital and Coughlan publishing company during National Bike to School Day in May.

-          Partner with the county to develop a 5-10 year trails plan connecting the community with the county trail system.

-          Partner with Chamber of Commerce to develop a path across the park to ensure community members have more direct access to community assets (such as the pool).

Downs Food Group Employees Moving More and Eating Healthier!





 
Downs Food Group/Tony Downs Foods (DFG), a large poultry processing plant located in Watonwan County who employs a large minority workforce, has been busy making huge strides towards creating a healthier worksite for hundreds of employees. Downs Food Group is not new to encouraging healthy lifestyles with their employees. Over the past several years, health education has been provided each month to employees as well as ensuring employees have a tobacco free environment by implementing a tobacco-free grounds policy. SHIP funding allowed the worksite to implement more comprehensive, evidence-based strategies to improve employee health and wellbeing. These strategies include establishing wellness committees in each processing plant who oversee and provide suggestions to improving employee wellness. DFG has also recently adopted a comprehensive wellness policy which includes healthy vending, healthy catering and breastfeeding support for employees, tobacco-free grounds policies and cessation support and encouragement of community partnerships to improve physical activity opportunities for employees as well as encouragement of walking and biking to and from work.

To help implement this policy, DFG partnered with Anytime Fitness to reduce gym membership rates for employees. Additionally, DFG also partnered with a personal trainer to provide a fitness challenge. DFG also partnered with their local vendor to ensure 50% of the foods provided in the vending machines were healthier choices.
Moving forward, DFG is exploring the availability of offering stretching programs to reduce repetitive motion injuries; planning more wellness activities including more family oriented events and exploring ways to improve access to healthy foods through gardening and mobile farmers markets.
Congrats to DFG for helping to make Watonwan County a healthier place to live and work!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Food Policy Council Learns About Safe Food Handling and Licensing


 
 
The South Central Food Policy Council (FPC) met January 22, 2013 in Jackson.  Jan Kelly, Southern Area Food Inspection Supervisor from the Minnesota Department of Agriculture addressed the topics of licensing, license types, and safe food handling practices. The information was requested as the continues to work towards their goals of promoting local growers and increasing access to local healthy foods.  The Q and A opportunity was especially valuable to members as they address policy needed to support the local foods movement.

The five-county food policy council was created in April 2012 to assess, learn and improve the local food environment.  At this meeting ten priority food issues were identified and monthly meetings have been held to learn more and address each issue.

·         Promote local growers

·         Hunger and lack of access to healthy food

·         Food preparation – fast, fresh from scratch

·         Compost education

·         Healthy food at corner stores

·         Identification of community kitchens and processors

·         Schools

·         Local government incentives for young farmers in nontraditional farming

·         Education and marketing

·         New USDA regulations for schools

After learning more about these issues, the FPC plans to  create and offer policy to local decision-makers that will ensure commitments to advancing local, healthy food.

For more information:



Partnership Supports Playground Activity Plan



 
Windom Area Schools is partnering with their school’s Parent-Teacher Organization (PTO) on a playground improvement project.  The partnership began when the PTO approached the Wellness Committee about collaborating to improve student physical activity opportunities.  Both groups easily agreed that working together to develop activity stations on the playground and to improve the sports equipment would be a perfect partnership.  The Wellness Committee is interested in making sure that all children have the opportunity to be physically active during recess, while the PTO has funds available to financially support the change.

 
The PTO has offered money to help support painting the activity stations, so a plan is being devised to best utilize the space available.  That project will begin in the spring or summer of 2013, once the snow has melted and the weather cooperates for painting.  In addition to the playground painting, the PTO has offered to purchase sports equipment.  The elementary Physical Education Teacher is working to compile a list of equipment to support active recess.  A cart was also purchased to store the sports equipment, and an eager do-it-yourself PTO Dad is building another cart by hand to save money.

 
This is a great example of the collaboration that can develop from two organizations working together with similar goals.  Congratulations Windom Area Schools, we look forward to seeing the results of the Winfair Elementary School playground project!