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Category: Community Published on Tuesday, 10 April 2012 19:40 Written by Super User Hits: 493
Every day, thousands of local farmers and ranchers work hard to ensure that their communities have access to a diverse range of fresh, healthy affordable foods. While nutritious food is a cornerstone of society’s physical health, a vibrant community also includes sustainable economic opportunities. By funding projects that support these goals, USDA’s Farmers Market Promotion Program continues to make a difference for farmers at the local level.
The Farmers Market Promotion Program provides grants to eligible entities through a competitive application process (grants.gov). This year, nearly $10 million is available for farmers markets, community supported agriculture, road-side stands and other direct marketing operations to assist in expanding and promoting market opportunities for local farmers and ranchers. At the same time, efforts supported by these funds will help make nutritious, local foods more available in communities across the United States.
Greensgrow Farms mobile food delivery system
The Greensgrow Farms mobile food delivery system. With the help of an FMPP grant, Greensgrow Farms has used this truck to supply residents of the Camden/Philadelphia area with fresh, healthy, affordable foods. (Photo courtesy of Greensgrow Farms)
The Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) administers these grants. In 2011, we funded nearly 150 projects, including a grant to Greensgrow Farms Neighborhood Markets in Camden, N.J. Because of organizations like Greensgrow Farms, Farmers Market Promotion Program funds are being used to make a difference. They are using the support from USDA to develop neighborhood farmers markets and establish a mobile food delivery system in low income areas of the city. Participating markets will accept electronic benefit transfer (EBT) and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) transactions. They are also creating a food hub that will utilize refrigeration and processing equipment to keep foods fresh. Food hubs are innovative business models that bring farmers, distributors, aggregators, buyers and others in the supply chain together to ensure that the regional small and midsize producers get access to the infrastructure they need to grow their business.
This year, we’re looking for projects that will continue to expand healthy food choices for all Americans – especially in food deserts or low-income areas. Producer associations, nonprofit corporations, agricultural cooperatives, local governments, economic development corporations, regional farmers market authorities, public benefit corporations and tribal governments committed to promoting the goals of the Farmers Market Promotion Program are encouraged to apply during this 2012 grant season.hort of a public health crisis. CNBC, First in Business Worldwide, takes viewers inside the war on fat, where the waistline meets the bottom line in this look at a problem that affects most American people and every American pocketbook.
CNBC presents "One Nation, Overweight," a CNBC Original reported by Scott Wapner. The documentary goes to the frontlines of this national health and economic crisis and through the incredible personal stories of Americans desperate to lose weight, reveals some of the diverse ways the nation is battling the bulge.
The one-hour documentary begins inside one of the nation’s preeminent hospitals—the Cleveland Clinic—with the powerful and emotional story of Henry Butler, an obese patient lying on the operating table undergoing bariatric surgery. Butler is one of 12 million Americans considered severely obese, defined as more than 100 pounds overweight. Wapner speaks with Dr. Philip Schauer, the Director of the Clinic's Bariatric and Metabolic Institute, a specialized unit that performs the surgery of last resort on more than 500 patients each year. Wapner also interviews Dr. Toby Cosgrove, the CEO of the Cleveland Clinic, about his controversial statement that if he had his choice, he would not hire obese people.
The obesity epidemic is acutely felt among the nation’s youth, with nearly a third of American children either overweight or obese. Many are threatened with the onset of diabetes, and some medical experts warn that for the first time in the history of our nation, this younger generation may be on track to have a shorter life span than their parents. CNBC goes back to school to examine the role the lunchroom plays in this national fight. Wapner tours a Virginia high school where students regularly flock to a school-sanctioned snack stand that sells a variety of candy and other junk food as early as 9:30 a.m. He also visits a California school struggling to offer healthier meals to a population raised in a culture of junk food and junk food marketing.
CNBC takes cameras inside the laboratories of Vivus, Inc., a cutting-edge pharmaceutical company working to develop an anti-obesity drug that could, if approved, be a financial blockbuster. CNBC also looks at the troubled history of previous popular diet drugs.
The documentary provides an intimate look at the Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge, a weight loss boot camp in Southern Utah that is helping some lose pounds and others make money. Despite fees of $2,000 per week, The Biggest Loser Ranch has a seven-month waiting list and revenues topping $5 million a year. Many of its guests are repeat customers, returning time and time again in an effort to keep off the weight.
Employers have a big stake in getting their workforce to lose weight and reduce the enormous costs in medical claims and lost productivity linked to obesity. CNBC cameras go inside Johnson & Johnson, and other companies big and small, that are investing in their employees’ weight loss and seeing big returns.
Mitch Weitzner is the Senior Executive Producer of “One Nation, Overweight.” Wally Griffith is the Senior Producer. Na Eng and Hakimah Shah are the Producers. Ray Borelli is the Vice President of Strategic Research, Scheduling and Long Form Programming.
Source: LetsMove.gov