FMC to Partner with Community Food Groups on Communities Putting Prevention to Work

      Posted On: October 13, 2010

On March 19, 2010 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Communities Putting Prevention to Work initiative, improving access to healthy foods and opportunities for physical activity, and putting into place policies that will promote the health of populations. Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), forty-four communities were selected to roll out initiatives that decrease smoking and obesity, increase physical activity and improve nutrition. These awards totals $372.8 million.

On September 17th, HHS announced awards to ten national organizations selected to provide targeted technical assistance to these forty-four communities.  The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) was among these ten awardees, selected “to provide expert guidance to communities, help sustain prevention efforts when recovery act funding ends, and foster a national movement toward prevention by implementing key practices across their networks and systems.”  The HHS Office of Public Health and Science is leading the national organizations component of Communities Putting Prevention to Work in partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Based on their apparent need for services, demographics, and geographic diversity, communities were matched with CFSC and its partners, including:

Tucson, Arizona
Miami, Florida
Louisville, Kentucky
Omaha, Nebraska
La Crosse, Wisconsin
Portland, Oregon
San Antonio, Texas
Nashville, Tennessee
Portland, Maine and Lakes Region, Maine

Seattle, Washington

As a partner on this project, the Farmers Market Coalition will be dispatched to provide technical assistance to those communities using farmers market as strategies to improve access to fresh, healthy food, including Tucson, Miami, Portland, Seattle, and others. FMC looks forward to working with leaders in these communities, and continuing its partnership with CFSC on farmers market food security issues.

To learn more about the Communities Putting Prevention to Work- Leveraging National Organizations program please visit http://www.hhs.gov/ophs/funding/cppwfactsheet.html