While waiting in line at the convenience store located doors away from my legislative office on South Broad Street, it became clear why we are losing the fight to prevent childhood obesity.
Imagine this:
Directly in front of you is a bullet-proof window encased with numerous types of candy, gum, and cigarettes. To the right, there’s a wall covered with a variety of single-serving cake snacks and cookies, and to the left there’s a wall covered with potato chips, pretzels and popcorn. As you move forward and reach over the popsicle-filled freezer to pay for your items, you notice that, in the corner, on the top of the freezer, are gently bruised bananas, oranges and apples all snuggled together in one little box.
These were the dynamics of that corner store I stood inside of, that patronizes dozens of students and community members daily. And pushed to the corner, overshadowed by a plethora of salty and sweet delights nicely wrapped in shiny colorful packaging, was our answer to conquering childhood obesity.
Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in our communities that threatens the future of our youth. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16 percent of children (that’s over 9 million) between the ages of 6 and 19 are overweight or obese, a number that has tripled since 1980.
The reality is, it’s easier to obtain candy and soda from the corner stores than it is to access fresh food from a supermarket or farmer’s market. In order to fight against childhood obesity, it’s important to reverse the ailing geographical landscape and make healthy food easily accessible. Although these convenience stores may provide quick-fixes for our children and community members, they are providing long-term, unhealthy, habits that will take them the rest of their lives to repair.
As a result, our children are engaging in unhealthy activities that are impacting their physical well-being. Not only are our children dealing with issues of violence and educational inadequacies, they are dealing with health deficiencies that’s having a major impact on our community as a whole.
I understand that a direct response to this growing epidemic is education and activity. Although the previously-mentioned statistics seem devastating, we have the ability to reverse the effects of childhood obesity. It’s vital that we teach children the importance of healthy eating and exercising so it can become a part of a lifestyle that they adopt for life. However, this is useless if they don’t have the tools to help them in their journey. This is like trying to teaching children the importance of reading, without providing books.
I will continue to support the efforts of initiatives, like A Healthy Future Within Reach, that work to educate our children about the importance of making healthy decisions.
In addition, I plan to make sure we continue working towards reversing this ailing geographical landscape and make healthy food establishments, such as farmer markets, and community gardens easily accessible.
Lastly, Thursday July 21, I am hosting my second Kiddy Olympic and Health Expo at the Christian Street YMCA in South Philadelphia. This event will feature several Olympic-style events to help youth get motivated and educated about being fit and staying healthy.
Like the small box of fruit that lay in the corner of that convenience store, many urban communities experience a similar set-up and are bombarded with unhealthy options that are easily accessible, while healthy options are out of site, and all too often, out of reach. It’s time to change the landscape.
Contributed by State Representative Kenyatta Johnson
“The effort to get fresh fruits and veggies into every household in our country is not just a Stars Within Reach effort. It will require a little help from all of us! Check out what our neighbors in Point Breeze are doing and let us know what you can do in your neighborhood? or maybe one that is close by! Healthy options equal healthy living.
~Nichole Badger, Esq., Founder of Stars Within Reach
The Food Trust works to bring healthier food into Philadelphia’s schools and corner stores and more farmers’ markets and supermarkets into its neighborhoods.
If you have a supermarket selling fresh, affordable, high-quality produce in your neighborhood, you might be wondering why this issue is so vital. The 23.5 million Americans who live more than a mile from the nearest supermarket don’t have to wonder. They struggle to feed their families healthy foods – travelling great distances to the nearest supermarket, paying higher prices for lower-quality food at corner stores and suffering from higher rates of obesity and other chronic diet-related diseases.
At The Food Trust, we’ve been working on the related issues of food access and childhood obesity for almost 20 years. We’ve developed a comprehensive approach that combines nutrition education and improved access to healthy, affordable food – and we’ve seen it working here in Philadelphia.
You may know us through our work with farmers’ markets. We operate more than 20 farmers’ markets in Philadelphia, including the city’s longest-running farmers’ market at Clark Park, the city’s largest open-air market at Headhouse, and one that we’re particularly proud of in the neighborhood of Point Breeze.
In 2010, with the help of the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, state Sen. Larry Farnese, state Rep. Kenyatta Johnson and Diversified Community Services as well as neighbors and other community groups, The Food Trust established the Point Breeze Farmers’ Market as a source of fresh, affordable fruits and vegetables.
The community has made it a success, welcoming farmer Reuben Riehl of Riehl Farms in Honey Brook, Chester County, a former dairy farmer who is expanding his fruit and vegetable harvest. Reuben grows a wide variety of vegetables from tomatoes and corn to salad greens. He also brings great peaches, plums and apples from his brother-in-law’s orchard.
The Point Breeze Farmers’ Market welcomes SNAP benefits (as food stamp benefits are now known), Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program Vouchers and Philly Food Bucks. Philly Food Bucks, a program of The Food Trust and the Philadelphia Department of Public Health’s Get Healthy Philly initiative, extends the buying power of SNAP; for every $5 a customer spends in SNAP, he or she receives a coupon for $2 worth of fresh fruits and vegetables. That’s 40 percent more fruits and vegetables for Philadelphia families.
Get your fruits and vegetables at the Point Breeze Farmers’ Market every Tuesday from 2 pm to 6 pm, June through October at 22nd and Tasker streets, in front of the Mamie Nichols Community Center.
And join Reuben Riehl and The Food Trust on Saturday, June 11th, as we support Stars Within Reach and the community of Point Breeze in the launch of ‘A Healthy Future Within Reach’ – an interactive, multimedia campaign to raise awareness for childhood obesity and health education for children living in urban areas.
When Michelle Obama came to Philadelphia to launch her Let’s Move campaign, she praised the city for its dedication to addressing the issues of childhood obesity and food access. “We know it won’t be easy to solve this obesity crisis,” Obama said. “But if there’s anyone out there who doubts that it can be done, then I would urge them to come here to Philadelphia.”
We urge you to come to Point Breeze —and to go home with a bounty of farm-fresh local produce!
April is Autism Awareness Month and since so many children are impacted by this lifelong condition, Stars Within Reach wanted to do something to help. We heard about the Center for Autism and all that is does to help provide medical treatment for children living with autism. They also told us about an after-school program that they offer called the Social Competency Program AND we knew immediately that Stars Within Reach wanted to help!
Children like Pierce are enjoying meaningful progress due to the dedicated folks at the Center for Autism’s Social Competency Program. Here’s what Pierce’s mom, Cathy, had to say:
My son Pierce was a wonderful baby. He cried little, smiled often and slept well. His big personality and determination to succeed was evident from early on. When he began rolling over, you could see the resolve on his face to push his little body ahead of its time. When he turned six months old and was given a baby walker, he quickly learned to glide across the floor to reach his destination. Of course, this willfulness was also evident when he began having temper tantrums, often for no apparent reason. We began to notice that Pierce was different from other children. He only used a few words to communicate and swiftly dismantled any object in our house that he could get his hands on. Though it took some time and the right person to suggest autism to us, once he received a diagnosis, Pierce went on into early intervention services and the world of education.
Pierce was fortunate to be placed in a fantastic program, with wonderful teachers and support staff. He made gains academically and developed more language. However, Pierce’s ability to interact with others was limited and unusual. He could talk, but lacked conversation skills and the desire to play with other children. He chose only to direct activities and when someone didn’t follow his rules, including scripts he expected all to use, the tantrums were monumental. We realized that something was missing.
That missing piece was found when we enrolled Pierce in the Social Competency Program at the Center for Autism. To read more about Pierce’s Story CLICK HERE
Student leaders in 9 organizations across the City of Philadelphia are tackling issues of bullying and violence head on through the Campaign for Nonviolent Schools. The Campaign for Nonviolent Schools is a youth-created initiative geared toward eliminating school violence without pushing students into the criminal justice system.
The Campaign for Nonviolent Schools works on three levels of change: individual, school, and system-wide. Student leaders have actively adopted the philosophy and practice of nonviolent social change in the tradition of MLK and Ghandi. Through study and reflection they have come to understand the power in nonviolence. They have created their own definition of violence: power that hurts. By extension, nonviolence is not merely the absence of violence, but it is power that helps. So far they have trained over 500 students across the School District of Philadelphia in nonviolent principles and nonviolent action.
Secondly, the campaign is working to shift individual schools toward a vision of a Nonviolent School. Nonviolent schools share a number of characteristics. They create an atmosphere of personalization in which each member of the school community is treated with respect and dignity. They use restorative discipline practices which focus on repairing harm and preventing problems rather than simply reacting to them. They ensure that student’s voices are heard and that young people have a say in the decisions that affect their lives. And they strive to provide their students with the resources they need to succeed. This vision of a Nonviolent school has been created over the past year in interactive sessions with students from every neighborhood and background in the city of Philadelphia.
Members of the Campaign are also actively participating in the Blue Ribbon Commission on School Violence that is led by Mayor Nutter and Superintendant Arlene Ackerman. Through this and other avenues they seek to influence the School District’s discipline policy.
The Campaign launched on MLK day 2010 with a 600 person mobilization against school violence attended by State Representative Vanessa Brown and district Attorney Seth Williams. Members of the Campaign have also conducted two Nonviolent Flash-mobs to demonstrate to the community that youth can be an organized and disciplined force for good. In November 2010 they conducted a Youth Power Summit, training over 200 students from 46 Philadelphia High Schools in nonviolence, restorative practices, eliminating bias violence, understanding the school to prison pipeline, and student rights and responsibilities.
The Campaign for Nonviolent Schools was founded and continues to be led by the Philadelphia Student Union. Members are Philadelphia Freedom Schools, Asian Americans United, Citywide Student Government, BPSOS, the University Community Collaborate at Temple, Asian Students Association of Philadelphia, the Youth Commission, and Youth United for Change.
Most of you have probably heard about a 13-year-old boy named Nadin Khoury from Philadelphia who was brutally attacked by seven bigger schoolmates two months ago. ESPN’s Rick Reilly watched three Eagles players surprise Khoury on a recent airing of ABC’s “The View,” and wrote a column about it:
Wide receiver DeSean Jackson, guard Todd Herremans and center Jamaal Jackson were the three players who walked onto the set. DeSean is Khoury’s favorite player in the league.
“Khoury seemed at once shocked, overwhelmed and redeemed,” writes Reilly. “Where once his chin stuck out as best it could, it now fell open in wonder. He looked like a kid who’d forgotten it was Christmas morning. He wept without wiping his tears. [DeSean] Jackson sat as close to him as possible, as if to make the two one. He praised the boy for his bravery and added, “Anytime ever you need us, I got two linemen right here.”
‘Nadin’s mom cried, Whoopi Goldberg cried, my wife cried and I cried.’
The issue of bullying jumped to the top of our cultural radar screen with a series of tragic events in October 2010 and it hasn’t gone away. In a culture where we suffer from “National A.D.D.”; where stories drift away in a news cycle that is always scooping the next big issue before wrapping up the last; what is it about the age old topic of bullying that has kept us talking for months?
It appears to be a combination of something familiar and tangible; childhood memories of being on one side or the other of bullying, but with a new twist that has changed the game. Advances in technology have made “cyberbullying” an unavoidable new reality.
Cyberbullying allows the bully to act faster and easier with the potential for humiliation exponentially higher. In the not too distant past, publicly embarrassing a classmate would entail writing something incendiary on a bathroom wall. Today, classmates record physical abuse and upload it to YouTube for the entire world to see. Derogatory remarks can be posted on Facebook and Twitter for thousands of friends to see in an instant. A student who could once escape a bully when the school bell rang can now be harassed 24/7 with hurtful text messages.
The new role of parents is also touching a nerve. Technology has finally given adults the extra set of eyes they never had access to once the school bus drove away. Parents have traditionally had to trust that when children recount the highlights of their day at the dinner table, that they are indeed providing an accurate picture; the good, bad and in between.
Today, cruel acts of aggression that would have previously gone unreported are now on the permanent record; in text messages, on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and social media platforms that parents do not even know exist; parents are beginning to actually see what bullying in 2011 means. Cyberbulling has taken this problem from the schoolyard and put it in front of our faces, in our homes.
But how do we move forward? Closing this technological gap will be a matter of pro-active parenting. Children will not take the initiative to educate their parents on social media because they are inherently secretive and protective of their ability to communicate freely and candidly with friends. We as parents and educators will have to educate ourselves.
Here are some facts to consider:
¨ 93% of teens ages 12-17 go online
¨ 63% are online every day
¨ Cell phone ownership is up from 45% in 2004 to 71% in 2008
¨ Between 20-25% of students have been the victim of Cyber Bullying
¨ Victims of Cyber Bullying are more likely to suffer from low self esteem and suicidal thoughts
¨ 1/3 of teens reported being bullied at school
¨ Only 1/3 of bully victims reported the bullying to someone at school
¨ 44% of middle schools reported bullying problems, compared to just over 20% in elementary and high schools
The facts help us develop an action plan. For parents and school administrators to get a firmer handle on this new frontier, it will be necessary for all of us to re-train ourselves to:
¨ look for problems in different places;
¨ ask different questions;
¨ be in the trenches by learning the communication tools of children;
¨ resist the urge to simply pull the technological plug on children out of frustration;
¨ understand that the same social media tools that seem to be the problem today, will be the same tools that allow them to flourish in the new and evolving workforce tomorrow
¨ acknowledge the obvious: these tools will be available to children whether you want them to or not
Many of us are behind the learning curve. It is a high speed rail train that has left the station. It is difficult, at best, to slow it down. Slowing down forward progress will always be a losing battle. With initiative, collaboration, communication and commitment among parents, teachers and our children, we have a unique opportunity. The responsibility tocatch up is not an option. If we love our children, it is required.
This is another quick clip from the mini-golf outing & driving event hosted by Paul and Nichole the day before thier wedding! This event grew into the Annual Stars Golf Outing! The Stars Golf Outing started with a mere 30 golfers and now it is attended by over 140 men and women who want to support the SWR causes. In 2010, we raised funds to help homeless children received the necessary tutoring they need in order not to fall behind in school! Each year, we take the event up a notch by organizing a private driving event for our guests.There’s nothing like golf, friendly faces, and ferraris to make a day AMAZING!
We love a good story! The story of how Stars Within Reach was born is a GREAT story. Take a look! If you want to skip right to the good part, feel free to fast forward to 0:59. Note: Paul wants everyone to know he is NOT from New Jersey. lol. Paul is from Philadelphia, but Nichole is a proud Jersey girl (not to be confused with the folks from …umm, MTVs Jersey Shore )
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