It's time to think about what your congregation feels called to do about health inequities. Read on to get ideas for promoting fair access to healthy, affordable, safe, and culturally-appropriate foods and physical activity – through advocacy or programs that make sure no one is overlooked when it comes to healthy environments.

Increase Community Food Access 

 (Ways to increase community access to safe physical activity follow this section on food access.)

General, Comprehensive Guides for Policy and Place-Based Actions:

Try "Recipes for Change: Healthy Food in Every Community" by the Convergence Partnership. This guide helps you identify a range of policy opportunities to improve community access to healthy, affordable, culturally-appropriate food.

Check First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Campaign website for practical and simple ways to take action to reduce childhood obesity. The site has information grouped by type of setting, such as home, school, and community-based organizations, including congregations. Their Community Leaders Take Action Guide is a particularly useful resource for faith-based groups, with suggestions for helping parents provide healthy choices, advocating for healthier schools, helping children get active, and increasing community access to affordable healthy food.

Understand – and Change – Our Food System:

Learn about our food system in the U.S. and how it relates to faith at the Baltimore Food and Faith Project. Also check to see if there is a local food policy council in your area to learn about your local food economy and actions you can take to improve it for the benefit of all. Find resources on food policy councils (and a range of community food projects) at the WHY Food Security Learning Center. Once you have a better understanding of food systems and policies, raise your voice for equity; one easy way is to follow the lead of organizations working on systemic change:

The Community Food Security Coalition offers policy information on both emergency food programs and larger food system issues, including: USDA local food support, Farm to School and Child Nutrition, Food Safety, the Farm Bill, Urban Agriculture and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition program, as well as an advocacy toolkit. The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) website offers similar resources, including its legislative action center section that walks you through how to respond to a variety of food access issues. They include federal and state level advocacy.

Advocate for or Support Emergency and Supplemental Food Programs:

• Learn about federal and state laws and funding for nutrition programs serving children, seniors, and people with low incomes. Follow advocacy organizations' advice on how to add your voice as a supporter.

As mentioned above, the Community Food Security Coalition offers policy information on USDA local food support, Farm to School and Child Nutrition, Food Safety, the Farm Bill, Urban Agriculture and the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Nutrition program, as well as an advocacy toolkit. The Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) website offers similar resources, including its legislative action center section that walks you through how to respond to a variety of food access issues. They include federal and state level advocacy.

Bread for the World provides a one-page, downloadable document on the Biblical basis for advocacy, as well as thoughts on influencing decision makers to support funding and programs that make sure people around the world have enough nutritious food to eat. The organization also addresses the root causes of hunger with advocacy aimed at reducing poverty. Their Offering of Letters approach involves your entire faith community or coalition in spiritually-grounded advocacy (from a Christian perspective).

Provide or Connect to Community Food Programs:

To meet immediate community food needs, while you are advocating for long-term changes:

• Share information with congregants and the community about how to sign up for food assistance programs.

To learn more about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly called food stamps), please visit the USDA website FAQs page, which includes who qualifies for the program and how to apply. The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) federal nutrition program provides supplemental foods and nutrition education for families with low to moderate incomes who are expecting a baby or who have children under 5 in their household. The national WIC website lists income guidelines and it can point you to a program office in your area. Feeding America's food bank locator can connect you with emergency food in your neighborhood.

• Create a program to share healthy food with your neighbors.

Bring the farm to your congregation or open your kitchen to the community: Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon's (EMO's) 25-page Food Sovereignty Handbook outlines how to start and maintain community gardens, community kitchens, buying clubs, farm stands and other projects harnessing faith community resources to increase healthy food access. It offers tips for success and effective community collaboration.

Check the WHY Food Security Learning Center for information on community food assessments and projects.

Periodically hold a healthy food drive and donate what you collect to your local food bank, or to your congregation's community meal or emergency food program. Or, create a "share the harvest" program, asking congregants to bring produce from their gardens (or from your congregation's garden) to stock local emergency food programs or to go home with families within your faith community who could use some healthy fresh food.

Encourage small and convenience stores in your area to stock healthier food options, including fresh fruits and vegetables.

Think about sponsoring or hosting a summer food program or helping at an existing summer feeding site to ensure that low-income children are well-fed when school is out. According to the USDA, only a fraction of children in need are reached by the program, due to a lack of available feeding sites. The USDA's website has more information about how to get involved. You don't necessarily have to host a program at your congregation to be of service; the website can connect you with a program near you that is already running and could use volunteers. Texas Impact has a guide on how faith communities, in particular, can get involved with summer food programs in ways that support healthy eating and physical activity.

You can also run a "Backpack" program to meet the needs of hungry children at times when other resources are not available, such as during summer vacation or on weekends. Check with your local food bank for instructions.

Start a food pantry or community meal at your congregation or offer free or low-cost healthy meals to low-income children in your child care, after-school or summer programs. Take advantage of USDA's reimbursements for meals served. For more information on how to start a food pantry, check out the Montana Food Bank's comprehensive guide and contact your local food bank. Community meals are another great way to practice radical hospitality. In St. Helens, Oregon, volunteers from different congregations and organizations come together to cook and eat with their neighbors two evenings a week. All join in the work and eat the meal together; there is no distinction between organizers and people in need of a healthy meal. Click here for their story.

Increase Community Opportunities to be Active and Fit

General, Comprehensive Guides:

Check First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! Campaign website for practical and simple ways to take action to reduce childhood obesity. The site has information grouped by type of setting, such as home, school, and community-based organizations, including congregations. Their Community Leaders Take Action Guide is a particularly useful resource for faith-based groups, with suggestions for helping parents provide healthy choices, advocating for healthier schools, helping children get active, and increasing community access to affordable healthy food.

Advocate for Parks, Natural Areas, and Walking, Jogging, and Bike Paths in Your Community:

The Active Living Resource Center website features a number of resources to help you create a more "walkable" and bike-friendly community, including "Increasing Physical Activity through Community Design: A Guide for Public Health Practitioners and Livable Community Advocates" from the National Center for Bicycling and Walking. The guide tells you how to determine your role, define what needs to be done, take action, and find funding for your efforts.

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services offers a variety of guides on creating "Active Community Environments (ACEs). Try their quick list of suggested strategies "What Works in...Communities - Active Environments," or a more detailed description of these strategies and how to go about creating community change in the comprehensive ACEs Resource Kit.

The U.S. National Physical Activity Plan provides recommended strategies and tactics that communities, organizations and agencies, and individuals can use to increase physical activity in different settings, including a section on Parks, Recreation, Fitness and Sports and another on Land Use and Community Design.

Safe Routes to School programs "enable community leaders, schools and parents across the United States to improve safety and encourage more children, including children with disabilities, to safely walk and bicycle to school. In the process, programs are working to reduce traffic congestion and improve health and the environment, making communities more livable for everyone."

Push for Adequate Recess and Physical Education Time in Schools:

The National Coalition for Promoting Physical Activity has information on public policy concerning physical education at schools and how you can become an advocate.

To learn more about current legislation addressing physical activity in schools, visit the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance website and learn about taking action.

Share Your Congregation's Buildings and Land:

You can improve community access to safe, affordable physical activity by opening your doors and property to others. Consider putting in a community garden or outdoor play structure that you advertise as open to all (a simple blacktop area or basketball hoops are fine), or an indoor play area or gymnasium that has open community hours. You could also let struggling community groups, such as day care centers or after-school programs that don't have enough space or financial resources to provide active playtime for their youngsters, take advantage of your space for no or low cost. Think about signing a "joint use agreement" with an organization that will regularly use your building or grounds to avoid misunderstandings or legal issues. 

Learn more about being an effective advocate.

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it projects your congregation or community group has taken on to increase community access to healthy food and physical activity.