New Grant to Fund APHA Work on Farm, Food Policies

By Anonymous

APHA will be working with public health and environmental health organizations on farm and food policies under a new W.K. Kellogg Foundation grant. Through the $98,000 grant, received in August, APHA will work to increase understanding and support for healthy farm and food policies within the public health and environmental health communities.

APHA will establish a coalition of its members, state and regional affiliated public health associations and other organizations to explore issues such as obesity prevention, access to healthy, locally grown food and environmental conservation. In turn, the coalition will work to address the issues within under- served communities.

“With this grant, we will increase awareness of the interrelatedness of agriculture policy and public health and take a proactive approach toward the development of policies that promote a healthy, sustainable food system,” said APHA Executive Director Georges Benjamin, MD, FACP.

Agriculture policies address many public health issues, including food safety, agricultural production, renewable energy and school nutrition standards.

APHA will sponsor a special session on farm and food policy during the 135th APHA Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., this month. The session, 5090, will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 7, and feature Richard Raymond, undersecretary for food safety at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation works to “help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources.”

For more information on the new APHA grant, e-mail comments@apha.org or call (202) 777-2742.

Copyright American Public Health Association Nov 2007

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