Access to Healthy Foods

One of the goals of the Healthy Community Initiative is to increase fruit and vegetable consumption and promote healthy foods at restaurants and businesses. Specifically these goals will include increasing consumption of fruits and vegetables through Marysville Community Food Bank, Increasing the number of ESL students/families participating in the Marysville School District free/reduced breakfast & lunch program, Establishing a congregate meal site for older adults, Ensuring restaurants provide nutrition labeling on all menus.

Increase the amount of fruits and vegetables consumed by Marysville Food Bank participants:

Actions
• Meet with Food Bank leadership/board and explain HC project and Marysville’s Action Plan.
• Assess current strengths and barriers to accessing Food Bank.
• Assess amount, variety, quality, source, and perception of fruits and vegetables offered by Food Bank.
• Research strategies other communities have used to increase the amount of fresh fruits and vegetables available at Food Banks.
• Involve Food Bank participants & volunteers, city leaders, community members, business leaders, and health professionals in identifying one strategy to implement.
• Pilot new strategy implementation and evaluate.

Partners

Washington State DOH, Healthy Communities Project Advisory Committee, City of Marysville, Marysville Community Food Bank, Snohomish Health District, Business Leaders, Community Members, Health Professionals.

Short Term Measures
• Action plan shared with the Marysville Food Bank leadership/board.
• Strengths and barriers for accessing Marysville Food Bank identified.
• Assessment of fruit/vegetable offerings completed.
• Best practices for fruit/vegetable interventions at food banks identified.
• Marysville Food Bank partners and participants select implementation strategy.
• New strategy piloted, marketed & promoted, and evaluated.

Long Term Measures
• Additional strategies to increase fruit/vegetable consumption are implemented and evaluated for long-term outcomes.
• Fruit/vegetable consumption by Food Bank participants increases.

Increase the number of all eligible students participating in the Marysville School District free/reduced breakfast & lunch program:

Actions
• Meet with key school district free/reduced lunch stakeholders including Superintendent, Food Services Manager, School Board Members, school staff – especially those who specialize working with low-income and/or multicultural students & parents, and community members to explain HC Action Plan.
• Establish working committee to strategize increasing enrollment/participation in free breakfast/lunch programs.
• Review Marysville School District’s 2005 revised nutrition policy.
• Identify barriers to enrolling students/families in free/reduced lunch program.
• Research “best practices” for free/reduced lunch registration and utilization.
• Approach parents, staff, and students to identify strategies to increase participation.
• Implement strategies at one pilot school site and evaluate outcomes.

Partners

Marysville School District, Healthy Communities Project Advisory Committee, City of Marysville, Marysville Parks and Recreation, Snohomish Health District, Marysville YMCA, churches, schools, local service clubs, and representatives of Hispanic, Russian/Ukraine and other sub-populations.

Short Term Measures
• Action plan shared with key partners.
• Working committee established.
• Marysville School District nutrition policy reviewed.
• Special populations assessed, barriers to participation identified.
• Best practices for increasing participation identified.
• Input from key stakeholders and participants obtained.
• Strategies implemented and evaluated at one pilot school.

Long Term Measures
• Successful strategies implemented at all schools.
• Increase in participation in low cost/free breakfast/lunch programs by all eligible students, especially those who speak English as a second language.

Establish new community gardens to make fresh, local produce more readily available:

Actions
• Form an exploratory Community Gardens Planning Committee to manage tasks such as assessment, research, funding, supplies, and resource development, youth activities, construction, communications and community education.
• Assess the need and desire for a community gardens project, and who the participants and beneficiaries would be.
• Review other community garden programs such as P-Patch in Seattle to identify successes and challenges and how those should be considered in the Marysville project.
• Identify potential garden sites with particular attention focused on access for senior citizens, youth, and food bank participants.
• Establish criteria and select a pilot community garden site(s) to establish long-term viability for a broader program.
• Choose a Garden Coordinator, paid or volunteer, to oversee implementation and volunteer management.
• Select garden participants and support fruit/vegetable/plant gardening.
• Evaluate volunteer participation in project and assess fruit/vegetable production.

Partners

Washington State DOH, Healthy Communities Project Advisory Committee & Leadership Team, City of Marysville, Marysville Parks and Recreation, Marysville School District, Snohomish Health District, WSU Cooperative-Extension, Marysville YMCA, churches, local service clubs, and Marysville community members with an interest in gardening and nutrition.

Short Term Measures
• Marysville Community Gardens Committee established.
• Community garden needs, desires, participants and beneficiaries identified.
• Successful community garden programs identified and compatibility with Marysville assessed.
• Criteria for garden sites established.
• Community gardens project site and population served identified.
• Community garden coordinator selected.
• Community garden project promoted, volunteers plant and harvest crops.
• Evaluation completed and key recommendation adopted.

Long Term Measures
• Community garden sites are established throughout Marysville.
• Program infrastructure developed and sustained to support community garden efforts.
• Increase in production and consumption of locally grown fruits/vegetables.

Establish a congregate meal site for older adults:

Actions
• Identify community and professional partners who serve senior citizens and educate them about Marysville Healthy Communities Nutrition and Physical Activity Action Plan.
• Establish and recruit for a Congregate Meal Site Exploratory Committee.
• Survey and interview senior citizens in the community to identify their needs and interest in participating at a senior meal site.
• Assess the barriers to and need for a congregate meal site designed to help meet the nutritional needs of older adults who may not eat adequately at home.
• Research and identify successful county, state, and national congregate meal sites and select a model based on "best practices."
• Identity potential sites for a congregate meal site taking into account access to public transportation and opportunities to use existing facilities/resources.
• Leverage funding for a congregate meal site.
• Provide specialized transportation to provide door-to-door service for seniors unable to access the fixed route.
• Provide outreach to non-English speaking senior individuals.
• Provide weekly meal opportunities to senior citizens.

Partners

Senior Citizens. City of Marysville, Senior Services of Snohomish County (SSSC) including Senior Nutrition, Senior Information and Assistance, and Transportation, Ken Baxter Senior Community Center, Community Transit, Everett Clinic in Marysville, Sea Mar Clinic, nursing homes, in-home care agencies, retirement and assisted living centers, Snohomish County Department of Long Term Care and Aging.

Short Term Measures
• Action plan presented to community partners.
• A Congregate Meal Site Exploratory Committee established.
• Needs for and interest in a congregate meal site assessed.
• Barriers to operating a congregate meal site identified.
• Best practices identified and model(s) for implementation selected.
• Funding strategies identified and implemented.
• Congregate meal site identified.
• Transportation plan identified and in place, including a senior-specific shuttle, to support access to meal site.
• Outreach and promotion complete, with special attention paid to English as a second language or non-English speaking seniors.
• Weekly meals served at site.

Long Term Measures
• Increased participation in meal program.
• Consistent and increased funding to support community need for congregate meals.

Ensure restaurants provide nutrition labeling on all menus

Actions
• Share HC Action Plan with City Council, local nutrition/health advocates, and locally owned chain restaurants.
• Formalize a request from city/community leaders asking the local Board of Health to identify policies that would support menu labeling in Snohomish County restaurants and adopt a county-wide policy requiring menu labeling in restaurants.
• Monitor state and federal legislation recommending or requiring nutrition labeling on menus and continue to identify best practice strategies.
• Explore a “Winners Circle”-type of incentive/awards program to recognize businesses and restaurants that excel in providing and promoting healthier food options.
• Develop informational tool kit for restaurants to assist with successful implementation of a healthier choice incentives/recognition program.
• Work with pilot restaurant sites on a voluntary basis to provide calorie and other general nutritional information to consumers at point of purchase.

Partners

Washington State DOH, Snohomish Health District, City of Marysville, Healthy Communities Project Advisory Committee, Greater Marysville Tulalip Chamber of Commerce, local restaurant businesses, Marysville Downtown Merchants Association, key state and county elected officials, Washington Restaurant Association.

Short Term Measures
• Action plan shared with City Council, Snohomish Health District’s Board of Health, local nutrition/health advocates and key stakeholders including locally owned chain restaurants.
• Marysville leaders send formal request for menu labeling action Snohomish Health District’s Board of Health.
• Continued monitoring of state and federal legislation on menu labeling/best practice strategies for changing the nutrition environment.

Long Term Measures
• All restaurants in Snohomish County that meet policy criteria have specified nutrition information on all menus/at consumer points of purchase.
• Support restaurants that don’t meet policy criteria to include nutrition labeling information on all menus/at consumer points of purchase.

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