Entitled Increasing Healthy Food Access: Opportunities in the Economic Stimulus and Other Policy Options, this webinar provided an opportunity for state and local policy-makers to learn how funds from the economic stimulus can be used to increase access to healthy foods and healthy eating opportunities for children and families. Other policy options that can help leverage these funds in creating healthier communities were also discussed. The event featured staff from Leadership for Healthy Communities, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity and the National Policy Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity, as well as two Vermont legislators who discussed a recent law that they championed appropriating economic stimulus finds for a new farm-to-plate program. For more information about Vermont's farm-to-plate program, see Vermont State Rep. Jason Lorber's blog post at http://www.friendsofjason.blogspot.com/ .

Moderator:
Laura Ojeda, Deputy Director, Leadership for Healthy Communities

Speakers included:
Melissa Maitin-Shepard, Policy and Program Associate, Leadership for Healthy Communities
Joe Thompson, M.D., M.P.H., Director, RWJF Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity
Christine Fry, M.P.P., Program Coordinator, National Policy and Legal Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (NPLAN)
Representatives Jason Lorber and Christopher Bray, Vermont State Legislature

Presentations:

Increasing Healthy Food Access: Opportunities in the Economic Stimulus and Other Policy Options, Joseph W. Thompson, MD, MPH, Director, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity, Leadership provided by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement in strategic partnership with PolicyLink (PDF)

Opportunities in the Economic Stimulus for Increasing Access to Healthy Foods, Melissa Maitin‐Shepard, Policy and Program Associate, Leadership for Healthy Communities (PDF)

Healthy Food Policy Options to Complement Stimulus Opportunities, Joseph W. Thompson, MD, MPH, Director, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity, Leadership provided by the Arkansas Center for Health Improvement in strategic partnership with PolicyLink(PDF)

The Action Strategies for Healthy Communities Toolkit, Part 1, Laura Ojeda, Deputy Director, Leadership for Healthy Communities (PDF)

The Action Strategies for Healthy Communities Toolkit, Part 2, Laura Ojeda, Deputy Director, Leadership for Healthy Communities (PDF)

Legal Technical Assistance to Create Healthier Communities, Christine R. Fry, MPP, Program Coordinator,  National Policy Analysis Network to Prevent Childhood Obesity (PDF)

Farm-to-Plate, Rebuilding Vermont’s local food system, from idea to law, State Rep. Jason P. Lorber, Economic Development, and State Rep. Christopher Bray, Agriculture (PDF)

Audio/Visual Recording

Click the link below for an audio/visual recording of the Webinar: