WASHINGTON, DC (April 9, 2012) – Over ninety national and regional hunger relief, public health, faith-based and other advocacy organizations sent a letter to Congress today urging the Senate and House Agriculture Committees to strengthen and protect nutrition programs in the 2012 Farm Bill. The letter is being sent as the Senate Agriculture Committee is expected to begin marking up a Farm Bill after the congressional Easter recess.

"With unemployment still stuck over 8 percent nationally and millions of families struggling to put food on the table, it is inconceivable that Congress would make cuts to nutrition programs in the Farm Bill," said David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World. "The need for food assistance has never been greater."

Last year, the Senate and House Agriculture Committees recommended $4.2 billion in nutrition cuts to the Super Committee as part of the deficit reduction process. The House budget resolution passed last month would go far deeper, making $133.5 billion in cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the largest federal nutrition program, formerly called food stamps.

"Cutting Farm Bill nutrition programs would devastate efforts to protect against hunger and improve nutrition, particularly among our nation's children, seniors and low-income families," said Matthew Marsom, vice president for public health policy and advocacy at the Public Health Institute. "Congress must safeguard and strengthen food assistance programs in the Farm Bill, including vital programs that promote healthy eating and increase access to healthy foods such as SNAP nutrition education (SNAP-Ed) and the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program."

In recognition of the elevated need for food assistance and the consequences of hunger and poor nutrition, a diverse coalition of stakeholders is urging Congress to protect and strengthen Farm Bill nutrition programs. Their recommendations are guided by three shared principles: 1) protect against hunger; 2) improve nutrition and health outcomes among vulnerable populations; and 3) strengthen community-based initiatives that link farmers with consumers and increase access to healthy food.

"We recognize the challenge of drafting a Farm Bill in this budget environment, but nutrition programs help our most vulnerable citizens meet their most basic need – food," said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America. "Congress should protect and strengthen these programs, not cut them. Eighty four percent of SNAP benefits go to households with a child, senior or disabled person, and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) helps food banks, churches and other charities provide meals and groceries to struggling families in their communities."

The coalition's principles guide a set of specific recommendations for SNAP, TEFAP and other Farm Bill nutrition programs. The text of the letter and list of endorsing organizations follows.

For more information about the Public Health Institute, go to: www.phi.org.

For more information about Bread for the World, go to: www.bread.org.

For more information, contact:
Matthew Marsom
Vice President for Public Health Policy & Advocacy
Public Health Institute
matthew.marsom@phi.org
(510) 285-5540

Nutrition Priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill

The undersigned organizations offer the following recommendations to improve nutrition and health and to increase access to affordable, nutritious food, particularly for vulnerable populations including children, seniors, and low-income families and individuals. While our organizations have specific missions and farm bill priorities, we are guided by three shared principles that shape our collective priorities.  The farm bill must: I) protect against hunger; II) improve nutrition and health outcomes among vulnerable populations; and III) strengthen community-based initiatives that link farmers with consumers and increase access to healthy food.

Protect against hunger by ensuring adequate resources for federal nutrition assistance programs and emergency food providers.

• Protect eligibility, benefit levels, and program integrity of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to ensure that low-income Americans have the resources necessary to afford a nutritious diet and prevent hunger.
• Ensure adequate supply of nutritious commodities for distribution through emergency food providers by increasing mandatory commodities provided by The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and maintaining authorized funding levels for TEFAP storage and distribution.
• Maintain Commodity Supplemental Food Program (CSFP) authorization at current levels and focus program on improving nutrition for low-income seniors by transitioning CSFP to a seniors-only program, with grandfathered protection for women, infants, and children currently enrolled.
• Provide a tax credit to farmers to incentivize earlier donation of high quality produce to food banks for distribution through the charitable food system.

Improve nutrition and health outcomes for vulnerable populations by increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables and other healthy foods.

• Maintain current funding for SNAP Nutrition Education to help low-income Americans make healthy choices on a limited budget, reduce their risk of chronic disease and obesity, and optimize the SNAP benefit.
• Maintain current funding for the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program and protect the integrity of the program to ensure that low-income elementary students have a fresh fruit or vegetable snack at school every day.
• Provide grants for SNAP incentive programs to increase the purchase and consumption of fruits and vegetables at farmers markets and other healthy food retailers.
• Strengthen SNAP national vendor standards to improve availability of healthy foods while balancing adequate access to retailer outlets.
• Maintain funding for the National Institute of Food and Agriculture for vital research on nutrition, hunger and food security, and obesity prevention.

Strengthen community-based nutrition initiatives that link farmers with consumers and increase access to healthy food to reduce food insecurity, improve nutrition, and promote self-reliance, economic development and job creation.

• Ensure funding for existing farmers' market, community food, and agriculture marketing and food hub development programs to improve outcomes and efficiency, meet demand, and maximize impact.
• Increase mandatory funding for Community Food Projects to improve nutrition and food security among low-income individuals and communities.
• Provide SNAP EBT point of sale devices to farmers markets, farm stands, green carts and other non-traditional healthy food retailers to improve access and increase consumption of fruits and vegetables.

Nutrition Priorities for the 2012 Farm Bill Signatories

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics
American Academy of Pediatrics
American Commodity Distribution Association
American Farmland Trust
American Heart Association
American Public Health Association
American Society for Nutrition
Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum
Association of Jewish Family & Children's Agencies
Association of SNAP-Ed Nutrition Networks and Other Implementing Agencies
Association of State & Territorial Public Health Nutrition Directors
Bread for the World
California Association of Nutrition & Activity Programs
California Food and Justice Coalition
California Food Policy Advocates
California Public Health Association-North
Campaign for Better Nutrition
Catholic Charities USA
Center for Science in the Public Interest
Church of the Brethren
Community Food Security Coalition
Community Health Councils
Congressional Hunger Center
Defeat Diabetes Foundation
Disciples Home Missions, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada
Disciples Justice Action Network
Earth Day Network
End Hunger Network
Environmental Working Group
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America
Fair Food Network
Farm Sanctuary
Farmers Market Coalition
Feeding America
FGE Food & Nutrition Team
First Focus Campaign for Children
Food & Water Watch
Green For All
HealthyPlanet
Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Jewish Council for Public Affairs
Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future
League of United Latin American Citizens
Liberty Prairie Foundation
MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger
Meals on Wheels Association of America
Mennonite Central Committee U.S. Washington Office
Missouri Association of Local Public Health Agencies
National Advocacy Center of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd
National Association of County and City Health Officials
National Association of Nutrition and Aging Services Programs
National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities
National Commodity Supplemental Food Program Association
National Congress of Black Women, Inc.
National Consumers League
National Council of Jewish Women
National Council on Aging
National Family Farm Coalition
National Farm to School Network
National Farmers Union
National Hispanic Medical Association
National Immigration Law Center
National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health
National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty
National Network of Public Health Institutes
National WIC Association
NETWORK, A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby
North Carolina Alliance for Health
Partnership for Prevention
Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine
Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Office of Public Witness
Public Health Institute
Public Health Law and Policy
RESULTS
Save the Children
School Food FOCUS National Office
School Nutrition Association
Shape Up America!
Share Our Strength
Society for Nutrition Education and Behavior
Society of St. Andrew
The Alliance to End Hunger
The Center for Communications, Health & the Environment
The National Center on Family Homelessness
The South Carolina Eat Smart, Move More Coalition
The United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries
Trust for America's Health
Union for Reform Judaism
United Fresh Produce Association
Upstream Public Health
Voices for America's Children
Wholesome Wave

OAKLAND, CA (April 3, 2012) – Where we live impacts our health, and while medical care is important, much of what affects health occurs outside of medical care settings. This is the message of the 2012 County Health Rankings, released today by the Wisconsin Population Health Institute in collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The project assigned a ranking to all but two of the 58 counties in California based on health outcomes and the various economic, social, behavioral and environmental factors that influence health.

According to results, residents of Marin, Santa Clara and San Benito have the best health outcomes, while Siskiyou, Del Norte and Trinity are among the lowest. For the various health factors that can impact these outcomes, the strongest rates were seen in Marin, Placer and San Mateo counties, while Tulare, Kern and Yuba counties fell towards the bottom.

“The Rankings show that residents in Trinity County are almost three times as likely to die prematurely than those living in Marin County,” said Mary Pittman, DrPH, president and CEO of the Public Health Institute (PHI), which is helping to promote the Rankings in California. “By highlighting these health disparities across California counties, the Rankings inform a larger and critical discussion about what can be done to reduce them.”

The Rankings offer a picture of the health status of nearly every county in all 50 states. In California, only Sierra and Alpine counties were not included due to data limitations. Using a well-researched model for measuring population health status, each county is given two rankings. The first ranking, health outcomes, is based on summary data for the average length of life and quality of life among county residents.

A second ranking is provided for health factors, which include health behaviors (e.g., smoking, diet and exercise), quality of and access to clinical care, socioeconomic factors, and the physical environment. According to developers of the Rankings model, health outcomes point to current health status while health factors provide an indicator of the future health of a county’s population.

Similar to last year, several counties in the Bay Area including Marin, Santa Clara and San Mateo ranked in the top five healthiest counties in the state for both health outcomes and health factors. Other high ranking counties include Placer County (#4 for health outcomes and #2 for health factors), San Benito County (#3 for health outcomes) and El Dorado County (#5 for health factors). 

Among the lowest ranking counties, those in the North Coast and Sierra Cascade regions (Lake, Siskiyou, Del Norte, and Trinity counties) have some of the poorest health outcomes, while counties in Gold Country (San Joaquin and Yuba) and the Central Valley (Tulare and Kern) had the lowest health factor rankings. For the full California Rankings report, visit: www.countyhealthrankings.org.

The Rankings are intended to stimulate conversation among California residents, health leaders and policy makers on the action steps they can take to improve the health of their communities. The data provide a “call to action” to make strategic investments in policies and programs that will improve the health of all Californians, no matter where they live.

In addition to supplying the Rankings, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awards Roadmaps to Health grants to counties to implement programs that improve the economic and social factors underlying a county’s health ranking. The deadline for this year’s funding is May 2 and an informational webinar will be held on April 10. For more information, visit: www.countyhealthrankings.org/roadmaps.

Last year three California counties received Roadmaps grants: Alameda County was funded to increase consumer-focused banking services, Shasta County executed a college preparedness campaign, and Contra Costa County implemented a reintegration program for former inmates. The Roadmaps to Health website offers an “Action Center” with free tools and resources to help communities take meaningful action towards health improvement.

PHI will hold a webinar to further discuss how California counties can use the Rankings to inform effective public health action and to showcase last year’s California Roadmaps grantees. More information will be available in the coming weeks. Check www.dialogue4health.org for updates.

For more information about the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: www.rwjf.org 

For more information about the University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute: http://uwphi.pophealth.wisc.edu.

About the Public Health Institute  

The Public Health Institute, an independent nonprofit organization, is dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. PHI's primary methods for achieving these goals include: sharing evidence developed through quality research and evaluation; providing training and technical assistance; and promoting successful prevention strategies to policymakers, communities and individuals. For more information, go to: www.phi.org 

For more information, contact:  

Dawn Jacobson, MD, MPH

Director of Strategy and Impact

Public Health Institute

Djacobson@phi.org

510-285-5577

Oakland, California – The Public Health Institute (PHI) will convene leading health experts on March 19 and 20 in Oakland, California, to discuss the increasing impact of non-communicable disease (NCD) on the health and well-being of the world’s children. An important follow-up event to the historic United Nations High Level Meeting on NCDs, the NCD Child Conference seeks to highlight and disseminate effective prevention and treatment strategies focused on children and adolescents.

“Not only are more young people diagnosed with an NCD but many of the behaviors that lead to an NCD later in life – such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet or alcohol abuse – start in childhood and adolescence,” said Mary A. Pittman, DrPH, president and CEO of PHI. “Therefore, it is critical that global NCD prevention strategies take into account the special needs and considerations of youth.”

The NCD Child Conference is organized by PHI with Caring and Living as Neighbors (CLAN) and the Global Health Council. The two-day conference will feature representatives from PHI, the Pan American Health Organization, Partners in Health, Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and other leading non-governmental health organizations. The conference has been sponsored by the Medtronic Foundation and The California Endowment, with additional support from the Lance Armstrong Foundation.

NCDs consist mainly of cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and chronic lung diseases. The World Health Organization estimates that NCDs caused about two-thirds of all deaths in 2008. Contrary to the popular belief that developed countries are more affected by NCDs, low- and middle- income countries bear nearly 80 percent of the global NCD burden. Children are put at increased risk of developing an NCD by rising obesity rates, exposure to indoor and outdoor air pollution, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, and pervasive marketing of junk food and tobacco targeting youth, among many other factors.

Recognizing the toll that NCDs have on global health and development, the United Nations held a High Level Meeting on NCDs in September 2011. This was only the second time in its history that the UN held such a meeting on a health issue (the first was HIV/AIDS).

“The good news is that organizations such as PHI can point to many effective programs to reduce the impact of NCDs on children, including successful asthma management and obesity prevention initiatives,” said Suzanne Petroni, PhD, vice president of global health at PHI. “It’s now critical that effective strategies be disseminated and shared with partners around the world.”

The NCD Child Conference will take place on March 19 and 20 at The California Endowment’s Oakland Conference Center: 1111 Broadway, 7th Fl, Oakland, CA 94607. Registration is required. More information can be found at www.ncdchild.com.

About PHI

PHI, an independent nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, is dedicated to promoting health, well-being, and an improved quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. PHI's primary methods for achieving these goals include: sharing evidence developed through quality research and evaluation; providing training and technical assistance; and promoting successful prevention strategies to policymakers, communities, and individuals.

For more information, contact:

Anne Sunderland

Communications Specialist

Public Health Institute

asunderland@phi.org

(510) 285-5593

OAKLAND, CA – “Tears  of the Earth,” a memorial concert and photo exhibit for the Great East Japan Disaster, will be presented on Sunday, March 11, 2012, at the Herbst Theatre in San Francisco. The event, on the one-year anniversary of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami, will support the ongoing work of the Japan Recovery Project at the Public Health Institute.

 Both western classical and Japanese music and performers will be featured. Artists will include Alexander Barantschik, concertmaster of the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra; Shoko Hikage, playing the koto; Brenda Wong Aoki, storytelling artist; and a photography exhibit of the earthquake area by Satoshi Ueda.

The magnitude-9.0 earthquake and tsunami that followed took more than 15,000 lives, and 3,200 people are still missing. More than 320,000 survivors evacuated from the disaster and continue to live in temporary housing. In addition, people who live close to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plants as well as people who live throughout Japan are anxious about the long-term effects of exposure to radiation through the air they breathe, the water they drink and the food they eat.

In the past year, a slogan, “Gambare Nippon” (Fight for Recovery of Japan), was repeatedly uttered in the Japanese news media. Some progress has been made in recovery, such as cleaning up debris, building temporary housing for evacuees and recovering basic infrastructure of communities. However, a large number of evacuees and those who lost relatives and friends still experience lingering effects of depression and trauma.

The Japan Recovery Project at PHI aims to address post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other mental health issues for the people affected by the disaster – including evacuees from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant area – in collaboration with government and nonprofit agencies. See www.jrpphi.org for more information.

The March 11 memorial and fundraising event will start at 1 pm and include remarks by Hiroshi Inomata, the Counsel General of Japan of San Francisco, Mary A. Pittman, DrPH, president and CEO of PHI, and Tooru Nemoto, PhD, Director, Japan Recovery Project.  The event will be introduced by well-known Japanese news anchor Junko Kubo.

The multi-faceted cultural program will include a performance of the Cesar Franck Violin Sonata by Barantschik and Akimi Fukuhara, piano.  Also featured will be a performance of the Vivaldi Concerto for Four Violins by violinists Yasuko Hattori, Yukiko Kurakata, Beni Shinohara, and Anni Asuka Yano accompanied by Timothy Bach.  The performers include members of the San Francisco Symphony and San Francisco Opera Orchestra as well as the faculty and alumni of the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.

Tickets are available through City Box Office at 415-392-4400 or www.cityboxoffice.com.  Prices are $30 for adults and $15 for students in advance and $35 for adults and $20 for students at the door.  

For more information please visit www.jrpphi.org  or contact Dr. Tooru Nemoto, Project Director, tnemoto@phi.org; Mariko Iwamoto, 510-302-3373; miwamoto@phi.org

About the Public Health Institute

The Public Health Institute is an independent, nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, the U.S and around the world.  It is one of the largest public health organizations in the nation and is at the forefront of research and innovations to improve the efficacy of public health statewide, nationally and internationally.

OAKLAND, CA – A son who is exposed to his mother’s heavy coffee drinking – five cups or more a day – while she is pregnant with him is more likely to have poorer semen quality later in life, a new Public Health Institute study reports.

The study, which appears in the December issue of the Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, found clear evidence for the first time that three key semen measures used to determine fertility declined for sons currently in their 40s whose mothers drank five or more cups of coffee daily while the sons were in utero. The measures were for semen concentration, motility (movement) and normal morphology (characteristics, such as sperm size and shape).

“There have been hints of this effect in human and animal studies, but our prospective study presents strong evidence that maternal prenatal coffee consumption can impair the reproductive tract of the developing male fetus,” said Piera Cirillo, lead author of the article and a senior research scientist at the Child Health and Development Studies (CHDS) in Berkeley, Calif. “Although these results are based on a small sample, which warrants cautious interpretation, finding consistent reductions in all three semen measures suggests that drinking coffee during pregnancy may very well impact adult male reproduction.”

The study’s data is drawn from the CHDS, a landmark and ongoing prospective study, which collected information and biological specimens from 1959 to 1967 from pregnant Kaiser Permanente Health Plan members in the Oakland vicinity. The new work follows up with 196 of the women’s sons, mostly in their 40s, who provided semen samples.

“The CHDS has been invaluable for follow-up studies on the women and the health and development of their children,” said Mary A. Pittman, DrPH, president and CEO of PHI.

A prospective study follows participants over time. The data here are particularly reliable because the women were interviewed about their coffee drinking while they were pregnant, eliminating recall problems, according to the CHDS researchers.  Also, because women weren’t yet being warned at the time to reduce their coffee consumption, they had no fear of stigma for admitting to high coffee consumption levels.

Most studies of coffee drinking during pregnancy have examined its effects on the fetus have focusing on outcomes such as miscarriage and spontaneous abortion. One other prospective study by Danish researchers found that younger men between the ages of 18 and 21 whose mothers drank four to seven cups of coffee a day while pregnant had lower levels of testosterone and the reproductive hormone inhibin B.

Although the CHDS study looked only at men in their 40s, its findings could reflect that coffee exposure in the womb causes a decline of sperm quality with age, but it is also possible that the decline begins earlier. It would thus be “of great interest” to examine changes in these semen measures over time to clarify when the decline begins for men with high coffee exposure in utero, the authors said.

The researchers found no association between a man’s current coffee drinking and his semen quality. The study also found no association between a pregnant woman’s alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking and her son’s semen quality.

The study supports the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ guideline that pregnant women should drink no more than two cups of coffee each day, Cirillo said. “Based on this study, we can say that it is a good idea to limit your coffee consumption during pregnancy,” she said.

About the Public Health Institute

PHI, an independent nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, is dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. PHI's primary methods for achieving these goals include: sharing evidence developed through quality research and evaluation; providing training and technical assistance; and promoting successful prevention strategies to policymakers, communities and individuals.

For more information, contact:

Jessica Tomlinson

Special Advisor, Planning and Communications

Public Health Institute

jtomlinson@phi.org

(510) 285-5533

OAKLAND, CA – The proportion of nonelderly adult California women with no health insurance coverage grew to nearly one in four between 2007 and 2009, a period that coincided with the national economic recession, a new policy brief from the Public Health Institute (PHI) reports.

The rate of women uninsured all or part of the year increased from 21 percent in 2007 to 24 percent in 2009 as women lost access to employment-based coverage, according to the authors, Roberta Wyn, PhD, and Elaine Zahnd, PhD.  Altogether, approximately 2.8 million California women between the ages of 18 and 64 had no insurance for all or part of 2009.

 “Clearly, the implementation of the Affordable Care Act is coming at a crucial time for California women,” said Wyn, the brief’s lead author who is a PHI consultant and an affiliate of the University of California at Los Angeles Center for Health Policy Research.  “These are challenging times, and it is important to move forward in expanding coverage and access.”

The policy brief, “Almost One-Quarter of California Nonelderly Women Uninsured in 2009,” draws on data from the 2009 California Health Interview Survey (CHIS 2009), the largest state population-based health survey in the U.S.

Other key findings include:

Young and poor women bear the largest burden

Other disparities among women

• Sixty-six percent of white women had employment-based insurance for all of 2009 compared to 38 percent of Latinas and 49 percent of African American women.
• Almost one-third of single mothers (32 percent) and of single women without children (31 percent) lacked insurance in 2009.  Married women with and without children had significantly lower rates (14 percent to 20 percent) of uninsurance.
•  The uninsured rate was high for women not working who were seeking work (46 percent) compared to women who were working full time (14 percent).

Delayed or foregone care and safety net support

• Thirty-one percent of uninsured women had no doctor visit in a one-year period.
• Twenty-eight percent of uninsured women reported they delayed or went without care they thought they needed in the past year. 
• The state’s safety net of health providers was a regular source of care for 23 percent of all nonelderly women and played an important role for many women. Forty-one percent of women on Medi-Cal and 36 percent who had no coverage at all sought care through safety net providers.  

 Employer-sponsored insurance declines 

• Employment-based coverage dropped among nonelderly adult women from 56 percent in 2007 to 54 percent in 2009. 

“This policy brief is a snapshot of the women who don’t have health insurance coverage in California during an economic downturn and the potential repercussions to their health,” said Mary A. Pittman, DrPH, president and CEO of PHI. “Unfortunately, they are  the women who already had inequitable access to health care:  those who are poor, single, young or ethnic minorities.”

PHI staff work on the California Health Interview Survey, which is conducted by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research in collaboration with the California Departments of Public Health and Health Care Services.

 The policy brief was funded by a grant from The California Wellness Foundation. It is available at http://www.phi.org/pdf-library/2011_12_16WomensInsurance.pdf.

 About the Public Health Institute

PHI, an independent nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, is dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. PHI's primary methods for achieving these goals include: sharing evidence developed through quality research and evaluation; providing training and technical assistance; and promoting successful prevention strategies to policymakers, communities and individuals. For more information, visit www.phi.org.

For more information contact:

Jessica Tomlinson

Special Advisor, Planning and Communications

Public Health Institute

jtomlinson@phi.org

(510) 285-5533

OAKLAND, CA–Supported by the United Nations Foundation and the Compton Foundation, the Adolescent Girls’ Advocacy and Leadership Initiative (AGALI) of the Public Health Institute (PHI) has awarded $50,000 to organizations in Malawi to implement new advocacy strategies aimed at improving adolescent girls’ health, education and livelihoods.

“Adolescent girls in Malawi suffer from widespread physical, economic and social violence,” said Denise Raquel Dunning, MPA, AGALI’s Program Director. “Only by improving policies, programs and budgets to benefit girls will it be possible for girls to realize their full potential and contribute to Malawi’s future.”

Proposals were developed and submitted by AGALI’s 2011 Malawi Fellows, senior civil society and government leaders selected for their extensive leadership experience and their personal commitment to improving girls’ lives. The nineteen Fellows participated in an intensive one-week advocacy workshop in Mangochi, Malawi in August 2011 led by AGALI. The workshop focused on strengthening participants’ capacity to implement advocacy strategies to improve the health, human rights, education and socio-economic well-being of adolescent girls and young women. The final phase of the training provided Fellows with coaching and support to develop advocacy project proposals focusing on the rights of girls and young women.

After the advocacy training, Fellows returned to their organizations to finalize and submit their advocacy proposals to AGALI. Following a competitive selection process, the following proposals were awarded seed grants to support implementation of their advocacy strategies:

Chilimba Women and Orphans Care Group

This project, led by a village chief, is advocating with chiefs and local leaders in the Zomba district of Malawi to modify and develop alternatives to traditional initiation practices that negatively impact adolescent girls.

Foundation for Community Support Services (FOCUS)

FOCUS is advocating to raise the legal age of marriage from 14 to 18 years in Malawi by working with traditional leaders and members of Parliament to pass the revised Marriage Act.

Girls Empowerment Network (GENET)

The Stop Child Marriage Project will work to reduce the incidence of child marriages among rural adolescent girls ages 10-18 years in the Chiradzulo district of Malawi.

Sub-Saharan Child and Community Development Trust (SACCODE)

SACCODE is advocating with district education authorities to improve adolescent girls’ access to education.

About the Adolescent Girls’ Advocacy and Leadership Initiative

AGALI promotes global health and development by enhancing the capacity of Latin American and African leaders to improve the health, education and livelihoods of adolescent girls and young women. Implemented by the Public Health Institute, AGALI strengthens the ability of senior leaders to improve adolescent girls’ human rights, health and socio-economic well-being, while simultaneously empowering young women to develop their own solutions to the obstacles they face.

For more information about AGALI and to view photos of the 2011 Malawi Fellows training and profiles of AGALI grantees, please visit www.agaliprogram.com or contact Emily Teitsworth, AGALI Program Manager, at eteitsworth@phi.org.

About the Public Health Institute

PHI is an independent non-profit organization based in Oakland, California dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. PHI's primary methods for achieving these goals include: sharing evidence developed through program interventions, quality research and evaluation; conducting public policy analysis and advocacy; providing training and technical assistance; and promoting successful prevention strategies to policymakers, communities and individuals. For more information visit www.phi.org.

Contact:

Jessica Tomlinson

Special Advisor, Planning and Communications

Public Health Institute

jtomlinson@phi.org

(510) 285-5533

OAKLAND, CA – In recognition of Food Day, the Public Health Institute (PHI) joins with its partners to push for a national commitment to building a healthy, sustainable and equitable food system. Today this commitment carries a special urgency, as crucial food and farm policy decisions get taken up as part of the deficit reduction process.

Food Day, sponsored by the Center for Science in the Public Interest, seeks to bring together people and organizations for a national dialogue about food, farms and the U.S. food system, with a goal of transforming the American diet. The event pushes for U.S. farm policy that supports small and mid-sized farms, sustainable farming practices and just agricultural working conditions. It aims to make fresh, healthy foods accessible and affordable for all.

“This national attention to food and farm policy comes at a critical time,” stated Matthew Marsom, PHI’s director of public policy. “Decisions being made by Congress in the next seven days may threaten vital funding for some of our nation’s most important nutrition and anti-hunger programs.  We must urge Congress to reject cuts to programs including WIC [the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children], SNAP [the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly known as food stamps], and SNAP nutrition education – three programs that work to protect against hunger, promote healthy eating and help to prevent obesity and the burden of chronic disease.”

This week, as part of the Congressional deficit reduction negotiations, leadership of the House and Senate Agriculture Committees will be finalizing their proposals for the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction, otherwise know as the Super Committee.  In addition to proposed funding reductions, the committees are proposing to write the 2012 Farm Bill through the Super Committee process.

The Farm Bill is a major agricultural and nutrition bill that addresses, among other things, nutrition programs, on-farm environmental conservation, trade, rural development, farm credit, commodity programs (those targeting commodity crops like corn, wheat and soybeans), agricultural research and the marketing of U.S. farm products. The Farm Bill is debated and passed by Congress roughly every five years and is implemented by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“This is a Farm Bill at breakneck pace,” said Marsom. “Typically, the Farm Bill is debated over a period of several months, allowing for input from a range of stakeholders.  This time, the House and Senate Agriculture Committees are essentially attempting to write the Farm Bill in two weeks.  This may have a serious impact on priorities and programs that influence public health.”

Taking Action for Food Day

PHI has led other national organizations in sending a letter urging the House and Senate Agriculture Committee and the Super Committee to recognize that, in a time of national economic hardship, it is essential to maintain vital food assistance and nutrition programs.

PHI and its programs are also leading supporters of Food Day both in California and nationally.

In California, PHI’s California Convergence initiative has partnered with Strategic Alliance, Prevention Institute and Roots of Change to promote Food Day’s California petition campaign and related events.  “Food Day lifts up the issues California Convergence communities have been working on for a long time – making sure that healthy foods are available and affordable for everyone,” says Lisa Hershey, program manager with the PHI coordinating office for California Convergence.  “We won’t be able to build healthier communities without a healthy and sustainable food system.”

Food Day organizers are encouraging supporters to get involved and send a strong message to policymakers about the importance of transforming our food system.  Learn more at the Food Day website.

Food Day organizers are also circulating two petitions, one for organizations to sign onto and one for individuals, which are to be delivered to Congress on Tuesday, October 25^th.  Sign on to a Food Day petition to urge policymakers to support improved food and farm policies.

PHI stands behind the vision of Food Day, and believes that a healthy, sustainable and equitable food system is essential to the long-term health and well-being of California and the nation.

About the Public Health Institute

The Public Health Institute, an independent nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, is dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. PHI's primary methods for achieving these goals include: sharing evidence developed through program interventions, quality research and evaluation; conducting public policy analysis and advocacy, providing training and technical assistance; and promoting successful prevention strategies to policymakers, communities and individuals. http://www.phi.org/ 

For more information contact:

Matthew Marsom

Director of Public Policy

Public Health Institute

matthew.marsom@phi.org

510-285-5540

Washington, D.C. – A white paper released today by Food & Water Watch and the Public Health Institute challenges the common assumption that government subsidies to farmers growing corn, soybeans and other commodity crops is a primary factor in increasing rates of obesity. Acknowledging that the current system of farm subsidies is in need of reform, the paper, Do Farm Subsidies Cause Obesity? Dispelling Common Myths About Public Health and the Farm Bill, finds that there is little to no academic research that supports the belief that crop subsidies make junk food cheaper and more plentiful, leading to higher rates of obesity. 

 As the debate over deficit reduction rages on, it seems likely that one type of farm subsidies, direct payments, will soon end. While cutting farm subsidies has been a rallying cry for many groups, the paper explains how simply ending direct payments will not make processed junk food more expensive or healthy food cheaper.

 “It’s convenient to blame farmers for making Americans fatter, rather than putting the blame squarely on the corporations that lobbied for the deregulation that led to overproduction of cheap corn and soy,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch. “Cutting subsidies without fixing commodity policies will do nothing to address the overabundance of heavily advertised junk food in our country or help more people access healthy foods, but it could have a devastating impact on the thousands of small to midsize family farmers who rely on subsidies to stay afloat.” 

 In fact, the review of the literature summarized in the white paper demonstrates that a clear link exists between deregulation of agricultural markets and oversupply of the building blocks of processed food—commodities such as corn and soy.

In the 1980s and ’90s, the federal government eliminated long-standing policies that limited the production of commodity crops and helped stabilize prices paid to farmers. This led to the overproduction that sent crop prices plummeting. Subsidies were only introduced after the fact as an emergency measure to keep farmers from going out of business and losing their land.

 “To find real solutions to the obesity epidemic, we must move beyond the current debate between cutting subsidies or maintaining the status quo and deal with the more fundamental issue of commodity policy reform that supports a food and agriculture system that’s healthier for eaters and the people who grow our food,” said Carmen Rita Nevarez, MD, MPH, PHI Vice President for External Relations and Preventive Medicine Advisor and immediate past President of the American Public Health Association.  “Diet-related diseases are costing the nation billions in added health care expenses.  We must address the disparities caused by policies that favor the food industry, and while supporting small and midsize family farms, give consumers real choices for healthy food options.”

The paper includes evidence that removing subsidies would not make commodities scarcer or more expensive.  For example, economists at the University of Tennessee found that if government subsidies were removed, the supply and price of commodity crops like corn would change very little, but U.S. farm incomes would decline by 25 to 30 percent. This would lead to more farmers going out of business and selling their land to larger agribusinesses, so there would be no reduction in supply, just a reduction in the number of small and midsized farms. 

 “Crop prices might be high now, but it’s only a matter of time until they come crashing down. Until we restore government commodity programs that allow farmers to get a fair price for their crops, small and midsized farmers will always be one planting season away from going out of business,” said Hauter. “Blaming subsidies for our broken food system only drives a wedge between the family farm community and public health advocates, which is not productive if we want to rebuild a healthy food system.”

 The paper concludes with several long- and short-term policy recommendations including:

·        Engage in the long-term campaign to reform commodity policies by developing responsible federal supply management programs that reduce overproduction and stabilize price and supply, such as a grain reserve and land set-asides, undoing the damaging deregulation that took place in the 1980s and 90s.

·        Increase consumption of fruits and vegetables, whole grains and other healthy foods through strategies that promote increased access and affordability for underserved communities and protect and strengthen federal food assistance programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). 

·        Expand the supply of healthy foods by helping farmers diversify their production and supply local and regional markets with healthy food.

·        Build the infrastructure needed to better link farmers and consumers and aid in the delivery of healthy foods.

The paper and a corresponding issue brief can be downloaded at http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/reports/do-farm-subsidies-cause-obesity

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Food & Water Watch works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, we help people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control. www.foodandwaterwatch.org 

The Public Health Institute, an independent nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, is dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. PHI's primary methods for achieving these goals include: sharing evidence developed through program interventions, quality research and evaluation; conducting public policy analysis and advocacy, providing training and technical assistance; and promoting successful prevention strategies to policymakers, communities and individuals. http://www.phi.org/

Contacts:

Anna Ghosh, Food & Water Watch, 415-293-9905, aghosh@fwwatch.org

Jessica Tomlinson, Public Health Institute, 510-285-5533, jtomlinson@phi.org

OAKLAND, CA – The World Health Organization (WHO) has designated the Public Health Institute’s Alcohol Research Group (ARG) a Collaborating Center for Alcohol Epidemiology and Injury.

The center will be headed by Cheryl J. Cherpitel, DrPH, a senior scientist and associate director of the National Alcohol Research Center at ARG who is well known for her international studies on the epidemiology of alcohol-related injury and violence.

Since 1984, Cherpitel has been interviewing patients in emergency rooms around the world, compiling data on the association between drinking and a range of injuries that now includes 30 countries. Emergency rooms afford unusual access to this population which in most other circumstances can be hard to reach.

Much of Cherpitel’s recent work has been in collaboration with the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, WHO and other organizations internationally. WHO has adopted the patient interview questionnaire she designed for her ER studies for its own ER study on alcohol and injuries in 12 countries.

 “The designation by WHO is an honor and recognition of Cheryl Cherpitel’s    outstanding work in helping us to understand the interplay between drinking and injury in many cultures so that we then can better intervene to prevent these injuries,” said Mary A. Pittman, DrPH, president and CEO of PHI.

Under the aegis of the collaborating center, Cherpitel will continue her work with the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) of WHO in emergency rooms in five Central American countries, providing support, training and data preparation. She will edit the book, “Alcohol and Injury in the Americas: Evidence from Emergency Room Studies,” a follow-up to an earlier book she edited for WHO. Additionally, she will provide technical support for integrating alcohol and drug surveillance in emergency rooms where PAHO or WHO seeks assistance. Also, she will give expert advice on substance abuse documents and regional alcohol drug strategy. The center designation is for four years.

“Through this work, we are coming to understand alcohol and injury better in a global perspective and the burden that alcohol-related injuries place on society,” Cherpitel said.

About the Public Health Institute

PHI, an independent nonprofit organization based in Oakland, California, is dedicated to promoting health, well-being and quality of life for people throughout California, across the nation and around the world. PHI's primary methods for achieving these goals include: sharing evidence developed through quality research and evaluation; providing training and technical assistance; and promoting successful prevention strategies to policymakers, communities and individuals.

For more information, contact:

Jessica Tomlinson

Special Advisor, Planning and Communications

Public Health Institute

jtomlinson@phi.org

(510) 285-5533