Celebrating Youth Food Justice in East Harlem and the South Bronx!

Earlier this summer, people from various New York City organizations came together to celebrate youth food justice and community health projects that were created by local middle-and high-school students.  The event, which was held at the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College in East Harlem, was co-hosted by the New York City Food Policy Center, the Children’s Aid Society  and MAChO’s Youth Leadership Program.

Art projects such as a rap about healthy eating, a community mural promoting consumption of fruits and vegetables and a cookbook filled with Dominican Republic favorites modified to be diabetic-friendly were just a few amongst the many projects exhibited by the youth.  This event also showcased a photo-based project that I conducted in collaboration with the Children’s Aid Society and youth from their East Harlem Center.   A technique called Photovoice was used, which is a community-based research method that engages people to capture images of their environment.  It provided an opportunity for the youth to record their own stories around important food issues and empower them to promote positive changes in their own communities in East Harlem and the South Bronx.  Check out a previous blog post that talks more about this community engagement technique.

Every single one of the youth’s photos were auctioned off that night to raise funds for an expanded photovoice project this upcoming year, where we’ll be exploring more about community food justice and promoting youth advocacy around these issues.

This Food Justice PhotoVoice Project highlights the potential impact of collaborations between academic institutions and key community-based organizations such as the Children’s Aid Society, in working together to promote positive and sustainable changes in communities.

Earlier this summer, people from various New

Sleep. Some don't get nearly enough.

                                                         “The best cure for insomnia is to get a lot of sleep.”
― W.C. Fields

A couple of years ago I was traveling with a group of women in Russia. Early the first morning I casually mentioned that I didn’t sleep so well last night. Without a second of hesitation, the four women in the circle started to rumble through their bags to offer me an Ambian or one of the other sleep aids they take nightly to pound the pillar.  When I asked them if this was just their travel routine until they settled in a new time zone, they said no. They took them nightly to get to sleep.

A good friend recently did her own research about sleep. She posted this question on her Facebook status “How many hours of sleep do you get a night and how many times, if any, do you wake up during the night?”

The answers popped up in great numbers. They ranged from 7 undisturbed hours to getting up 5 times over a 5 hour period of restlessness nights. It was mostly women with the worse sleep histories.

It seems like many Americans are taking drugs to get more sleep, particularly women aged 50-59.

The Center for Disease Control’s National Center for Health Statistics latest data reported their first study on actual use of prescription aids for sleep. They found that close to 9 million people or 4% of US adults use sleep medication, with higher use among middle-aged adults ages 50 to 59 and the elderly.

You’ve all seen the articles that periodically show up about what a lack sleep may contribute to – from lower sex drive, to inflammatory diseases like diabetes and heart disease, and grumpiness.

Jeez, maybe that’s why we’re not smiling enough.

Maybe the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act needs to amend the law and add another provision – nap rooms at every work place and in our schools.

People – take care and get some sleep.

        Happy Labor Day weekend!

                                                                                                           Barbara Glickstein is co-director of CHMP.