Parent Tasting Event at P.S. 443/P.S. 457: The Alternative Menu

On November 16th, greeted by center pieces adorned with harvest vegetables and the aroma of fall food, twenty-two parents and forty children from P.S. 443/P.S. 457 participated in a tasting of the Alternative Menu – one of three school menus from which school principals can choose. The event, co-sponsored by the NYC Department of Education’s Garden to Café/Office of School Food offered a welcome respite from parent-teacher conferences occurring throughout the day.

Before the tasting began, Bronx Health REACH’s Moria Byrne-Zaaloff and FoodCorps member Angela Doyle, working with P.S. 443, held a brief workshop with the parents to discuss the important role school food plays in their children’s health. Moria and Angela spoke about how most students eat two-thirds of their recommended calories in school, and a diet that consists of colorful whole vegetables and fruits fuels students’ brains and bodies with the necessary nutrients to grow and learn.

The Alternative Menu encourages students to eat more plant-based foods made from scratch without added sugar or salt. By eating more food high in fiber, with lean protein and whole grains, students will have the energy to focus and perform well in school throughout the day. Moria and Angela emphasized how students can still eat their favorite foods such as hamburgers during the school lunch period, but the burger would be served on a whole grain bun with a healthy chickpea and tomato side salad instead of French fries.

The event culminated with a tasting of Alternative Menu items that included cinnamon-spiced acorn squash, beet-apple slaw and Jonquil apple slices, all from local New York farms. Parents complimented the cooking of Holly Howitt and George Edwards, Chefs from the Garden to Café program of Office of School Food. Garden to Café is an initiative of the Office of School Food and FoodCorps that provides bi-annual taste testings at schools to encourage children to consume more fruits and vegetables during the school day, and how to make healthier food choices. They were thrilled to see their children willing to try the healthy foods being offered. Parents left the event with recipes, and a reusable place mat with information about the Alternative Menu along with how to get their child’s school to switch to this menu.

Thank you to George Edwards, Coordinator-Garden to Cafe Program and Holly Howitt, Chef of School Food, and FoodCorps member Angela Doyle for taking on this challenge and making it a huge success!

NYC Department of Education Releases 2017 Wellness Policy

In mid-December, the NYC Department of Education released the revised NYC School Wellness Policy in Principals’ Weekly. This policy guides NYC school districts' efforts to create supportive school nutrition and physical activity environments with the assistance of a local wellness council. School Wellness Policies are a USDA requirement for all school districts participating in the federal breakfast and lunch programs as per the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 [Sec. 204 of Public Law 111-296] and Child Nutrition and Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Reauthorization Act [Sec. 204 of Public Law 108-265].

The revised policy provides comprehensive guidelines on physical activity, physical education, health education and services and policy governance all in one document for the first time.  An interesting new requirement is that the New York City Department of Education is now required to share recordkeeping and progress reports on wellness policy compliance with the public. The policy also now includes resources available through the DOE to establish physical activity programs before and after school such as the CHAMPS sports and fitness program. The Active Design Toolkit for Schools  and Active Design Playbook for Early Childcare Settings are also highlighted as resources to create school environments that promote physical activity and healthy food/beverage choices. The updated policy provides information and resources on: State and local physical and health education instruction requirements, recommendations and expectations; and the roles of the citywide District Wellness Advisory Council, School Wellness Councils, and members of the school and local community in supporting healthy schools by implementing the citywide wellness policy.

The easiest way for schools to ensure they are in DOE policy compliance is to include the information for Physical and Health Education in the Student Transition Achievement Success (STARS) report which should include all the wellness programming they are already accomplishing. Schools should also feel welcome to share success stories with the Office of School Wellness and Bronx Health REACH, so other schools can learn about their exemplary work. In addition, schools are encouraged to register their wellness council on the Office of School Wellness portal where there are useful resources for developing and planning a wellness council and policy. (See events below for upcoming trainings for wellness councils.)

The Bronx Salad Available at Seven Bronx Eateries During NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2018

                                              Photo by The Bronxer

The Bronx Salad is now available at seven Bronx eateries during NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2018 through February 9. Launched in the Bronx in 2016, The Bronx Salad is part of the Healthy Restaurant Initiative, a collaboration between the Institute for Family Health’s Bronx Health REACH Coalition, South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation (SoBRO), and the United Business Cooperative (UBC). The Bronx Salad and its signature dressing have received unanimous praise from over 1,000 Bronxites. Made with simple, fresh ingredients, the dressing includes the famous Bronx Greenmarket Hot Sauce, created by acclaimed Chef King Phojanakong, using peppers grown at more than 40 Bronx greenmarket farms and community gardens.

The Bronx Salad is available at the following Bronx locations during NYC Restaurant Week Winter 2018:

Bronx Tavern 780 East 133rd Street, Bronx, NY 10454

Da Boogiedown Caffe 555 Bergen Avenue, Bronx, NY 10455

Fine Fare Supermarket 459 East 149th Street, Bronx, NY 10455

Mottley Kitchen 402 East 140th Street, Bronx, NY 10454

NY Bagel Cafe & Deli 53 Bruckner Boulevard, Bronx, NY 10454

Porto Salvo 424 East 161st Street, Bronx, NY 10451

XM Cafe at Bronx Museum 1040 Grand Concourse, Bronx, NY 10456

To date The Bronx Salad has been offered in several Bronx eateries and has been served to over 500 people at public events in the Bronx such as Boogie on the Boulevard. Initially planned as part of a healthy menu initiative with local eateries, The Bronx Salad has expanded beyond restaurants and is now served at schools and after school programs. BronxWorks has served The Bronx Salad to over 600 people in their children, teen, and adult programs, and The Bronx Salad Toolkit for Schools has been given out to fifteen schools in the South Bronx. Five of those schools have grown and harvested some of the ingredients for the salad.

Bronx Forever

Image: comicbook.com website

Are there lessons from Wakanda, the fictional country in the movie, Black Panther that we can apply to the Bronx, our own special place? Maybe not specific lessons, but for the only NYC borough with a majority population of color used to being discredited and disparaged we feel a kinship when Carvell Wallace from the NY Times in an essay on the movie “Black Panther” writes,  “Wakanda is a fictional nation. But…[it] must also function as a place for multiple generations of black Americans to store some of our most deeply held aspirations. We have for centuries sought to either find or create a promised land where we would be untroubled by the criminal horrors of our American existence.” Like director Ryan Coogler with Wakanda, Bronx Health REACH's vision for the future Bronx is a place where its residents are no longer troubled by its history of poverty and want but a place where triumph is the watchword for the new order. Where it is not 62nd out of 62 counties in health outcomes.  Where it is not the poorest urban congressional district.  Where housing is good and affordable. Where safety is the new watch word.  Where people live long and healthy because they get to eat right and exercise more. Where graduation rates are the best.  Changes not brought about through gentrification but through a changed socio-economic circumstances for the Bronx black and brown people. In his love letter to the filmgoers who went to see Black Panther, Coogler’s post script, was ‘Wakanda forever’, our postscript is “Bronx forever”  Not 62 wedreamaworld Bronxforever. 

Rev. Dr. Theresa Oliver, Always Willing to Help Someone Along the Way

Bronx Health REACH continues its series on individuals who have made a significant contribution to the Institute for Family Health's Bronx Health REACH, and have also been strong activists for needed change in the Black and Latino communities in the Bronx. A notable member of this group of change agents is Rev Dr. Theresa Oliver, Pastor at Mt. Zion CME Church in the Bronx, New York, and a partner in the Bronx Health REACH faith based outreach initiative.

Growing up in Fairfield, Alabama outside of Birmingham, Rev. Dr. Theresa Oliver didn't realize how unjust the separate but equal policies were until a visit to the dentist’s office when she was in college. 'I went with my mother to the dentist’s office and the Blacks had to sit in a waiting room in back that was separate from the main room in the front. I was trying to read one of my textbooks but found it difficult to concentrate as there was a lot of talking by others in the waiting room. I noticed that the other waiting room was empty so I sat down in that room, and was able to read in silence. After a few minutes the receptionist came out and informed me that I was not allowed to sit there. I asked her why, and I can't recall if she gave me an answer, but I was so annoyed and ended up going outside to sit in the car. That experience did something to me as I kept thinking, no one else was sitting in that room and I didn’t see why my sitting there and reading quietly to be a problem, but that receptionist was so insistent telling me that I had to leave. That encounter deeply affected me.'

After graduating from Miles College Rev. Oliver married and moved to New York starting a career as a registered medical technology staff member at Bellevue Hospital working the overnight shift. 'I preferred the overnight shift because it was good for my mental health. During my breaks I would open up my bible and this particular scripture would always pop up:


The Year of the Lord’s Favor
    The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me,
    because the Lord has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted,
    to proclaim freedom for the captives
    and release from darkness for the prisoners,
  to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor
    and the day of vengeance of our God,
to comfort all who mourn,
      and provide for those who grieve in Zion—
to bestow on them a crown of beauty
    instead of ashes,
the oil of joy
    instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
    instead of a spirit of despair.
They will be called oaks of righteousness,
    a planting of the Lord
    for the display of his splendor.
Isaiah 61:1-3 NIV

After seeing this scripture always pop up at various times the turning point came when one of the church members told me that I was going to be a pastor at another church. As he was speaking to my heart, I put my faith in the Lord and enrolled at New York Theological Seminary. I received a Masters in parish ministry and eventually got a doctorate. The pastor at my church decided to move to South Carolina and requested I replace him as pastor, so I have been a pastor at Mount Zion CME Church since 2000.'

In 2010 Rev. Oliver was introduced to Bronx Health REACH through Dr. Sandra White, a sister of a Mt. Zion pastor. 'Dr. White told members of our congregation about a program that would introduce healthy eating to our congregation. 'I became interested because my doctorate was on holistic ministry and improving the health among African- Americans. There has always been a stigma around discussing health within our congregation - that's from the secrecy that we always had in the South with people; you just didn’t go to the doctor on a regular basis for a check-up. If you did, by that point it was too late and there was nothing that the doctor could do to make you better.”

Bronx Health REACH started a nutrition program with Mt. Zion, and at the first meeting, staff from Bronx Health REACH passed out survey sheets for the congregation to complete. It consisted of questions around the health and eating habits of those participating. “Other than a few members, I was surprised to find that everyone completed the sheets. Our church would go on to host a couple of health fairs, and eventually we began serving healthier food at our church dinners. We also eliminated soda. To this day we use the fruit infused water pitchers to serve water flavored with pineapple and orange. The parishioners love it and I like to see them drinking that rather than soda.'

When funding for that program ended, Rev. Oliver was asked if she would continue to work with Bronx Health REACH, even though there was no stipend to do the work. 'My answer was yes, I wanted to continue working with Bronx Health REACH because the work that has been done is so important in improving the health and well-being of those in our church. We have gotten people to open up about their health, talk about improving their diets with fresh fruits and vegetables, do blood pressure checks and hold exercise classes.”


Rev. Oliver’s past encounters with racism motivates her to fight for health equity on behalf of African-Americans and Latinos residing in the Bronx as a member of the Health Disparities workgroup. Looking back, the path Rev. Oliver chose turned out fine, 'If you can help somebody along the way, then your life won’t be in vain. I am happy where I am.”

Creating Healthy Schools & Communities: A Worthwhile Investment for New York State

15 Girl Scout members and three teachers from Bronx Delta School, a Bronx Health REACH partner school, participated in a healthy celebration lesson which culminated in making fruit kabobs designed to look like caterpillars, lady bugs and butterflies.

Every year since 2009 the  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s County Health Rankings & Roadmaps Report has ranked the Bronx 62 out of New York State’s 62 counties in health outcomes. The obesity and overweight rates of our public school students is 39%. In 2015, with a five year grant from the New York State Department of Health through its Creating Healthy Schools and Communities (CHSC) program, the Bronx, along with 45 other counties across New York State, was provided an opportunity to create healthy environments in our school districts and surrounding communities. Since then, we have made tremendous strides with this program.

Through CHSC, Bronx residents can eat healthier through a collaboration between Bronx Health REACH, the Bodega Association of the United States and Goya Foods which has been stocking healthier products in Bronx bodegas, and providing taste tests and cooking demonstrations. We have been helping Bronx youth and low-income communities of color counter the targeted marketing of unhealthy foods and beverage products by supporting efforts for them to create their own counter-marketing campaigns. We have also trained school aides on fitness programming enabling them to structure physically active recess time for students. And, we have engaged community leaders and residents to advocate for street safety improvements. One of those leaders, a Bronx Health REACH partner church, Word of Life International, was named Transportation Alternatives’ 2017 Partner of the Year.

However, in 2017 significant cuts were made to the CHSC grant, and it is  under threat again this year to further cuts. With these cuts the question surely is, how can we ensure that the health and wellbeing of Bronx children, as well as the children in other high need New York communities, become a priority of our elected officials in Albany? Funding such a critical public health program helps the many community organizations across the Bronx and other areas of New York State make a difference in the lives of our children and community members.

Public health programming such as CHSC represents an investment with significant returns in New York State. In the first two years of funding, CHSC grantees have worked with 4.5 million New Yorkers, or about 23% of the state’s population, infusing wellness and health information and programming into 226 local communities, 83 high-need school districts, 358 retailers, and 498 worksites, enacted 51 policies and 120 infrastructure projects encouraging walkable and bikeable communities.

Our community partners have incredible capacity to create healthy and livable communities, as these successes demonstrate. CHSC and other public health funding goes a long way to improving the health and well-being of New Yorkers, and these programs should be further supported, not cut. Public health funds are important and well spent in the most vulnerable communities as they work to promote equity where all residents should have the opportunity to thrive.

The United States Department of Agriculture, recognizing the importance of the type of Policy, Systems and Environmental change work that CHSC grantees do, recently approved reallocating  SNAP-Ed (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education) funding to the New York State Department of Health from the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance for CHSC, but it is not guaranteed that this funding will continue to be used for the CHSC program. We hope to see CHSC funding maintained in the FY 2018-2019 Governor’s budget. The more funds provided for this program, the more grantees will be able to accomplish in the communities where we serve.

REACH Funding Included in 2018 Federal Omnibus Bill

Great news! Last week’s passage by the U.S. Congress of its FY 2018 federal Omnibus Appropriations Bill includes $50,95M for the Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) CDC program. The Institute for Family Health's Bronx Health REACH has been a REACH grantee since the inception of the program allowing us to develop our community coalition and partnerships to address the longstanding health disparities and their root causes in the Bronx.

This FY18 funding is a major victory given that, up to a few weeks ago, for the first time since its inception REACH had been zeroed out of the President’s budget as well as that of the House and the Senate. Huge thanks to our local representative Congressman Jose E. Serrano who made this a priority along with his colleagues in the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucus.  We also had several amazing partners in DC based organizations including , Trust for America's Health, American Public Health Association, Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum (APIAH), the YMCA, the National REACH Coalition (NRC), National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC), Prevention Institute (PI) and the Public Health Institute who tirelessly advocated for the funding to be reinstated.

Like REACH communities across the country, the Bronx Health REACH Coalition serves as a model of community empowerment that demonstrates how to build healthier communities; promote primary prevention through healthy behaviors; increase awareness of racial and ethnic disparities and promote health equity; identify and promote models of community level change; support system wide changes that address the determinants of health and improve access to respectful, culturally sensitive and high quality care.

Bronx Health REACH applauds Congress for investing in the REACH program as it is the federal government’s only community-based program that addresses racial and ethnic health disparities in urban and rural areas.