The purpose of this newsletter is to provide quick contacts to KNN partner agencies and to other resources that might be helpful to our partners. You should be able to read this newsletter in less than 5 minutes – that’s our goal!

Welcome to the June 2007 issue of KNN’s email newsletter. Please visit our web site at www.kansasnutritionnetwork.org We are always interested in how our partners are “partnering” to improve nutrition and physical activity education throughout Kansas.
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Fashionistas for the environment
Reusable grocery bags have come a long way since organic cotton and recyclable plastic -- Hermes, Stella McCartney and Consuelo Castiglioni of Marni are offering shopping bags for up to nearly $1,000 for environmentally conscious fashionistas. San Diego Union-Tribune/Associated Press

From Poverty to Prosperity: A National Strategy to Cut Poverty in Half. Report and Recommendations of the Center for American Progress Task Force on Poverty, April 2007.
Child poverty alone costs Americans $500 billion a year in lost productivity, more crime, and higher health costs. Cutting total U.S. poverty in half over 10 years, the report estimates, would cost about $90 billion a year. The report offers 12 specific recommendations for reducing poverty. The proposals - including tax credits, education, help with housing, child care, and development of assets, promotion of unionization, and raising the minimum wage - not only help the poorest Americans, but also can provide a path to middle class stability for millions.

A Nutritional Comparison of Canned, Fresh and Frozen Fruits and Vegetables, UC Davis Study published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture. The 2005 Dietary Guidelines urge Americans to increase their fruit and vegetable intake regardless of type (fresh, frozen, canned and dried), yet Americans are far from meeting fruit and vegetable goals. Exclusively recommending one form of fruits or vegetables over another ignores the benefits that each form provides and limits consumer choice. http://www.mealtime.org/default.aspx?id=573

As child obesity surges, Summerville, Massachusetts goes beyond schools to push exercise and good eating. http://www.groundworksomerville.org/blog.html?t=t&pg=1&cnt=5

This is a short CNN video link about WIC and the new Farm Bill.
Video: WIC future in doubt?*

Video: Blame it on Mom?*

The National Academies' Institute of Medicine released new nutrition standards for school vending machines, a la carte and other foods sold outside of school meals (you can find them at www.iom.edu/CMS/3788/30181/42502.aspx).

The new IOM standards are far stronger than the current national school foods standards. To see how arbitrary and obsolete USDA’s current standards are, try CSPI’s online quiz at www.cspinet.org/nutritionpolicy/junkfoodquiz.html