Sharing Public Spaces to Improve Public Health

Brown's Super Stores operates seven profitable supermarkets in traditionally food desert neighborhoods in Philadelphia. The founder says it's because they brought together a group of community leaders and asked them exactly what they were looking for in a neighborhood grocery store, and used the information to truly create a space for the broader community that often includes health care clinics, banking services, event space, and more.

California marks the first state in the United States to join the ranks of other countries such as Mexico that saw a significant decline in soda sales and increase in water sales after enacting a sugar tax. Critics of the tax have voiced concerns about the policy's impact on small business owners and infringement on consumer choice, but lawmakers are still moving forward with expanding the tax statewide.

In an attempt to fight childhood obesity and social isolation in Bristol, the organization Playing Out is helping kids exercise more. They are creating a way for children to safely be physically active in their neighborhoods by closing off streets at certain times each week. The UK government created a system for streets to apply just one time for weekly events, and now the system has spread to 40 UK local authorities and cities around the world, including Toronto.

Since the 1970s, obesity rates in Brazil have been increasing proportionally with the amount of "ultra-processed" foods being consumed. Foregoing healthy, locally produced food has not only resulted in a health epidemic, but has also contributed to a deteriorating economy, strains on the environment, and decaying of culture. Brazil's new food guide and school lunch programme are both founded on the premise of taking a holistic approach to eating, going beyond calorie count to address the environmental, cultural and social elements to food consumption.

By requiring schools to buy 30 percent of products from smallholder farms, Brazil provides fresher food to students and economic benefits to otherwise struggling farmers. Since 1955, Brazil's staple national school lunch program has responded to economic and social trends - what was once a program focused on ending malnutrition has evolved to address rising rates of obesity and diabetes. Though there is variation in quality and compliance between regions and principals often have to step in to cover unforeseen costs, leaders are optimistic about the value of the program.

El Poder del Consumidor is an organization fighting Coca-Cola's power over health care decisions in Mexico. The organization tried many tactics but only found success after finding friends with enough money to compete with the beverage industry giants.

High school and college-age volunteers in Culver City, California are playing a significant role in the creation of a food-distribution system that aims to help their neighbors who have been financially impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. While the project is having a positive impact on the community, it is also having a positive effect on the young voluteers by providing a sense of connection during this time of social isolation.

In Massachusetts, a local health care institution has teamed up with a handful of community-based organizations to help those who are facing food insecurity during the coronavirus pandemic. The program includes screening patients who come in with COVID-19 symptoms also for food insecurity and then placing those who are high-risk on a grocery delivery schedule so that they can "recover safely at home," rather than wait in lines at the food pantry where they could potentially spread the virus.

A new initiative at St. John’s Health in Wyoming aimed at bettering people's health while saving the hospital money by combining wellness services with behavioral programs has shown promise but was put on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead of pausing the program in entirety, however, program administrators have instead adapted it for St. John's employees as a means of keeping staff healthy.

Several colleges in the U.S. use a third-party corporation to manage their dining services, but Auburn University's contract is unique in that it specifies 20 percent of all food must be locally sourced. This partnership was originally born out of a student group that wanted the land-grant university to embrace its agriculture roots by including the community farming industry.