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Chula Vista students slim down

Published: April 30, 2013 | No Comments

Fruits and vegetables replace cupcakes at Myrtle Finney Elementary, one of 44 schools in the Chula Vista Elementary School District.

By Marty Graham
California Health Report

When the Chula Vista Elementary School District south of San Diego surveyed the physical condition of the 25,000 students enrolled in 2010, the results were worrisome. About 40 percent of the kids were at an unhealthy weight – with the highest rates among fifth and sixth graders.

The survey prompted the district to act. The schools overhauled their menus, banned birthday cupcakes, integrated movement into recess and the classroom, and focused on educating students about better nutrition in the neighborhoods where obesity rates were highest.

By the time the survey was repeated this year, the programs put in place had had an impact, according to Sharon Hillidge, resource teacher for wellness. Body mass indexes were down 3 percent and fitness levels had improved.

“We were hoping for maintenance, we thought it would be five to 10 years before we saw improvement,” Hillidge said. “We were so pleased to see improvement – we have made an impression either on the students or the parents.”

The school district learned a lot devising the new program – garnering headlines with a “No Cupcakes” policy and startling everyone involved by finding they could draw obesity on a map. And, Hillidge said, they discovered that a lot of their stereotypes fell away and that new ideas for food-based activities like fundraising and parties came forward.

But they also found that everyone, the students, parents and teachers really engaged in the new approach to emphasizing the health of the students and that the small steps can yield big results.

“The biggest change was the sixth graders, who were in fourth grade when we did the survey,” Hillidge said. “They went down
five percent – and the two schools with the biggest losses were the most unhealthy – they improved by 10 percent.”

Chula Vista is a city with a clear east-west divide. The east side is mostly newer, planned development with more parks, higher family incomes and less access to fast food. The west side, old Chula Vista, includes more commercial development, including strip malls and a high concentration of fast food restaurants.

“We used the Center for Disease Control (and Prevention) maps for adult obesity as a base and then did overlays of where the fast food restaurants and parks are,” Hillidge explained. “It was a shock to see that where you live has such a profound impact on your health.”

Five schools in west Chula Vista had more than 30 percent obesity rates – the five closest to fast food outlet concentrations. Two years later, only two of the original five are still at that level, she said.

When the results for the 2010 survey came in, the school district mobilized to look at the food and activity environments, Hillidge said.

“Our concentration had been on scholastic testing, on keeping the kids at their desks learning,” she explained. “We realized we really need to be concerned about long-term health issues. We all worked in our silos so we didn’t have a connection with the Health and Human Services programs.”

The schools worked with the county’s department of Health and Human Services, which had launched a 10-year Child Obesity Initiative in 2006 in response to the alarming national increase in obesity and unhealthy weights – mirrored in the county population.

County Supervisor Greg Cox, who represents Chula Vista, has been active in promoting the county’s goals and tracking progress since the school district gathered its baseline data.

“The Chula Vista Elementary School District has done incredible work lowering childhood obesity rates among their students and creating a healthy, safe and thriving school district,” Cox said last week. “This district is a role model for school health and wellness, both locally and nationally.”

Jeffrey Thiel, the school district’s executive director for operations and instruction, said that it’s too soon to overthink the data.

“We see the data as a baseline and we are figuring out how to take this momentum and go forward,” he said. “I don’t think any of us can pinpoint a single cause for the improvement but we know that awareness has increased – what our students talk about at lunch has completely changed.

“We are giving them healthier choices and we are educating them on why it matters – we even hear from the parents, and that is very powerful,” Thiel added. “We had a lot of buy-in and less pushback, but we have plenty more to learn and plenty more to do.”

The first step in improving students’ health was the complete revision of the district’s wellness policy. A committee led by the district’s superintendent looked at nutrition and the food environment, physical activity levels and physical education and began communicating with families about their concerns and plans.

“Some of the changes seem so small – we no longer have flavored milk – it turned out not to be the big issue we thought it might be,” Hillidge said. “We changed to non-food birthday parties – that was the most controversial decision for parents and students.”

For teachers, the policy changes affected little things like not carrying cups with Starbucks logos, and big things, including all the fundraising for classrooms that involves selling food that usually isn’t very healthy.

“That takes away from our classrooms,” Hillidge said. “We still haven’t found a good answer there.”

Teachers worried that planned steps to get the kids more active inside the school would turn the classrooms into chaos, Hillidge said.

“We found we can integrate math and science with physical activity, and we had to show teachers it was doable without turning things into chaos,” she said. “Our teachers really care about the health of their students and we’re finding that as their health improves so does their ability to learn.”

And the schools revised recess to make it active by setting up activity stations – from playing basketball to walking around the track with friends, rather than just socializing or waiting for recess to end. The kids can still socialize – they just have to move while they’re doing it, Hillidge said.

Some of the survey findings were surprising and remain a surprise, Hillidge said. For example, boys were much more obese than girls.

“At the elementary school age, they’re the ones who are much more engaged in video technology, games and apps, than girls,” Hillidge said. “It would be interesting to see middle school results, when the kids are getting their own cell phones, and more girls are engaged with the technologies, but at this age, the cultural stereotype that boys are more active is not happening.”

Educating the kids about healthy eating and living has become a mission at the schools – down to choosing wellness as the topic for the schools’ speech contest.

“It gave kids a chance to work on their story-telling and to educate each other,” Hillidge said. “Information is power, especially when you give it to kids.”

 

Healthier options lead to healthier kids, study says

Published: July 27, 2011 | No Comments

Almost 60 percent of California adolescents drink at least one sugar-sweetened beverage a day, and nearly half eat fast food at least twice a week. And the more fast food or convenience store options they have near them compared to grocery stores, the more likely they are to drink soda and eat junk food, according to a new policy brief from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Studies. The report creates a Retail Food Environment Index to rank counties on the density of fast food versus healthy food options, and lists the results by county. Nevada County has the healthiest retail food mix while Sutter County has the least healthy selection of food outlets. Among more populous counties, Sacramento ranks at the bottom when it comes to providing healthy choices. See the policy brief here.

 

New dietary guidelines: eat less food

Published: February 22, 2011 | 1 Comment

By Heather Tirado Gilligan, HealthyCal.org assistant editor

For the first time, American’s official dietary guidelines this year have new advice for the nation: eat less food.

The clarity of that single piece of advice is a significant change for the Dietary Guidelines. The guidelines, published by the US Department of Food and Agriculture, have been criticized for favoring the needs of the food industry over the health needs of Americans. But the guidelines present other challenges besides a potential conflict of interest between business and public health.

The guidelines suggest lowering sodium intake, drinking water instead of sugary drinks (like soda), eating more high fiber foods, switching from whole to low-fat or skim milk, watching portion size and eating more fruits and vegetables and lean protein like seafood. Aside from the advice to “enjoy your food but eat less of it,” all of this advice is familiar from previous guidelines. But giving advice to a population as large as the United States is a challenge, experts say.

Overgeneralizations are inevitable, and the broadness of the guidelines may have a big impact on vulnerable populations. Many low-income families, for instance, may not be able to afford the foods that the guidelines suggest are ideal.

“Sometimes, it’s really hard because there is a lot of advice out there,” said Joanne Slavin, professor of Food Science and Nutrition at the University of Minnesota, who served on the advisory committee for the guidelines. “People are like, why is this so vague?”

Very little specific advice pertains to an audience composed of all people who live in the United States from age two to till death, Slavin said. As a result, it seems like the dietary guidelines aren’t clear enough to cut through the layers of health advice Americans receive from the media and other consumer outlets.

Almost all Americans, however, need to consume fewer calories. In the U.S., 34 percent of adults and 17 percent of children and teens are obese, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Eat less” is the kind of advice the Dietary Guidelines can clearly convey, Slavin said. More complicated messages can’t be boiled down and applied to everyone. People who want to lose weight, for instance, and are wondering how many calories composed of carbohydrates they should consume, won’t be able to find that kind of information in the guidelines.

Despite such challenges, the guidelines are important because Americans do pay attention to their suggestions, attention that’s reflected in trends such as the increased consumption of low-fat food, Slavin said.

Yet the guidelines may be easier for some Americans to follow than others, according to Adam Drewnowski, professor of Epidemiology at the University of Washington’s School of Public Health. He thinks the guidelines should acknowledge that low-income Americans can’t afford to eat foods like fresh vegetables and fruit and seafood and provide realistic alternatives.

The emphasis on eating fish and other seafood seemed especially unrealistic to Drewnowski. “Seafood?” he asked. “Have you seen the prices for seafood? They are eye-popping.”

The instruction to eat more vegetables and fruit, and to make produce half of your plate at mealtime, might have come with some realistic alternatives for low-income people too.

“Eating local is very nice and fresh is very nice,” Drewnowski said, but processed foods make cooking easier for people with limited food budgets and time to cook, and the guidelines didn’t make this fact clear enough. “Vegetables which are frozen or canned are fine,” Drewnowski said.

Moreover, some processed foods, like canned tomatoes, contain more nutrients than the fresh variety. “Processing,” Drewnowski said, “is not a shorthand for bad.”

Slavin points out too that fresh fruit is often presented, incorrectly, as a nutritional powerhouse. “People think it’s wonderful,” Slavin said, “but fruit is basically sugar.” Adding sugar to the diet isn’t good for people trying to lose weight, Slavin said.

Often, Slavin also hears this compliant: “you buy fresh fruit and vegetables and you have to plan your life around it.” That’s a concern for people who have limited time, but also for people who have a limited food budget and can’t afford to waste food. Fresh fruits and vegetables are demanding in a way that canned and frozen foods aren’t.

“I wish we could all eat salad and seafood at every meal,” Drewnowski said, “but that’s not the reality.”

Inexpensive and popular foods could have easily been offered as examples of affordable produce, Drewnowski said. White potatoes, he notes, were dropped from WIC vouchers last fall. Yet they provide vitamin C, potassium, fiber and more of the essential nutrients too often lacking in the American diet. And potatoes are cheap. Why weren’t Americans instructed to get their nutrients from more inexpensive foods, he wondered?

Overall, Drewnowski said, the guidelines were disappointing. “I wanted to have guidelines for all Americans,” he said, “including Americans of limited means.”

The nutritional guidelines may change again in 2015 to account for such shortcomings. But significant revisions are unlikely, according to Slavin, who recently reviewed guidelines dating back to the 1980s and says they’ve stayed pretty consistent. Part of their limitations—giving general advice—is what’s likely to make this year’s admonition to eat less the biggest revision we’ll see for some time.

 

Walmart joins healthy foods movement

Published: January 20, 2011 | 1 Comment

By Daniel Weintraub

If there were still any doubt that the healthy foods movement has reached critical mass, it was dispelled Thursday when Walmart jumped on the bandwagon with promises to improve the nutritional content of food it sells in its superstores.

The retail giant vowed to force its suppliers to reduce the sugar and sodium content of the food it sells and eliminate trans fats from the products on its shelves. The company also pledged to bring down the price of healthy foods so that they are on par with less healthy fare.

Although the announcement came at an event with First Lady Michelle Obama, who has made improving nutrition one of her major goals, Walmart executives said the change was driven by customer demand.

“Our customers tell us they want a variety of food choices and need help feeding their families healthier foods. At Walmart, we are committed to doing both,” Andrea Thomas, senior vice president of sustainability at Walmart, said in a statement. “We support consumer choice so this is not about telling people what they should eat. Our customers understand that products like cookies and ice cream are meant to be an indulgent treat. This effort is aimed at eliminating sodium, sugar and trans fat in products where they are not really needed.”

The company said it would reduce the amount of added sugar in its dairy items, sauces, and fruit drinks by 10 percent by 2015, and the amount of sodium in grains, salad dressing, lunch meats and frozen entrees by 25 percent. The firm said it would remove all remaining trans fats in packaged goods sold at its stores. Notably absent from the list of products, however, was soda, which many public health advocates consider to be a major contributor to obesity, especially among children.

The effort to bring down the price of fresh fruits and vegetables, while harder to quantify and monitor, is expected to save consumers $1 billion a year, Thomas said.

The company also promised to build more stores in low-income areas that lack access to healthy foods. And the firm said it would promote the use of an easy-to-understand label on the front of packaging telling consumers about the nutrition content of the food they buy.

Because Walmart is so big and sells so much food, its policies are believed to drive market trends. If that happens here, the company could entrench early moves by others to improve the nutritional content of packaged foods and make it easier, and less expensive, for families to buy and eat fresh food instead.

Marion Standish, director of The California Endowment’s Community Health Program*, applauded Walmart’s moves.

“This initiative represents a major step forward in improving the health of Americans, particularly low income families that continue to face the greatest challenges when it comes to accessing healthy, affordable food,” Standish said. “I challenge others in the food retail industry to take notice and follow Walmart’s lead. By working together, we can motivate the food industry to improve the nutritional value of their offerings, reduce the price, and increase the awareness of healthy food choices to reduce chronic disease.”

*Note: The California Endowment provided the initial funding for the creation of HealthyCal.org.

 

Grassroots programs transform the corner market despite stalled legislation

Published: December 14, 2010 | 1 Comment

By Megan Burks

A stark contrast from his imaginative storefront—painted cobalt blue with yellow smiley-faces—convenience store owner Joseph Attiq described his role in the San Diego community of City Heights with quick realism:

“I’m here when someone needs a pack of smokes. If they need a light, I’m their guy.”

But in areas like City Heights, where corner markets seem to outnumber car owners and where grocery stores are sparse, businesses like Attiq’s El Super Market often serve double duty, filling the cupboards of nearby residents no matter their limited selection. Now, community efforts to bolster such stores with healthy food are cropping up across the country as national and state initiatives on the matter stall.

President Obama’s healthy food finance initiative, which would appropriate $340 million in grants to large and small markets that stock fresh foods in food deserts, remains in limbo with the federal budget. Similarly, a California measure sponsored by Assembly Speaker John Perez set out guidelines for distributing and growing that seed money, but was vetoed in September because the federal dollars weren’t certain.

Still, advocates say they remain dedicated to the approach. In communities like City Heights, financial and cultural barriers often mean behaviors can’t change, but stock can. Residents in City Heights, many who are refugees, often can’t drive to the grocery store. If they can, they don’t have the money or knowledge of U.S. foods to make nutritious purchases, said Mallory Cochrane, a coordinator with the International Rescue Committee. The corner market is often more accessible and a comforting fixture in the community.

Indeed, Attiq doles out more than a nicotine high from his market on Euclid and Orange Avenues. On a slow Saturday morning, he offered advice on remedying a traffic ticket and navigating the courts to one of his regulars, a woman dressed in traditional Somali clothing. He said he’d love to offer her avocados, too, but the exotics—what he calls produce other than apples, oranges and tomatoes—are just too much of a gamble when he’s already taking the fruits he can’t sell home to his kids. Anything more would need an open refrigerator, which means electricity costs he can’t carry.

“I’m a small guy. I can’t compete with Ralph’s,” Attiq said. “If I got another refrigerator, I’d have to stock it with energy drinks and coffee just to make it worthwhile.”

This seems to be the crux of food insecurity in City Heights. It doesn’t look like a food desert. Its geography is dotted with food retail options, but they aren’t necessarily nutritious. A recent community survey found that nearly 85 percent of City Heights residents live within a quarter mile of a market; citywide, only about 40 percent live as close to food retail. However, when tracked by The Reinvestment Fund, a community investment group, much of the same area was considered a “low access area” because there are few full-service grocery stores. In fact, the local survey shows that 85 percent of the food retail locations in City Heights are small markets and convenience stores.

A 2008 study by California Center for Public Health Advocacy, University of California, Los Angeles and PolicyLink shows that residents in communities with a high ratio of convenience stores and fast food outlets to grocery stores were about 20 percent more likely to be obese or have diabetes. Although a 2009 US Department of Agriculture report to Congress on food deserts cautioned that studies haven’t yet established a strong connection between food access and obesity, many neighborhood advocates insist that the link is clear.

According to Dawn Kamali, a specialist with SAY San Diego who works with liquor store owners and their neighbors, the majority of market owners are responsible operators who provide what they can for the community, but “the few bad operators tend to be really bad.” She said she’s found recalled baby formula and expired food on shelves.

“They don’t always care about the food because their bread and butter is the liquor,” Kamali said.

Rather than work with these merchants, most of the progress in City Heights has focused on developing farmers markets and community gardens. The International Rescue Committee has grown a robust program that matches food stamp funds at the local farmers market. The program recently expanded to a new farmers market just south of City Heights near Chollas View. The New Roots Farm and several smaller community gardens allow immigrants and refugees to grow their own food, and have been touted as a model for healthy living by Michelle Obama and others.

But little has been done to improve the food sources closest to homes and apartment buildings in the neighborhood. According to advocates, the closest model for such work is in Los Angeles. There, Community Health Councils, Inc., sponsors the Food Policy Roundtable and Neighborhood Food Watch. Community organizers and participating residents created a “Standards of Quality” agreement that store owners can sign and display; among its principles are placing healthy, organic products in high visibility locations and supplying quality produce and whole grains.

The group also created a standardized checklist that it uses to sweep area markets and report negligent operators to the county department of public heath. What’s more, vigorous communication efforts tell residents how to report expired foods in local markets themselves and how to petition or support proposals for new stores in the area.

Another group in Los Angeles aims to educate as well, only it does so with a little more flash. Market Makeovers, a project sponsored by the California Endowment’s Healthy Eating, Active Communities initiative, enlisted local high school students to perform a television-style makeover on three corner stores. Walls were painted and junk food was moved away from the point of sale in favor of produce. The result was a new orientation toward health in the markets and a colorful, multimedia website that acts as a toolkit for others to do the same.

Similarly, teens in Baldwin Park, Calif., worked with HEAC to help eight corner stores create “Healthy Selection” aisles where nutritious options were prominently displayed with signage that rivaled those for beer and snacks. The program included free marketing and advertisements in newspapers for business owners who adopted the new business strategy. Students in Santa Cruz County also succeeded in getting five Watsonville, Calif., markets to sign agreements similar to the standards of quality developed in Los Angeles and participate in monthly follow-ups.

Finally, middle school students in Shasta County asked the Wal-Mart manager in Anderson, Calif., to reconsider its displays at check-out aisles, convincing him to replace sweets with dried fruit and granola bars in several of the aisles.

In City Heights, moves toward improving access to healthy food retail have started largely with the store owners themselves. Mark Kassab, a longtime resident who owns a grocery store, corner market and gas station, has set up a shuttle service that helps seniors get to and from Supermercado Murphy’s. Attiq, too, seems as energetic about securing funds to improve access to healthy foods as the bright smiley-faces that adorn his storefront.

“I would love to sell that stuff—to have a full-fledged produce section,” Attiq said. “Tell me where to sign up.”

This sort of reception to healthy food retail among business owners is just one reason advocates like Rebecca Flournoy of PolicyLink say they’re hopeful lawmakers will move forward with healthy food financing. Their support bolsters a funding model that’s proven sustainable, according to Flournoy. The Pennsylvania initiative from which President Obama and Speaker Perez’s plans were modeled took just $30 million in state seed money and resulted in a $190 million investment.

“That’s the beauty of it,” Flournoy said. “You provide the start-up costs, but it really becomes a public-private partnership. It’s an investment but not an ongoing drain.”

A bipartisan committee in the Senate and House introduced healthy food financing bills late last month, suggesting the cause is still at the forefront as lawmakers craft a 2011 national budget. A source in Speaker Perez’s office said the speaker will reintroduce a California financing initiative during the next legislation cycle.

“The timing is right for a healthy food financing initiative,” Flournoy said. “The motivation is there, but there are a lot of questions still about how the politics will play out.”

 

President signs child nutrition bill

Published: December 14, 2010 | No Comments

By Daniel Weintraub

President Barack Obama has signed an extension of the nation’s child nutrition program, including new provisions designed to make school meals healthier for kids.

The bill authorizes the US Department of Agriculture to update the current nutritional standards for school lunches and to set standards for all food sold on school campuses, including vending machines, “a la carte” lines and school stores.

The idea behind the bill is to bringer fresher, healthier food into the schools, replacing processed food with whole foods whenever possible.

The measure will increase reimbursement by about 6 cents per meal for schools that meet the new standards.

The law also tries to encourage schools to adopt “farm to school” networks and school gardens that lead to the use of more locally grown foods in school lunches. And it expands access to drinking water for school children.

The bill is expected to expand access to free school meals to an additional 150,000 children by using the Medicaid eligibility process to directly certify children for the school meal program.

About 31 million children already receive meals through the school meal program.

A “sample menu” released Monday by the White House demonstrates the ambitious nature of the change the bill contemplates.

Instead of hot dogs with ketchup, pizza sticks or bean and cheese burritos, the menu suggests items such as a chef salad, whole wheat spaghetti and a submarine sandwich with low-fat cheese on a whole wheat roll. Instead of applesauce and canned pears, children would get fresh broccoli and cauliflower, baby carrots and kiwi halves.

 

Obesity rates keep climbing in US

Published: August 3, 2010 | No Comments

By Daniel Weintraub

A record number of US adults are now obese, with 2 million more people crossing that unhealthy weight threshold between 2007 and 2009, according to new numbers released by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 72 million adults are now classified as obese, which is defined as a body-mass index of 30 or more, a calculation based on the relationship between a person’s weight and height.

No US state has a population with an obesity rate of less than 15 percent, which is the official US government goal for the country. In nine states, the rate is greater than 30 percent. Just 10 years ago, no state had an obesity rate of greater than 30 percent.

California’s obesity rate is 24.8 percent. Sixteen states have lower rates.

Non-Hispanic black women (41.9 percent) and Hispanics (30.7 percent) have the highest rates of obesity.

Government agencies and non-profit groups across the country and in California are placing intense focus on the obesity issue, in part because the condition contributes to so many other health problems. The direct and indirect costs of obesity were estimated at $147 billion in 2008 dollars.

One example of a group fighting the epidemic is the Health Education Council. The council has launched a variety of initiatives to educate people about obesity and try to change their behavior. Many are aimed at children because so many children are overweight and destined for obesity and other health problems if they continue on their present course.

The council’s Rethink Your Drink” initiative works with medical professionals, agencies targeting children five years old and younger, schools, employers and local officials to provide training and education to get consumers to reduce or eliminate the consumption of sweetened beverages, which are associated with obesity, and Type 2 diabetes.

The council is also working with local farms to bring boxes of fresh produce to worksites, schools and community-based organizations, and working with employers to provide healthier food at meetings.

The council’s In the Grow program offers parent education and teacher training about healthy food choices and physical activity as well as how to start a school or community garden. And the council is working more broadly to ensure that all Californians have access to healthy and affordable foods and beverages, especially fresh fruits and vegetables.

To see the full CDC report, go here.

 

Farmers Markets reach out to low-income residents

Published: August 2, 2010 | 1 Comment

By Megan Burks

Purple zucchini, shiny red chilies and deep-hued summer berries dot the gradient of green vegetables that wash over vendors’ tables at the City Heights farmers market in central San Diego. Beyond the fresh produce, Andres Sandoval’s space sparkles with less natural tones—cartoon-embellished children’s bikes and metallic tools decorate Bikes del Pueblo, a bicycle repair booth.

Andres Sandoval spends every Saturday at the City Heights farmers market fixing bikes, but he hasn’t spent as much money there as he’d like. The student has applied for food stamps that he hopes will make market produce even more affordable.

Sandoval, 21, and his volunteer group are fixtures at the Saturday market, but he hasn’t spent as much money there as he would like. A college student living on his own, Sandoval said he hopes to begin buying more of his produce at the market next month.

But first he is waiting to see if he’ll qualify for food stamps.

The City Heights farmers market is one of three outdoor markets in San Diego County that can process such public assistance funds. This service—bundled with a program that helps people sign up for benefits on site and another that matches their funds once they’ve been approved—has given low-income residents like Sandoval greater access to fresh, organic foods.

“There’s this idea that farmers markets are expensive, elitist and not welcoming of low-income people,” said Mallory Cochrane, a program coordinator at the market.

In City Heights, however, women in traditional East African garb as colorful as the produce they hold make transactions with wooden tokens for which they’ve exchanged food stamp credit. Many more speak Spanish with their growers. Others crowd one of the few Asian produce vendors in San Diego to purchase foods reminiscent of those in their home countries.

For these residents, access to quality produce depends largely on an electronic benefit transfer, or EBT, machine provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The wireless device allows market organizers to charge food stamp EBT cards for tokens that can be exchanged like cash at booths. WIC checks can also be traded for tokens. Farmers then redeem the wooden coins they’ve collected for checks they can take to the bank.

“Being able to use my EBT is really important for feeding my family,” said Isabelle Dominguez, who emigrated from Mexico. She traded her tokens for a large basket of strawberries and an armful of greens.

About a third of market goers in City Heights emigrated from Asian countries. This Asian produce booth is one of the few places they can get foods that remind them of home.

The market has offered the payment option since it opened in 2008, but it wasn’t until this summer that foot traffic and purchases showed significant gains.

“Now, as soon as the cherries and tomatoes and—ooh—the blueberries show up, this place is busy,” said market manager Lorrie Scott. “It’s not hard to keep [customers] coming back, it was just hard getting them here.”

Making the Market Affordable

During its first two years, the market brought in only about $100,000 annually, Cochrane said. Since April, more than $80,000 in purchases has already been made, about $12,000 of it in food stamps and other supplemental funds. Cochrane said she credits the recent success to a fund-matching program that stretches customers’ food stipends.

Every client who taps into his or her public assistance money, including Supplemental Security Income for people with disabilities, is guaranteed a match of up to $20 per month through Fresh Fund, a program operated by the International Rescue Committee with support from federal stimulus dollars and the California Department of Food and Agriculture. When a customer spends $5 in food stamps, he or she will actually have $10 to spend that day.

“When my daughter came to this market, she was thrilled,” said Laura Parker, a vendor who sells herbs and fruit tree cuttings grown in her daughter’s backyard. “She came here with $10 and was excited to have enough produce for her family for two weeks.”

Since the match guarantee launched in April, more than 1,000 people have signed up, and about $30,000 Fresh Fund dollars have been distributed, said Cochrane. Of those who signed up, 64 percent said they couldn’t afford to buy market produce otherwise, according to the San Diego Farm Bureau.

Fresh Fund has also played a large role in convincing market goers to see if they’re eligible for public benefits in the first place, said Jennifer Tracy, a coordinator with the San Diego Hunger Coalition. The coalition prescreens consumers for food stamp eligibility on site. When someone applies, he or she is guaranteed $5 a week from Fresh Fund for a month.

“In my subconscious, I knew that I could get [food stamps], but it wasn’t until I came to the market that I though I would actually apply,” Sandoval said. “The market is good for this community because there are a lot of people who wouldn’t know where to go to sign up.”

In addition to visibility and convenience, Tracy said the program is an important form of outreach in the predominantly immigrant and refugee community. For new Americans who might not have experience navigating U.S. services and commerce, myths about public assistance are often as strong as misperceptions about the affordability of market produce, she said.

“Some are afraid that their kids will be taken away if the government finds out that they can’t feed their families, or that their children will get drafted if they use public assistance,” Tracy said.

Nurturing a Healthy Diet and Community

Cochrane said such cultural and language barriers also impact diets. Residents in City Heights are three times more likely to go to the emergency room for diabetes than other San Diegans and suffer disproportionately from diet-related high blood pressure and coronary heart disease, according to IRC.

For the IRC and Hunger Coalition, getting people to the market is a way to ensure that residents are increasing their intake of fruits and vegetables. Indeed, 90 percent of Fresh Fund participants said they’ve eaten more fresh food since signing up, according to the San Diego Farm Bureau.

Being unfamiliar with Western food systems can impede a refugee’s ability to make healthy purchases, said Cochrane. Though grocery stores accept food stamps, WIC and SSI for produce, public assistance benefits are also accepted for less wholesome dry goods and snacks that may only stave hunger pains.

“For refugees who spent an average of 17 years in a refugee camp, it becomes about survival,” Cochrane said. “They’re used to waiting in line for water, then they come here and see that they can go to McDonald’s and get the instant gratification of paying $10 to feed a family of five.”

“They don’t know what trans fats are because they didn’t have that in their countries,” Tracy added. “They might not know that a bag of Oreos isn’t good for you.”

What’s more, Ian Miller, a local foods advocate with San Diego Food Not Lawns, said grocery store produce isn’t necessarily the healthiest option because it’s been shipped from across the country or over seas. He said nutrients begin to leave produce as soon as it’s been picked; a longer commute between the grower and the shelves means more time for nutrients to escape.

The long distance also means knowing whether pesticides and chemicals have been sprayed on the food can be difficult. The market provides direct contact with growers who commute from only as far away as Riverside, which is why Valerie Camacho chooses to use her SSI funds at the market.

“Here, I talk to the growers and I have an idea of where it all comes from,” Camacho said as a vendor brought her a peach slice to sample. Camacho said she also knows that her money goes directly into the pockets of farmers.

“It’s a win-win for people in City Heights and the farmers,” said Tracy.

Planting Seeds Elsewhere

Now, other San Diego farmers markets are looking to take City Heights’ lead. The IRC operates markets in San Marcos and Valley Center with EBT machines and Fresh Fund, and is looking to open another this fall. Another market manger, Brian Beevers, is planning to accept food stamps at his more affluent markets in Mission Valley, Point Loma and University City. Beevers said providing the services where it isn’t necessarily needed is about sending a message.

“Local, high-quality food should be available at every income bracket,” Beevers said.

Including Sandoval’s income level, which he said is sometimes barely enough to pay for rent and classes at the local community college.

As Sandoval wrestled a new tube into the tire of a primary-colored tricycle, he talked about the importance of teaching kids to fix their own bikes and about one day traveling the world to advocate on behalf of traditional farmers.

“It’s empowering once you’re self-sufficient,” he said, as if referring to bikes and agriculture at once.

Before he finishes his degree in environmental studies and packs his bags, he’ll have to focus on food justice a little closer to home. His first victory could be getting approved for food stamps next month.

 
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