Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application/pdf&blobheadername1=Content-Disposition&blobheadername2=MDT-Type&blobheadervalue1=inline;+filename=2012-AstraZeneca-HealthCare-Foundation-Annual-Report

Grow, Share, and Prepare Healthy Food
SUMMARY
GRANT AWARDEE: Sustainable Food
Center
GOAL: To promote cardiovascular health,
sustainable foods, healthy nutrition, and
the prevention of obesity in adolescents
and families living in economically
disadvantaged neighborhoods where
residents lack access to affordable,
healthy foods, nutrition literacy, and
information about healthy, local foods.
AREA OF FOCUS: Austin, TX
2012 GRANT AWARD: $197,772
TOTAL GRANT AWARD(S): $550,337
Sustainable Food Center’s Cultivating Healthy
Communities program enables communities to address
their own cardiovascular health issues. We identify
community leaders, organize wellness leadership teams,
and provide the teams with options for food-systems
programming based on their own interests and assets.
SFC then provides training, support, and resources
for the leaders in all aspects of our comprehensive
food-systems programming. In 2012, over 250,000
individuals in Austin have grown, shared, and prepared
healthy, local food because of SFC’s efforts.
– Andrew Smiley, Deputy Director, Sustainable Food Center
Texas is ranked third in the nation for food insecurity, with over 15% of households lacking the means
to provide consistent nourishment for maintaining health, 1 including cardiovascular health. Access to
fresh, nutritious, and affordable food for community members is vital in promoting community health
and preventing disease. From seed to table, the Sustainable Food Center’s (SFC) Cultivating Healthy
Communities program responds to this need by creating opportunities for individuals to make healthy
food choices and to participate in a vibrant local food system. Through organic food gardening,
relationships with area farmers, interactive cooking classes, and nutrition education, children and
adults have increased access to locally grown food and are empowered to improve the long-term
cardiovascular health of Central Texans.
In 2012 alone, Cultivating Healthy Communities made contact with more than 250,000 individuals
through SFC community and school gardening, farm marketing, and healthy cooking class programs.
This includes over 12,000 individuals who grew more fruits and vegetables because of access to
SFC’s Grow Local program. Grow Local provides free basic organic gardening classes in English
and Spanish and trains neighborhood leaders to begin and sustain community and school gardens.
Through the Sprouting Healthy Kids farm-to-school and food-systems education project, nearly
40,000 students enjoyed increased access to healthy, local foods while increasing nutrition literacy
through 20 school-wide meet-the-farmer and veggie-sampling events and 22 new or expanded
school gardens. The Cultivating Healthy Communities program received three consecutive years of
funding from the CCH program for a total of $550,337.
1
USDA, 2007
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