Progress 10/01/05 to 09/30/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: OUTPUTS: The Whole Community Project (WCP), based in Ithaca/Tompkins County, was undertaken through a partnership between a campus based team (consisting of a faculty member, a PhD student and undergraduate volunteers) and the Cooperative Extension Office of Tompkins County. The goal of the project was to mobilize a broad network of organizations and individuals in the community, including schools, after school and day care programs, employers, retailers, city and county departments, non-profits and others, and to support their efforts to formulate comprehensive and long-term strategies for preventing childhood obesity. The WCP was launched in 2006/07 through the efforts of 24 students in a graduate nutrition policy class, who interviewed over 40 stakeholders, analyzed the results and convened the first of many community meeting to discuss the results. This work expanded in later years through the efforts of a WCP coordinator hired specifically for this project at CCE of Tompkins County. As one participant put it, the WCP has become the "hub of the wheel" for preventing childhood obesity in the county. In the early years the "hub" activity mainly consisted of over a dozen community forums organized by the coordinator. The WCP coordinator convened more than a dozen additional meetings to facilitate action in specific issue areas. Other central communication lines were via several email listserves with over 300 members and a widely distributed paper and electronic newsletter of compiled member contributions. Over time the many organizations that were touched by the WCP undertook activities on their own initative. The WCP and/or its leaders have contributed to seven funding proposals, worked with dozens of student interns, received three awards, organized a Food Justice Think Tank and implemented a community-wide survey of perspectives and interests in prevention activities. PARTICIPANTS: Through WCP forums and outreach efforts we have collaborated with over 70 local organizations and groups. Those we have collaborated with most closely include: the Ithaca City School District, Tompkins County Health Department, City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Tompkins Community Action (Head Start), Ithaca Youth Bureau, YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County, Greater Ithaca Activities Center, Southside Community Center, Enfield Community Council, New York Coalition for Healthy School Foods, Day Care and Child Development Council of Tompkins County, Boyton Middle School Afterschool Program, Fall Creek Elementary School Afterschool Program, Ithaca High School, Lehman Alternative Community School, Enfield Elementary School, Leadership Tompkins, Ithaca City School District PTA Council, Ithaca Public Education Initiative, Cayuga Kiwanis, Sustainable Tompkins, Greenstar Cooperative Market, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Ithaca College, and Cornell University. Training/Professional development: The WCP coordinator has given three workshops on the role of community organizing in childhood obesity prevention. Also, the WCP has worked with five students, as summer interns or through Cornell classes. In the expanded project enabled by the new five year USDA grant the key partners in the five sites across the country are CCE of Tomkins County, East New York Farms! in Brooklyn, Wind River Reservation, WY, Albany County WY, and Dig Deep Farms & Produce south of Oakland, along with faculty, staff and graduate students from Cornell and the University of Wyoming. TARGET AUDIENCES: The educational model used in the WCP was primarily based on sharing of expertise and collaborating on action to prevent childhood obesity in our communities. This included partners from Cornell and CCE, but many other partners as noted under Participants. In addition to the forums and meetings noted above, the WCP has conducted outreach at four neighborhood festivals for low-income communities of color and initiated the Congo Square Market at Southside Community Center. The outreach included free healthy snacks, free healthy recipes, and participation in a brainstorming activity about healthy living (as a means for receiving the community's input on the WCP, and to encourage dialogue amongst family and community members on this issue). Also, the two summer interns working with the WCP provided a series of healthy eating/active living classes for the Ithaca High School summer special education program; and they conducted a workshop on healthy eating/active living with the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County's summer camp. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Not relevant to this project.
Impacts
OUTCOMES: Via the community forums, planning meetings and extensive outreach, several action groups or initiatives have been spawned. These include: school and community gardening; start-up of a gardening program linked to Head Start, now in four sites; school food service; a new Congo Square Market at Southside Community Center, linked to two youth employment programs for high school students; Cooking Up Family Dinners; Gardens for Humanity; ongoing planning and negotiation for public land and shared neighbor land gardens; a pilot program (DSS Direct) through the Department of Social Services; a new produce stand in the DSS parking lot, coordinated with WIC; and a healthy school environment group was formed at Belle Sherman Elementary school. In 2009 the city of Ithaca began implementing the "safe routes to schools" initiative, with the $324,000 grant received in 2008 and authored by a WCP member. The Healthy Passports program continued (initiated by WCP in 2008), for the purpose of encouraging businesses/organizations to providing healthy choices for kids and stimulate physical activity and health awareness in schoolchildren through community explorations. And a new VP of family cycling position was created in the local cycling club, to support and promote regular family and child rides. In 2010 the PhD student working on the WCP finished her PhD and developed a successful $5,000,000, five-year project proposal to USDA involving dozens of partners in five sites across the country (including the continuation of the WCP).
Publications
- Whose Responsibility The Role Of The Federal Government In Preventing Childhood Obesity: Perspectives Of Organizations, Congressional Staffers, And Parents. A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, by Alexandra Cory Lewin, January 2009.
- Community-Based Childhood Obesity Prevention: Perspectives, Practices and Potential. A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, by Christine M. Porter, May 2010.
- Finding Common Ground: Perspectives on Community-Based Childhood Obesity Prevention. Porter, C. and Pelletier, DL. 2011. Health Promotion Practice (in press).
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Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10
Outputs
OUTPUTS: In 2009 the project had one major component, The Whole Community Project (WCP), based in Ithaca/Tompkins County. The WCP is being undertaken through a partnership between a campus based team (consisting of a faculty member, a PhD student and undergraduate volunteers) and the Cooperative Extension Office of Tompkins County. The goal of the project is to mobilize a broad network of organizations and individuals in the community, including schools, after school and day care programs, employers, retailers, city and county departments, non-profits and others, and to support their efforts to formulate comprehensive and long-term strategies for preventing childhood obesity. The WCP was launched in 2006/07 through the efforts of 24 students in Dr. Pelletier's graduate nutrition policy class, who interviewed over 40 stakeholders, analyzed the results and convened the first of many community meeting to discuss the results. This work continued in 2007-09 through the efforts of a WCP coordinator hired specifically for this project at CCE of Tompkins County. As one participant put it, the WCP has become the "hub of the wheel" for preventing childhood obesity in the county. In the early years the "hub" activity mainly consisted of over a dozen community forums. The WCP coordinator also convened more than a dozen additional meetings to facilitate action in specific issue areas. Other central communication lines are via several email listserves with over 300 members and a widely distributed paper and electronic newsletter of compiled member contributions. The WCP and/or its leaders have contributed to six funding proposals, worked with dozens of student interns, received three awards, organized a Food Justice Think Tank and implemented a community-wide survey of perspectives and interests in prevention activities. PARTICIPANTS: Through WCP forums and outreach efforts we have collaborated with over 70 local organizations and groups. Those we have collaborated with most closely include: the Ithaca City School District, Tompkins County Health Department, City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Tompkins Community Action (Head Start), Ithaca Youth Bureau, YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County, Greater Ithaca Activities Center, Southside Community Center, Enfield Community Council, New York Coalition for Healthy School Foods, Day Care and Child Development Council of Tompkins County, Boyton Middle School Afterschool Program, Fall Creek Elementary School Afterschool Program, Ithaca High School, Lehman Alternative Community School, Enfield Elementary School, Leadership Tompkins, Ithaca City School District PTA Council, Ithaca Public Education Initiative, Cayuga Kiwanis, Sustainable Tompkins, Greenstar Cooperative Market, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Ithaca College, and Cornell University. Training/Professional development: The WCP coordinator has given three workshops on the role of community organizing in childhood obesity prevention. Also, the WCP has worked with five students, as summer interns or through Cornell classes. TARGET AUDIENCES: The educational model being used in the WCP is primarily based on sharing of expertise and collaborating on action to prevent childhood obesity in our communities. This includes partners from Cornell and CCE, but many other partners as well. In addition to the forums and meetings noted above, the WCP has conducted outreach at four neighborhood festivals for low-income communities of color and initiated the Congo Square Market at Southside Community Center. The outreach included free healthy snacks, free healthy recipes, and participation in a brainstorming activity about healthy living (as a means for receiving the community's input on the WCP, and to encourage dialogue amongst family and community members on this issue). Also, the two summer interns working with the WCP provided a series of healthy eating/active living classes for the Ithaca High School summer special education program; and they conducted a workshop on healthy eating/active living with the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County's summer camp. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
Via the community forums, planning meetings and extensive outreach, several action groups or initiatives have been spawned. These include: school and community gardening; start-up of a gardening program linked to Head Start, now in four sites; school food service; a new Congo Square Market at Southside Community Center, linked to two youth employment programs for high school students; Cooking Up Family Dinners; Gardens for Humanity; ongoing planning and negotiation for public land and shared neighbor land gardens; a pilot program (DSS Direct) through the Department of Social Services; a new produce stand in the DSS parking lot, coordinated with WIC; and a healthy school environment group was formed at Belle Sherman Elementary school. In 2009 the city of Ithaca began implementing the "safe routes to schools" initiative, with the $324,000 grant received in 2008 and authored by a WCP member. The Healthy Passports program continued (initiated by WCP in 2008), for the purpose of encouraging businesses/organizations to providing healthy choices for kids and stimulate physical activity and health awareness in schoolchildren through community explorations. And a new VP of family cycling position was created in the local cycling club, to support and promote regular family and child rides.
Publications
- Whose Responsibility The Role Of The Federal Government In Preventing Childhood Obesity: Perspectives Of Organizations, Congressional Staffers, And Parents. A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, by Alexandra Cory Lewin, January 2009.
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Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09
Outputs
OUTPUTS: OUTPUTS: The project has two major components: The Whole Community Project (WCP), based in Ithaca/Tompkins County and the Federal Policy component based in Washington, DC. The WCP is being undertaken through a partnership between a campus based team (consisting of two faculty members, three staff members and a PhD student) and the Cooperative Extension Office of Tompkins County. The goal of the project is to mobilize a broad network of organizations and individuals in the community, including schools, after school and day care programs, employers, retailers, city and county departments, non-profits and others, and to support their efforts to formulate comprehensive and long-term strategies for preventing childhood obesity. In the course of this project, the varied roles, perspectives and contributions of experts, stakeholders and citizens will be documented. During 2006/07 the WCP was launched through the efforts of 24 students in Dr. Pelletier's graduate nutrition policy class, who interviewed over 40 stakeholders, analyzed the results and convened the first of many community meeting to discuss the results. This work continued in 2007 and 2008 through the efforts of a WCP coordinator hired specifically for this project at CCE of Tompkins County. As one participant put it, the WCP has become the "hub of the wheel" for preventing childhood obesity in the county. The main "hub" activity has been hosting community forums; ten have been held to date (with total attendence of 144 by 80 community members). The WCP coordinator also convened more than a dozen additional meetings to facilitate action in specific issue areas. Other central communication lines are via an email listserve with over 300 members and a widely distributed paper and electronic newsletter of compiled member contributions. The WCP has additionally contributed to five funding proposals and worked with ten student interns. Toward the end of 2008 WCP faculty and students began designing a community-wide survey of perspectives and interests in prevention activities, to be conducted in 2009. PARTICIPANTS: PARTICIPANTS: Through WCP forums and outreach efforts we have collaborated with over 70 local organizations and groups. Those we have collaborated with most closely include: the Ithaca City School District, Tompkins County Health Department, City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Tompkins Community Action (HeadStart), Ithaca Youth Bureau, YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County, Greater Ithaca Activities Center, Southside Community Center, Enfield Community Council, New York Coalition for Healthy School Foods, Day Care and Child Development Council of Tompkins County, Boyton Middle School Afterschool Program, Fall Creek Elementary School Afterschool Program, Ithaca High School, Lehman Alternative Community School, Enfield Elementary School, Leadership Tompkins, Ithaca City School District PTA Council, Ithaca Public Education Initiative, Cayuga Kiwanis, Sustainable Tompkins, Greenstar Cooperative Market, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Ithaca College, and Cornell University. Training/Professional development: The WCP coordinator has given three workshops on the role of community organizing in childhood obesity prevention. Also, the WCP has worked with five students, as summer interns or through Cornell classes. TARGET AUDIENCES: TARGET AUDIENCES: The educational model being used in the WCP is primarily based on sharing of expertise and collaborating on action to prevent childhood obesity in our communities. This includes partners from Cornell and CCE, but many other partners as well. In addition to the forums and meetings noted above, the WCP has conducted outreach at four neighborhood festivals for low-income communities of color. The outreach included free healthy snacks, free healthy recipes, and participation in a brainstorming activity about healthy living (as a means for receiving the community's input on the WCP, and to encourage dialogue amongst family and community members on this issue). Also, the two summer interns working with the WCP provided a series of healthy eating/active living classes for the Ithaca High School summer special education program; and they conducted a workshop on healthy eating/active living with the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County's summer camp. At the federal level, outreach efforts will be designed to influence policy makers, to expand knowledge of public policy to public health professionals and to get citizens more engaged. These audiences will be reached by presenting interim findings of the Q study to legislative staffers and other stakeholders. PROJECT MODIFICATIONS: Nothing significant to report during this reporting period.
Impacts
OUTCOMES: Via these forums and extensive outreach by attending meetings of other groups [24 to date], two action groups have "spun off" and begun work separately from the forums, one on school and community gardening and another on school food systems. For example, the gardening "arm" won a small grant in partnership with an NGO to start a garden with a local Head Start preschool classroom, and the school foods group has been running taste testings of healthy recipes with schoolchildren in partnership with school food directors to see what new lunch menus they could adopt. In 2008 the city of Ithaca received a $324,000 grant for a "safe routes to schools" grant, which was authored by a WCP member after learning of the grant program through the WCP. The WCP initiated a Healthy Passports program in 2008 to encourage businesses/organizations to providing healthy choices for kids and stimulate physical activity and health awareness in schoolchildren through community explorations. The Federal Policy component was finished in 2008 and included three studies perspectives in Congress, stakeholders and citizens in Washington, D.C.. These studies have been documented in a PhD thesis and will be published in 2009.
Publications
- Whose Responsibility? The Role Of The Federal Government In Preventing Childhood Obesity: Perspectives Of Organizations, Congressional Staffers, And Parents. A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, by Alexandra Cory Lewin, January 2009.
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Progress 10/01/06 to 09/30/07
Outputs
OUTPUTS: The project has two major components: The Whole Community Project (WCP), based in Ithaca/Tompkins County and the Federal Policy component based in Washington, DC. The WCP is being undertaken through a partnership between a campus based team (consisting of two faculty members, three staff members and a PhD student) and the Cooperative Extension Office of Tompkins County. The goal of the project is to mobilize a broad network of organizations and individuals in the community, including schools, after school and day care programs, employers, retailers, city and county departments, non-profits and others, and to support their efforts to formulate comprehensive and long-term strategies for preventing childhood obesity. In the course of this project, the varied roles, perspectives and contributions of experts, stakeholders and citizens will be documented. During 2006/07 the WCP was launched through the efforts of 24 students in Dr. Pelletier's graduate nutrition policy class, who
interviewed over 40 stakeholders, analyzed the results and convened the first of many community meeting to discuss the results. This work continued in 2007 through the efforts of a WCP coordinator hired specifically for this project at CCE of Tompkins County. As one participant put it, the WCP has become the "hub of the wheel" for preventing childhood obesity in the county. The main "hub" activity has been hosting community forums; ten have been held to date (with total attendence of 144 by 80 community members). The WCP coordinator also convened 11 additional meetings to facilitate action in specific issue areas. Other central communication lines are via an email listserve with 145 members and a widely distributed paper and electronic newsletter of compiled member contributions. The WCP has additionally contributed to four funding proposals and worked with five student interns. Via these forums and extensive outreach by attending meetings of other groups [24 to date], two action
groups have "spun off" and begun work separately from the forums, one on school and community gardening and another on school food systems. For example, the gardening "arm" won a small grant in partnership with an NGO to start a garden with a local Head Start preschool classroom, and the school foods group has been running taste testings of healthy recipes with schoolchildren in partnership with school food directors to see what new lunch menus they could adopt. Other action groups are emerging, such as collaborative application for a "safe routes to schools" grant. The Federal Policy component is being conducted by a second PhD student who is studying the perspectives in Congress, stakeholders and citizens in Washington, D.C.. During 2006/07 interviews were conducted with legislative staff from offices of 30 US Senators, Q sorts were conducted with 25 legislative staffers and 60 press releases from expert and stakeholder organizations were analyzed to characterize the discourse
related to personal responsibility in childhood obesity. Q sorts will continue through March 2008 and citizen focus groups will be conducted.
PARTICIPANTS: Through WCP forums and outreach efforts we have collaborated with over 70 local organizations and groups. Those we have collaborated with most closely include: the Ithaca City School District, Tompkins County Health Department, City of Ithaca, Town of Ithaca, Tompkins Community Action (HeadStart), Ithaca Youth Bureau, YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County, Greater Ithaca Activities Center, Southside Community Center, Enfield Community Council, New York Coalition for Healthy School Foods, Day Care and Child Development Council of Tompkins County, Boyton Middle School Afterschool Program, Fall Creek Elementary School Afterschool Program, Ithaca High School, Lehman Alternative Community School, Enfield Elementary School, Leadership Tompkins, Ithaca City School District PTA Council, Ithaca Public Education Initiative, Cayuga Kiwanis, Sustainable Tompkins, Greenstar Cooperative Market, Tompkins Cortland Community College, Ithaca College, and Cornell University.
Training/Professional development: The WCP coordinator has given three workshops on the role of community organizing in childhood obesity prevention. Also, the WCP has worked with five students, as summer interns or through Cornell classes.
TARGET AUDIENCES: The educational model being used in the WCP is primarily based on sharing of expertise and collaborating on action to prevent childhood obesity in our communities. This includes partners from Cornell and CCE, but many other partners as well. In addition to the forums and meetings noted above, the WCP has conducted outreach at four neighborhood festivals for low-income communities of color. The outreach included free healthy snacks, free healthy recipes, and participation in a brainstorming activity about healthy living (as a means for receiving the community's input on the WCP, and to encourage dialogue amongst family and community members on this issue). Also, the two summer interns working with the WCP provided a series of healthy eating/active living classes for the Ithaca High School summer special education program; and they conducted a workshop on healthy eating/active living with the YMCA of Ithaca and Tompkins County's summer camp. At the federal level,
outreach efforts will be designed to influence policy makers, to expand knowledge of public policy to public health professionals and to get citizens more engaged. These audiences will be reached by presenting interim findings of the Q study to legislative staffers and other stakeholders.
Impacts
None to report as yet. The project implementation is still underway.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/06 to 12/31/06
Outputs
This project was initiated to improve the understanding, analysis and deliberation of complex food and nutrition policy issues by experts, stakeholders and citizens. The original intent was to use iron overload in the U.S. as the focal issue. To that end, preliminary work was undertaken this year to assess the appropriateness of iron overload as the focal policy issue. Ten citizens, varying in gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status were interviewed concerning the issue and five of these later participated in a focus group. That preliminary work revealed that iron overload was not an appropriate focal issue because it was uniformly viewed as a medical issue that should be treated as such. To be successful, this research requires a focal issue that is highly salient to individuals and society, complex in its etiology and requiring a combination of scientific knowledge and social (values) perspectives to formulate appropriate policy responses. Accordingly, the
project is now using childhood obesity as its focal issue, while still addressing the same research questions regarding the need for improved methods for integrating the perspectives of experts, stakeholders and citizens in formulating policy responses. The project now has two major components: The Whole Community Project (WCP), based in Ithaca/Tompkins County and the Federal Policy component based in Washington, DC. The WCP is being undertaken through a full partnership between a campus based team (consisting of two faculty members, three staff members and a PhD student) and the Cooperative Extension Office of Tompkins County. The goal of the project is to mobilize a broad network of organizations and individuals in the community, including schools, after school and day care programs, employers, retailers, city and county departments, non-profits and others, and to support their efforts to formulate comprehensive and long-term strategies for preventing childhood obesity. In the
course of this project, the varied roles, perspectives and contributions of experts, stakeholders and citizens will become apparent and will be the object of study by the PhD student. During 2006 the WCP was launched through the efforts of 24 students in Dr. Pelletier's graduate nutrition policy class, who interviewed over 40 stakeholders, analyzed the results and convened the first of many community meeting to discuss the results. This work will continue in 2007 through the efforts of a WCP coordinator hired specifically for this project and a community advisory committee being created for this purpose. The Federal Policy component is being conducted by a second PhD student who is studying the perspectives in Congress and a variety of stakeholders (including experts) concerning childhood obesity and the most appropriate federal policy responses. During 2006 interviews were conducted with legislative staff form over the offices of 30 U.S. Senators, and this work will be expanded to
stakeholders in 2007.
Impacts
This work has the potential to generate significant impacts. The Whole Community Project is one of the few in the country to adopt an approach that is both comprehensive and driven largely by citizen and stakeholder perspectives on childhood obesity. The Federal Policy component is motivated in part by the recognition that Congress has yet to pass a single meaningful piece of legislation to address childhood obesity, despite the extensive public attention and the enormous human and economic costs projected for the future. This research has the potential to identify federal policy responses that are acceptable to both political parties, but have not yet been formulated by the key legislators in this area. The interviews conducted so far reveal that one reason for this vacuum is the extreme polarization that has taken place in the Congress, which has limited the opportunity and the motivation for legislators to work toward common ground solutions.
Publications
- Pelletier, D.L. 2006. Theoretical Considerations Related to Cutoff Points. Food and Nutrition Bulletin 27(4)(supplement):224-236.
- Pelletier, DL, Lewin, A and Porter, C. 2006. The Whole Community Project: The Prospects and Requirements for Preventing Childhood Obesity through Community-Centered Approaches. Presentation at the Annual Institute of the Society for the Policy Sciences, Yale University, October 28, 2006.
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Progress 01/01/05 to 12/31/05
Outputs
Preliminary development of study procedures has been initiated, including: development of interview guides; training of interviewers; interviews were conducted with eight citizens; a focus group was conducted with four citizens; and the interviews have been transcribed so that coding and analysis procedures can be developed.
Impacts
Apart from the statement of project goals, it is too early to report on project impacts.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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