This presentation is about the Healthy Choices program and the Grocery Store initiative in South Milwaukee. Community and advocacy groups worked together in creating programs to improve the health of the community.

1. Healthy Stores, Healthy Choices,
Healthy Community
Transforming the environment from the
Community and Up
Local Food Summit, Ashland, WI. Feb. 2, 2013
Tatiana Maida, 16th Street Community Health Clinic
Lelitza Garcia, United Community Center
Sharon Lezberg, Community & Regional Food Systems Project

2. Outline of Presentation/Discussion
 Background
 The Healthy Choices Program
 Community Advocacy Group
 CRFS & Organizational Partners
 The Grocery Store Initiative
 Communication with store owners
 Food demonstrations
 Education and messaging
 Marketing and Evaluation
 Lessons learned and Conclusions

3. Milwaukee- WI
Sixteenth Street Community
Health Center

4. The epidemic: Adult Obesity in
South Side Milwaukee
36% 40%
40%
27%
30%
20%
10%
0%
US Wisconsin SSCHC

5. Overweight and Obese Adults
77%
68%
64%
USA Wisconsin SSCHC

6. Testimonial of a Mother
“My son has obesity and diabetes. I need help because he
doesn‟t listen to me…
And I know I am not the only one going through this. Many
friends and relatives are having the same problem.
We are already old and we expect to be sick, but they are
kids; they shouldn‟t have these illnesses.
As a mom I feel guilty because I know I am not feeding my
kids well, but I don‟t know anymore how to do it better.
I need help.”

7. Audience Brainstorm
How can we help obese individuals and
families to be healthier?

8. Healthy Choices Goal
“Through family education and
community advocacy,
Healthy Choices strives to improve
the home and neighborhood
environment for adults and children
in Milwaukee’s Southside,
so they can enjoy a healthier life”.

9. Healthy Choices FAMILY EDUCATION
Transforming the Home Environment
Adults
Teens
Children 7- Children 4-6

10. Cooking and Exercise

11. Evaluation of first 7 cycles
210 families impacted; 139 graduated
(67% of attendance rate)

12. Healthy Choices COMMUNITY ADVOCACY
Transforming the neighborhood Environment
Community leaders advocating for more access to
healthy food and safe physical activity.

13. Community Vision
 Healthy food in stores and restaurants
 Access to safe parks and streets
 Gardens and green spaces

14. 2012 Community Actions
 Biking Day in the Southside
 Fiesta Walk and Food Demonstrations at
Mexican Fiesta
 “Weight of the Nation” Movie Cycle
 Grocery Store Initiative

15. Healthy Grocery Store Initiative
Background
 Nutritional Environmental Assessment Study (NEMS) 2010
 Price and Availability Study in March 2012
Main Results:
1) Great variety and price for fruits and vegetables
2) Many of the supermarkets most frequented by
Latinos offer fewer healthy options and, with the
exception of fruits and vegetables, the healthy
items that are offered normally cost more.

16. Community Group wanted to…
Increase availability of healthy food items in
Pete‟s and El Rey grocery stores:
 Whole grain cereals without High Fructose Corn Syrup
 Quinoa, flaxseeds and sesame seeds
 Dairy free of hormones
 Cage-free eggs without antibiotics
 Baked chips

17. Community & Regional Food Systems
Project
 Improving food security in
urban areas through
community food system
innovation
 Research, Outreach, Educati
on, Advocacy, Community
Engagement
 Partnerships with community
organizations in seven cities

18. Project Partners

19. How the collaboration group decided to
support the initiative
 Many meetings to determine shared values
 Commitment to Collection Impact: working
together to bring different perspectives to the
table
 Recognizing the contribution of each organization
at the table
 Starting small
 Organizations in collaboration with the community

20. Communication with Stores Owners
Ernesto Pete
Villarreal Tsitiridis

22. Education and Messaging

23. Food Demonstrations
Pete’s and El Rey

25. Marketing and Evaluation
Shelf talkers

27. Evaluation
 Sales data collection
 Surveys of shoppers
on demonstration
days
 Evaluation from
coalition perspective;
community leaders;
and businesses

28. Lessons Learned - Collaboration
 Collaboration – Collective Impact
 CRFS: what we learned about University
involvement in Community Projects
 Work with an organizer, someone who is
part of the community
 Let the community lead

29. Lessons Learned –
Organization, Community &
Individuals
 Challenges of working at the community level
 Challenges of working with other partner
organizations, University & Extension
 Negotiating different perspectives: the issue
of HFCS, „natural‟, and other labels

30. Main Conclusions
 Dream big: be positive and change will come
 Have a clear vision – spend time talking about shared
vision
 Changing people‟s behavior can happen
 Changing community food environment: include the
entrepreneurs (store owners) and the effort will grow
bigger
 Collaboration leads to a more comprehensive project
with different perspectives
 The community voice is critical and should come first

31. Call to Action
 Address issues of access, health, and
consumer awareness
 Community needs to be the starting point
for action – of and by the community
 Leadership development and
empowerment is important

33. Group Activity
 What ideas from this presentation will be
helpful for the work that you do?
 Have you worked with projects similar to this
that start with the perspective of community?
 Thinking from the perspective of food justice:
what do we need to be aware of when working
with people of different
cultures, backgrounds, and from different
socioeconomic groups?

34. Contact Us
 Tatiana Maida, 16th Street Health Clinic;
Tatiana.Maida@sschc.org
 Lelitza Garcia, United Community Center;
lgarcia@unitedcc.org
 Sharon Lezberg, Community & Regional
Food Systems Project; slezberg@wisc.edu

35. Web-site:
http://www.community-food.org/
http://sschc.org/healthy-choices-elecciones-
saludables/
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