Summary of Public Input for Maryland’s First Food Charter Released

For Immediate Release:  November 7, 2016
Contact: Evelyn Kelly, 202-407-7086  ekelly@institutphi.org

Washington, D.C. –  The Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI) released Creating Maryland’s Food Charter: A Summary of Public Input, a document that summarizes the results of a 10-month public process to develop content for Maryland’s first Food Charter. The document includes input from hundreds of food policy stakeholders from across the state’s five main regions (Western, Capital, Central, Southern and the Eastern Shore).

Many organizations and food coalitions throughout Maryland are working on issues ranging from urban agriculture to food recovery. Although much of their work may interconnect, they are often operating in isolation simply because much of the work is done at the local level without a state-wide lens. Accordingly, IPHI and a diverse group of stakeholders have been working to foster collaboration and collective action at the state level for a healthy, just, and sustainable food system in Maryland.

“The public input process was the first step towards developing the Food Charter, which will be a living document that unites food system stakeholders around collective values and goals,” said Evelyn Kelly, Senior Program Manager with the Institute for Public Health Innovation. “Ultimately, we want to create an awareness of the different components of the food system and spur collective action to make impactful changes in the area of food policy.”

In 2014, IPHI began a state-wide effort to listen to concerns from all over the state with regards to the Maryland food system. During the first phase of the project, IPHI conducted a series of regional convenings combined with a needs and asset assessment that produced community-led action steps and recommendations to create an optimal food system. Guiding the planning, implementation, and evaluation of this initiative is an Advisory Committee composed of eight members that represent multiple food system sectors and interests.

“Over the past few years, we have seen a consistent increase in the number of states with food policy councils or networks across the country, so Maryland is in good company in its effort bring these stakeholders together,” said Anne Palmer, Program Director of the Food Communities & Public Health Program within the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future and Advisory Committee member to the Initiative.

For the second phase, IPHI plans to finalize the Food Charter to engage and enhance awareness of policy makers in the food system. The Maryland Food Charter will be released in Spring 2017. This initiative was made possible through a grant awarded by the Town Creek Foundation. To learn more about the Food Charter or to provide input regarding the preliminary goals and strategies, visit www.institutephi.org/mdfoodcharter.

A PDF of this press release can be accessed here.

About Institute for Public Health Innovation

IPHI creates partnerships across sectors and cultivates innovative solutions that improve health and well-being for all populations and communities across the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia, particularly those most affected by health inequities. IPHI’s work enhances the environments and conditions in which people live, age, work, learn, and play; strengthens health service systems and public policy; and builds organizational and community capacity to sustain progress.  IPHI is one of 44 public health institutes across the country and a member of the National Network of Public Health Institutes. For more information on IPHI, see www.institutephi.org, and follow IPHI on Facebook and Twitter @InstitutePHI.

Montgomery County Receives Major National Investment for Community-Based Efforts to Prevent Chronic Disease

Silver Spring, Maryland (March 3, 2016) –   Trinity Health, one of the country’s largest health systems, has awarded a Montgomery County, Maryland collaborative $500,000 per year for three to five years to implement a range of public health strategies that can reduce obesity, promote tobacco-free living, and address social determinants that impact health outcomes. The grant is one of six made nationally through Trinity Health’s new Transforming Communities Initiative.  The local collaborative includes Trinity Health member Holy Cross Health, the Institute for Public Health Innovation (IPHI), Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services, and Healthy Montgomery, the county’s local health improvement coalition.  IPHI will serve as the lead agency for the effort.

“Holy Cross Health is proud that its Montgomery County partnership has been selected by Trinity Health for this multi-year, multi-million dollar grant to support and promote healthy lifestyles,” said Kevin J. Sexton, president and CEO of Holy Cross Health. “It is a logical extension of the work Holy Cross has done over many years in providing healthcare access to all and creating community partnerships to improve health.  We are very appreciative of the high quality partners who have joined together in this effort.”

The strategies will focus on policy, systems and environmental changes that offer long-term benefits for community health improvement, with a focus on the communities of Gaithersburg, Germantown, Long Branch and Takoma Park.  The announcement was made at an event held Tuesday, March 1 at Holy Cross Hospital.

“Montgomery County has tremendous leadership and collaborative spirit across government and community organizations,” said Michael Rhein, President & CEO of the Institute for Public Health Innovation.  “This is an extraordinary opportunity to work together to create healthier conditions and environments in areas of the county where we’ve identified some critical needs as well as notable assets.”

“This grant represents an important milestone in showcasing the strength of our partnership between Holy Cross Health, Institute for Public Health Innovation and the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services (MCDHHS),” said Uma Ahluwalia, director of MCDHHS.  “It advances the agenda of Healthy Montgomery, an effort to improve the health and well-being of our county’s residents.  We are humbled and grateful to be chosen and look forward to making important gains in the areas of obesity prevention and smoking cessation.”

In a later phase of the program, Montgomery County partners will have the opportunity to access low-interest investment loans through a complementary arm of the Trinity Health initiative to support interventions related to key determinants of health, such as access to healthy food, affordable housing and early childhood issues.

“I am delighted that Montgomery County has been selected as one of six communities nationwide to participate in the Transforming Communities Initiative,” said County Councilmember George Leventhal, chairman of the Council’s Health & Human Services Committee and co-chair of the Healthy Montgomery Steering Committee.  “This designation confirms that our efforts through Healthy Montgomery to bring together stakeholders to set public health priorities, improve population health and eliminate health disparities are making a real difference.”

For more information on the Healthy Montgomery Transforming Communities Initiative, contact Evelyn Kelly, ekelly@institutephi.org.