Public Policy

Healthy people require healthy environments— neighborhoods, schools, childcare centers, and workplaces that support healthy lifestyle behaviors. Research is increasingly demonstrating a relationship between the choices people make in their lives and specific community factors, such as the availability of parks, accessibility of healthy and affordable produce, “walkability” of neighborhoods, workplace health promotion, nutrition/physical activity standards in schools.

It is clear that policy/environmental/system changes are integral to accomplishing the goals within the Foundation’s Healthy Eating Active Communities Priority Area and through our grantmaking programs and policy work support the following:

• Daily physical education mandate in public middle and high schools
• Establishment of nutrition, physical activity and screen time limit standards in child care centers embedded in licensing requirements
• Changes to pricing structures that make fruits and vegetables more affordable and unhealthy foods more expensive
• Increased federal and state funding for the establishment of Farmers’ Markets Nutrition Programs, including Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program in South Florida
• Increased active transportation and recreation through improvements in the built environment such as enhancing facilities, planning, zoning and transportation policies and development of a county wide-signage system.
• Farmers’ markets equipped with electronic benefit transfer terminals and SNAP approved
• Increased access of fresh fruits and vegetables at convenience/corner stores in underserved communities
• Incentives for businesses implementing worksite wellness programs

For additional information on the Foundation’s policy-related work, please click here.