Bradford Hansen-Smith believes the simple activity of folding circles provides a rich learning experience, observations that occur within the greatest context, and discoveries that have profound meaning.

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Poor urban neighborhoods are often food deserts, bereft of fresh fruits and vegetables. According to a report by the Bloomberg School of Public Health, nearly one in four school-aged children in Baltimore live in a food desert — an area where nutritious food choices are limited, and almost one-third of city households lacked access to enough nutritious food to maintain a healthy lifestyle.

There is a 20-year difference in life expectancy between some neighborhoods in the city, and unhealthy diet contributes to many of the top causes of death and disease in this city like cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. That’s according to Dr. Kimberly Gudzone, an assistant professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine who directed a recent pilot program for the Healthy Stores project.
The Healthy Stores projects realistically address the complexities faced by store owners with respect to maintaining an inventory of fresh produce. Teams aim to improve health and prevent obesity and disease in low-income communities. The Johns Hopkins initiative operates through the Center for Human Nutrition and engages in culturally appropriate store-based interventions that increase the supply of healthy foods while also promoting their purchase.
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One of the green concept homes showcased at the Department of Energy’s 2011 Solar Decathlon now has a permanent address in Washington, DC. The design is based on several net-zero energy systems that reach peak efficiency when they are joined together.
A rainwater harvesting system captures water from the roof and adjacent land, minimizing the water that drains into public sewers. It features a roof garden and vegetable window boxes. The design won the Solar Decathlon’s first Affordability contest.
Empowerhouse was designed and constructed by a team of more than 200 graduate and undergraduate students from The New School and Stevens Institute of Technology. They worked with Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. (DC Habitat), and the DC Department of Housing and Community Development to move the original design to Washington’s Deanwood neighborhood and expand it into a two-family home.
Deanwood is a primarily working-class, African-American community that is known as one of the greenest areas in Washington, DC. The community recently participated in CarbonFree DC’s “Extreme Green Neighborhood Makeover,” which retrofitted low and moderate-income homes.
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Obesity rates for kids have become a hot button educational issue in the USA, with childhood obesity tripling in the last three decades. The State of Georgia is among the worst in the nation with more than 37 percent of students overweight or obese. These children will likely grow up to become obese adults and while suffering from ailments including auto-immune disorders, diabetes, coronary artery disease, high blood pressure, lost productivity and disability. And, as if the human tragedy wasn’t enough, such conditions also strain the state’s healthcare costs.
Almost 75 percent of all children who attend public schools in Georgia participate in the School Nutrition Program. What better way to combat childhood obesity, than to revolutionize the school lunch menu to make a difference where it counts the most.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA) is addressing the challenges associated with a school district offering healthy options – especially when it comes to providing fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables on cafeteria trays. The phrase “Farm-to-School” is becoming increasingly popular in the U.S. when it comes to thinking about how to offer healthy, fresh produce options to students. Now the state Departments of Education and Agriculture are teaming up in a combined effort to assist each and every school district in facing the challenges associated with implementing a Farm-to-School initiative.
In the 2011-12 school year, a handful of schools across the state will be included in the GDA’s pilot program, “Feed My School for a Week.” Each participating school district will have one elementary school host the event and all school lunches served out of that school’s cafeteria will be composed of 75-100 percent of Georgia Grown food. In return, the participating school must be willing and able to host a fall semester planning meeting, which will be put on by the GDA, as well as a week in the school’s spring semester dedicated to putting on the event.
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A new study suggests that community-based education programs to improve intake of dietary calcium could make a difference in bone health and fracture prevention for the postmenopausal population. In many Asian countries, levels of dietary calcium and vitamin D in the general population have been shown to be below FAO/WHO recommended levels of calcium intake. For pre-menopausal women and men under age 65 the recommended levels are 1000 mg/day and for postmenopausal women and men over age 65 the recommendations are for 1300 mg/day.
Researchers carried out a controlled trial in the Red River Delta in Vietnam involving a total of 140 women. The women, aged 55 years, had been postmenopausal for at least 5 years, and had low dietary calcium intake (less than 400 mg/day). An intervention group was given nutrition education counselling over 18 months to improve calcium intake.
After 18 months, the women in the intervention group had increased their calcium intake significantly. Testing showed that the intervention group’s bone mass had remained stable. In comparison, the bone mass of the control group which had not received nutrition education, had decreased by 0.5 % (p<0.01). The PTH (parathyroid hormone) values in the intervention group decreased by 12 % (p<0.01) whereas in the controls, PTH increased by 32 % (p<0.001). Consider the Source

At Mark Twain Middle School in Los Angeles, a blooming garden serves as a classroom. Students learn math by measuring the growth of wheat, ancient history by building a Mesopotamian-style irrigation system and the science of evaporation, evolution and genetics by watching their garden grow. At lunchtime you will find them snacking on pasta tossed in a sauce featuring just-picked tomatoes and basil.
Healthful eating is linked to academic achievement and some students rely on school meals for most of their daily nutrition. Keonta Johnson, a Mark Twain sixth-grader sitting with three of his friends, said they enjoyed such healthful cafeteria fare as rice and beans, salads and fruits. “We know if we eat too much junk food we’ll get fat and have a greater chance of heart attacks and diabetes.” Edwin Castro, a seventh-grader, said lessons in eating habits, history and other subjects that employed hands-on work out in the school garden have been far more exciting than just reading textbooks.
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“If you can show someone how special they are, that they are wonderfully made, that empowers them with value and it changes their lives.” So says Pam Van Meter, a certified health education specialist who works at the Bethesda Clinic in Tyler Texas.
The clinic provides women with job training and other life skills. The women attend classes twice a week and learn to cook healthy meals from scratch while focusing on the message of the program: cook nutritious meals and limit portion sizes. Here clients learn the basics of good nutrition, which includes using less processed foods and adding more vegetables to the diet.
A focus on nutrition has slowly expanded at the clinic. Health officials say poor nutrition is at the core of the obesity epidemic and chronic illnesses, which costs have overwhelmingly burdened the health care system. The clinic hopes the basics learned in the nutrition classes will resonate with entire families. It’s not enough for one person to create a healthy lifestyle, Bethesda officials say. If the family can enjoy and embrace good nutrition, it could break the cycle of chronic illness in each family.
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Chicago Public School students will be growing much of their own food next year. On Sunday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced a $1 million investment into the school system’s gardening and nutrition programs. The money is left over from the NATO Summit that took place last spring.
About 100 Chicago schools will be getting the new gardens. Within the small number that previously had such programs, sixth graders consumed more than double the fruits and vegetables of the other students. Hands-on experience and easy access to fruits and vegetables is making a difference in these young lives.
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Forget your smartphone, shelve the tablet, and clear your desktop for something useful. Those great looking sunglasses may be your key to Cognitive Demand. It’s not enough for Google, Microsoft, and others to be in your face. They want to be on your face!
Microsoft plans to deliver “augmented reality” – where data and illustrations overlay the actual world around you. Google Glass presently features a tiny screen you see by looking up and to the left. Is this just an ear dongle for the eye, or is it something more? The apps makers will provide the answers.
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Coffman High School teacher, Jim Roscoe, with the help of students, built a 3D printer last spring and is now turning out plastic items that can be used in a number of scenarios. The machine melts plastic from a spool to make 3D items.
“All the information for this is open source,” Roscoe said. “The parts for the machine were made on a machine just like this. Now we can make another one.” The electronics and machines for the printer had to be purchased, but Roscoe said about $600 went into the machine that usually sells starting at $1,500.
The printer took about a month to put together plus some time to calibrate. The machine has been used to make parts for the Dublin FIRST Tech Challenge robotics team that Roscoe coaches. It also has other applications around the school. “We’re going to partner with the school store to make things,” Roscoe said, showing off small Coffman Rocks plastic figurines. “I have a product design class that will work on that.”
“We’re thinking up many uses.” Roscoe said, “We print something every day. This will have applications in math, science and physics. There are shapes you can make with it that you really can’t make in another way. You can make very complicated shapes.”
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