The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) and the Food Research & Action Center (FRAC) have introduced "Screen and Intervene - A Toolkit for Pediatricians to Address Food Insecurity." Food insecurity impacts millions of children and families in all communities across the U.S. Currently, one in seven U.S. children lives in a household struggling against food insecurity. These levels have only deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Black and Latinx households with children continue to face disproportionately high rates of food insecurity before and during the pandemic.

Screening for Food Insecurity is Always Critical, Especially During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Healio

Chef Instructor (part-time), Common Threads

Common Threads is seeking a dynamic teacher-who-can-cook or cook-who-can-teach to work as a part-time Chef Instructor in Chicago. A Common Threads Chef Instructor is the face of the organization, teaching hands-on cooking classes and nutrition education to Pre-K-8th grade students, parents, and teachers in school kitchens and community spaces, and establishing relationships with schools, students, families, and volunteers.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Common Threads has transitioned all educational programming to be virtual for the foreseeable future. Chef instructors now engage with a Chicago community of students via Google Meets and Zoom. Students often receive groceries to cook alongside chef instructors in their own kitchens at home. All student and adult programming consists of basic nutrition lessons, each with a recipe demo and tasting emphasizing fresh, healthy ingredients and adopting healthy cooking and eating habits. Hours will vary 5-10 hours a week when classes are in session. Some nights and/or weekends may be required. Learn more or apply here.

It has been over a year since our last traditional CLOCC meeting and we miss our face-to-face interaction with friends and colleagues from across the network. While we look forward optimistically to our next in-person convening, we're continuing to publish "CLOCC Faces," so that you can learn a little more about the CLOCC staffers who are your teammates in the fight against childhood obesity, here in Chicago and beyond. Please enjoy this week's feature on our Executive Director, Adam Becker!

I’ve been CLOCC’s Executive Director since December 2006. My interest has always been working in partnership with community-based organizations to examine and address the role that physical, social, and political environments play in urban public health problems that are a priority for the communities I’m working with. What attracted me to CLOCC was not the focus on obesity per se, but the focus on food and physical activity environments and how much commitment there was in Chicago neighborhoods to ensure that all residents had access to healthy food and safe places to be physically active.

There has been so much change over my 14+ years but I would say the most notable has been our expanding focus on upstream, root causes of obesity. I think CLOCC as a network has always been on “the cutting edge” of obesity prevention; first moving from traditional education and program delivery to a broader focus on neighborhood environments, to most recently an even broader focus on structural racism and related social influencers of obesity.

So much of our work is about expanding our partners’ capacity to address nutrition, physical activity, and obesity. This capacity building includes training, resource development, networking and connecting partners to people and organizations that can support them. Doing this work in the virtual space has been a tremendous challenge, but I’m proud of how CLOCC staff, building on the interests and experience of our partners, have been able to adjust and still provide much needed support even though we can’t be with our partners in person.

When CLOCC formed, before my time, one of the first and most important things the network did was to study the prevalence of childhood obesity. That first study resulted in a lot of media attention and helped reaffirm the obesity prevention work that network partners were already doing. We built a diverse network of organizations. Many CLOCC partners don’t see obesity prevention as their primary mission but are focused on the things that we know are part of the solution – like recreation and fitness, transportation equity, leadership development and empowerment, zoning and land use, urban agriculture, economic development, and more. Obesity is so complex that it takes all kinds of organizations to come together and contribute from their areas of expertise. These are important first steps for any comprehensive approach to obesity prevention.

In the summer (pre-COVID) you would most likely find me on a lake somewhere, at Ravinia, or at Wrigley Field. In the winter, I would most likely be in a theater watching any kind of live performance. And in any season, you’d likely find me at one of Chicago’s amazing restaurants. Any kind, anywhere.

Led by Lurie Children's physician and researcher Nia Heard-Garris, MD, MsC, the new ARISE Health Lab has been established to investigate the roles of Adversity, Racism, Inequities, Structures (and) Empowerment on health. The lab's approach will combine biomedical, social science, public health, clinical, and health services research to interrogate society’s most pressing issues. Follow ARISE on twitter or visit the lab online.

The Illinois Public Health Institute (IPHI), with funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has announced an opportunity for Illinois supportive and/or transitional housing facilities to increase access to healthy food and beverage options by adopting and implementing tailored nutrition guidance for their organizations. Grants will be provided to offset the time and resources required to adjust the foods served to better support the health of residents (and staff, if applicable). To facilitate the change-making process, awardees will also gain access to at least 20 hours of individualized technical assistance and to training and networking opportunities. Funding is available to support up to four organizations.

Application due date and time: Friday, February 26th at 5:00 pm CST

Awardees will be notified by: Wednesday, March 10th at 5:00 pm CST

Award value: $4,000 - $6,000 per organization

Project timeline: March 2021 – March 2022

Eligibility: Supportive and transitional housing facilities in Illinois are eligible to apply. Priority will be given to organizations in Cook County, the Peoria/Tazewell/Woodford Tri-County region, and Jackson County, but other regions are welcome to apply.

Please send applications and questions to: Kathryn.Bernstein@iphionline.org with subject line “Nutrition Guidelines in Housing Application.”

Additionally, if you would like to contact a social worker, psychologist or child life specialist for information on community referrals or coping resources, you can call (312) 227-4118 and leave a message. Your call will be returned within 24 hours, Monday through Friday.