Early in March, our King County Food $ense staff made the trek out to Ellensburg, WA to attend a state-wide training for F$ programs from counties all over the state. Titled Champions for Change: Influencing Behavior Beyond the Classroom, the two day training introduced some of the many ways in which F$ programs can support changes in policy, systems, and environments (PSE) to make the healthy choice the easy choice. The training featured a wide variety of exciting presentations on Smarter Lunchroom Design, Physical Activity Leaders training, farm to school and table, partnering with food banks, behavioral economics in community venues, and School Wellness Policies. Staff also attended sharing sessions to learn more about current projects related to healthy retail, whole school approaches to health, farmers markets in schools, and other areas of professional development.
A continuing thread throughout the two-day training was how we would take the information and best practices we heard about back to our counties to start affecting change in our local community. In King County we are lucky to already support some PSE changes in the schools, housing facilities, and food banks we work with. The training served as a great reminder of the many opportunities for continued partnerships and the value of getting to know our community members and the barriers to health that exist in King County. Make sure to watch for our April newsletter for a summary of the PSE work we’ve been doing lately!
For more information on PSE work in King County, please contact Jen Hey, Program Manager: jen.hey@wsu.edu
