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Thursday, November 21, 2024

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Federal inquiry traces payments from Gaetz to women; a new Florida-Puerto Rico partnership poised to transform higher-ed landscape; MT joins Tribes to target Canadian mining pollution; Heart health plummets in rural SD and nationwide; CO working families would pay more under Trump tax proposals.

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Transgender rights in Congress, a historic win for Utah's youngest elected official, scrutiny of Democratic Party leadership, and the economic impact of Trump's tax proposals highlight America's shifting political and social landscape.

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The CDC has a new plan to improve the health of rural Americans, updated data could better prepare folks for flash floods like those that devastated Appalachia, and Native American Tribes could play a key role in the nation's energy future.

Los Angeles tackles hunger with new Office of Food Equity

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Monday, November 11, 2024   

About one-third of the population in Los Angeles does not have reliable access to healthy food, so leading philanthropic organizations are teaming up with Los Angeles County to launch a new Office of Health Equity.

Data from the University of Southern California-Dornsife show food insecurity is up from 24% in 2022, linked to high food prices and the end of a pandemic-era boost in CalFresh benefits.

Paula Daniels, incoming executive director of the Los Angeles County Office of Food Equity, will head up the new office when it opens in January.

"We have a food-insecurity rate of about 30%," Daniels noted. "You have that, and yet you have that paradox that at the same time, we are right next to the largest agricultural-producing region in the country."

Market Match is a program helping people with CalFresh benefits afford more fruits and vegetables from local farmers' markets. The office wants to expand the concept to other public food programs such as meals for schools, seniors and people experiencing homelessness. They want to establish more mission-driven "food hubs," connecting smaller and mid-scale farmers to communities of need.

Daniels also wants to ensure public feeding programs can provide locally sourced, culturally relevant menus.

"In 2022, I was part of getting $100 million in the California budget to give to school districts so that they could buy more locally sourced climate-smart and fair-labor food and support smaller farmers," Daniels recounted. "If you take concepts like that, what can we do in L.A. County? "

The office will work to implement the multi-prong action plan developed by the Los Angeles County Food Equity Roundtable.


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