MPC Supports Healthy Living Initiatives: Eat Play Live Knoxville & Food Policy Council

The Eat Play Live Knoxville Un-Conferencewas held March 9 and 10 in center-city Knoxville, reaching more than 300 participants with a message about eating locally and being active in their communities. The Knox County Health Department hosted the event, and the Knoxville Regional Transportation Planning Organization (TPO) and Knoxville-Knox County Food Policy Council (FPC) served on the planning committee.

The two-day Eat Play Live event began with a breakfast for more than 100 policy-makers, honoring the 30th anniversary of the Food Policy Council. The FPC holds the very notable distinction as the world's first food policy council, established in 1982 in response to a University of Tennessee research project, led by planning professor Robert Wilson, which analyzed food distribution and consumption in our area. The current role of the FPC is to monitor and evaluate the performance of Knoxville's food system in terms of costs, availability, accessibility, and implications for public health, economic efficiency, public awareness of food issues, and improvement of the food supply and distribution network. FPC is governed by a board consisting of 11 appointed members, five by the City Mayor and six appointed by the County Mayor.

Activities of the Eat Play Live event continued into the evening of March 9 when more than 100 people attended a screening of the film "Fresh" at the Relix Variety Theatre in North Knoxville's Happy Holler district.

Day two of Eat Play Live provided the bulk of the conference events, with a slate of morning of sessions at the L&N STEM Academy, followed by an afternoon of hands-on activities. The 90 attendees chose from three focus areas: Grow Food Yourself, Farm to Fork, and Outdoor Action.

The Grow Food Yourself session featured speakers on the topic of making the most of whatever space you have to grow food, whether it's a large backyard, a community garden plot, or a small balcony. Farm to Fork focused on the hows and whys of making choices to support local agriculture. That session included a discussion led by Jon Dickl, Director of Nutrition for Knox County Schools, who emphasizes buying local produce for area schools. The Outdoor Action session highlighted ways to make Knoxville and Knox County more walkable and bicycle-friendly.

After a lunch featuring local foods, five hands-on activities were offered, including cooking demonstrations, guides for growing food, and an in-street session on building a better block.

Participants at all Eat Play Live events were asked to pledge to make themselves and their communities healthier, and more than 180 made that commitment.

The Knox County Health Department plays a major role in coordinating efforts of FPC, and MPC supports those efforts by providing a staff representative at monthly meetings and by offering technical assistance when needed. Most recently, MPC staff assisted in public meetings on development of community gardens and review of a draft ordinance for the City of Knoxville.

Health Department, MPC, and TPO staff also work together on the Healthy Kids, Healthy Communities (HKHC) initiative, which looks at the relationship between community design and children's health, helping groups in Lonsdale, Inskip, and Mascot increase opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity. MPC and TPO staff have assisted HKHC by creating maps of food deserts, neighborhoods, and school walking routes. A culmination of this work can be found in the recently published report, Toward Healthier Living: Strategies to Make Active Living and Healthy Eating a Part of Life in Knoxville and Knox County.

Posted 4-11-2012, written by Liz Albertson and Ellen Zavisca