November 2011 - Parks & Recreation - 57

■■ ■FeBRuARy 17: I visited Jackson, Tennessee, today to meet with
City of Jackson Parks and Recreation. They oversee a program to increase access to healthier foods, particularly within the underserved
community. They also operate a number of community gardens. The
parks and recreation department is also partnering with the local school
district to expand this effort. We toured the Liberty Technology Magnet High School and learned about a program called Farm-to-School
Produce, in which vegetables are grown in the school's hydroponic
garden and then served to students at the cafeteria. The school also
has a culinary arts department that operates its own, on-site restaurant, A Taste Of Liberty. The restaurant is open to the public and uses
vegetables from the garden. We happened to pass through the cafeteria just as the children were eating lunch and I was amazed to see
a number of them eating fresh vegetables. After talking to a few of the
children, I came to find out that not only did they enjoy the entire process of preparing and cooking the vegetables, but they were more
likely to eat vegetables if they grew them. This is clearly a parks and
recreation department that is helping make healthy eating a priority.

Parks
work
the
about
learn
and Recreation Department to
l
physica
for
they are doing to increase opportunities
activity in low-income neighborhoods. We toured
several recreation centers and parks to see (and try
out!) the recent installment of outdoor exercise equipment. During one of our stops along the tour we discussed the placement of exercise equipment next to
the playground so that adults could use the equipment
while watching their children play nearby. Suddenly, a
woman from the neighborhood, seeing the parks and
recreation van parked on the street, ran over to us and
enthusiastically thanked us for the exercise equipment
saying " this is exactly what we needed here-we can
tell you really care about giving this community what
it needs. " It was an incredible experience to see and
hear real, personal feedback about the value parks
brought to her daily life. The woman was so excited to
speak to us that she ran out of the house in only socks-
without her shoes. She wanted to be sure she had the
opportunity to thank the people that had made such
a positive impact on her neighborhood.

■■ ■MARCH 2: Today I met with the San Antonio

-Erika Terl, Senior Program
Manager, Health and Wellness

-Zarnaaz Bashir, Director of Strategic Health Initiatives

■■ ■M ARCH
29: This morning
, I met with the Pa
in Morris County,
rk Commission
New Jersey, to disc
uss their work with
ACHIEV E grant. Th
NR PA's
e commission play
s a leadership role
cal health coalitio
in a lon working to impr
ove access to the
Green, a beautiful
M
or
ristown
urban park with a
number of access
sues due to the bu
ibility issy roads surround
ing it. The coalitio
to bring together
n wants
managers of the va
rious roads to addr
challenges faced
ess the
by pedestrians an
d bicyclists acce
park. W hile we we
ss
in
g the
re wa lk ing the ar
ea to experience
cess issues firsth
th
e
acand, I noticed a hi
gh number of serv
W hen I asked ab
ice dogs.
out this, I was told
that Morristown is
The Seeing Eye, th
home to
e oldest guide do
g
school in the world
fascinating to see
. It was
these dogs lead th
eir trainers throug
intersections that
h the busy
led to the park. Ho
pefully, the health
will succeed in th
coalition
eir goal of making
this area safe for al
(and those inspira
l people
tional dogs!). This
encounter reinforc
belief that what m
ed my
akes a park grea
t isn't just what is
but also what surr
in
sid
e of it,
ounds it.

- Maggie Coop

er, Program Man

ager, Health an

d Wellness

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& Recreation

November 2011 - Parks & Recreation

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