Keyword/Tag: Brighter Bites

Brighter Bites Makes a Splash at APHA!

Posted on November 5, 2016 by Christina Blick -

Brighter Bites Co-Founder Dr. Shreela Sharma presented the findings from her recently-published research on the impact of Brighter Bites to a full house in Denver last week at the annual meeting of the American Public Health Association. Dr. Sharma’s presentation stirred up tremendous interest in Brighter Bites. So much so that the Brighter Bites staff in attendance was inundated with interest from people around the country who want to bring the program to their cities!

Brighter Bites was featured in a number of other presentations, including a Brighter Bites Photovoice study presented by Dr. Sharma and a poster presentation by Dr. Ru-Jye (Lindi) Chuang, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at UTHealth School of Public Health, and Gregory Bounds, Brighter Bites Director of Analytics about the Health Eating Active Living (HEAL) program administered by UTPhysicians.

The HEAL program at UT is for women who are pregnant or who have an infant and would like to embrace a healthier lifestyle for themselves and their baby. HEAL includes weekly cooking and exercise classes, breastfeeding support, and fresh produce and nutrition education materials to take home every week through the Brighter Bites program and Legacy of Health.

One special treat worth noting was a round table discussion led by APHA President Dr. Georges Benjamin with participation by four CDC Directors, including current CDC Director Dr. Tom Fried en, and the last three CDC Directors Dr. Julie Gerberding, Dr. Jeffrey Koplan, and Dr. David Satcher. These public health leaders discussed the most exciting and challenging times during their tenure as well as what they believe are the most pressing public health issues to tackle right now including the epidemic of opiate overdoses, Zika virus prevention, investment in public health, an HIV vaccine, and a global public health strategy.

The Brighter Bites staff who attended APHA was immersed in public health sessions and well as public health partners. They connected with friends from CATCH, Michael and Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living, Sustainable Food Center, and other partner organizations who were presenting at the event. Overall, a great time was had by all who attended.

Houston Chronicle Publishes Sharma Op-Ed on Hunger, Food Waste, and Brighter Bites

Posted on October 27, 2016 by Christina Blick -

Yesterday, the Houston Chronicle published an Op-Ed penned by Brighter Bites Co-Founder Dr. Shreela Sharma. The essay, Eliminating Hunger and Food Waste in the U.S. is an Achievable Goal, was written to coincide with World Food Day, a day in which people from around the world come together to declare their commitment to eradicate hunger. What Dr. Sharma was able to do was link hunger and food insecurity with food waste and obesity, and make the case that Brighter Bites is tackling these issues and converting them into an opportunity to improve public health. Enjoy the read!

GE Healthymagination Selects Harris County BUILD Project as Winner of Healthy Cities Leadership Challenge

Posted on October 19, 2016 by Christina Blick -

Last week, GE chose the Harris County BUILD Project in North Pasadena, TX and eight other U.S. cities as winners of the Healthy Cities Leadership Challenge. All the winners were awarded $25,000 in funding over the course of a one-year program, and access to an innovative learning collaborative with peer support from experienced community health leaders, preeminent thought leaders and academic researchers in population health, and other business and industry leaders in this field. For the next year, GE will be facilitating mentorship and discussion among many organizations across the country that are working to make their cities healthier.

The award was announced at the GE Healthy Cities Leadership Academy in upstate New York, which was attended by a representative from each of the Harris County BUILD Partnership’s coalition members, including Brighter Bites, Houston Food Bank, local businesses, government entities, and nonprofits. Brighter Bites Senior Program DirectorMike Pomeroy attended as a representative of Brighter Bites.

According to the Healthy Living Matters website, “The BUILD Health Challenge is a multi-funder collaboration that is supporting 18 communities that are collaboratively taking Bold, Upstream, Integrated, Local, and Data-driven approaches to moving resources, attention and action to the primary determinants of population health. In order to drive sustainable change in the improvement of community health and promotion of health equity, the BUILD Health Challenge seeks to increase the number and effectiveness of hospital-community-public health collaborations.” North Pasadena, TX is one of these 18 communities.

North Texas Giving Day is TODAY

Posted on September 22, 2016 by Christina Blick -

Countless North Texans will give to nonprofit organizations today for North Texas Giving Day, the largest day of giving in the United States. Brighter Bites is asking you to consider making your donation today to us.

Why? Brighter Bites is creating communities of health through fresh food, nutrition education, and fun food experiences in North Texas neighborhoods that need it most.

And it’s working. Our research shows that families who participate in Brighter Bites are consuming more fruits and vegetables, cooking more often from scratch, and using nutritional labels when grocery shopping more often than families who don’t receive Brighter Bites.

Currently, we serve approximately 3,000 families at 15 schools in Dallas. We would love to increase that number, and we need your help to do it.

A contribution to Brighter Bites in any amount today will help our team continue to serve families like Angelina’s and Ana’s. Here’s how…

$10 will provide 2 weeks of Brighter Bites to one of our families.
$40 will supply a family with Brighter Bites for a full semester.
And if you want to help that same family for an entire school year (16 weeks), then donate $80.

Please consider making a contribution to Brighter Bites TODAY to help us expand our program to include more families in the Dallas area.

You have until Midnight TODAY to go to our giving page and help raise money for our North Texas community!

Thank you!

Brighter Bites Receives 2016 Texas Health Champion Award

Posted on September 16, 2016 by Christina Blick -

On Thursday, September 15, Brighter was presented with the 2016 Texas Health Champion Award at a ceremony held at the Blanton Museum of Art in Austin. Scott McClelland, President of H-E-B in Houston, introduced Founder Lisa Helfman and in his remarks said Brighter Bites is changing outcomes and changing the way people shop for groceries in a positive way.

Lisa accepted the award with Brighter Bites Co-Founder Dr. Shreela Sharma and Executive Director Sam Newman. Thanking Dr. Sharma for her partnership, Lisa touted the publication of her most recent research in Preventive Medicine, “Today we know that Brighter Bites works,” Lisa told the audience. “To think that this little idea I had has scientific credibility is so humbling, and then to be recognized as the Texas Health Champion .. it’s just beyond my wildest expectations. Thank you for the honor, thank you for giving us the opportunity, and we hope to make you proud in the future by helping many more families see that health really can be achieved through fresh food.”

Watch a video of the entire awards ceremony here.

Brighter Bites Chosen as Beneficiary for Houstonia’s First Ever Secret Supper

Posted on September 9, 2016 by Christina Blick -

Last week Houstonia magazine announced its first ever Secret Supper to be held on Sunday, September 18. What’s the secret? Dinner will be served at Houstonia’s choice for Houston’s best restaurant of 2016, announced in the October issue of the magazine that hits stands after the event. That issue will also feature an article about Brighter Bites in Houston!

Guests will be the first to know the magazine’s pick for Best Restaurant (the location of the event) the morning of Secret Supper. The evening will host a one-of-a-kind culinary experience with four-course dinner and drink pairing while getting a front row seat to the Chef’s kitchen. Guests will leave happy knowing all proceeds from donations and event raffle will benefit Brighter Bites!

Here at Brighter Bites we were blown away when we heard Houstonia had chosen us to benefit from this exciting event. And, to be honest, we’re super curious about which restaurant the magazine chose as the best in Houston!

Click here for more information and to purchase Secret Supper tickets.

Sneak Peak: Brighter Bites & Sustainable Food Center Begin Partnership at Cunningham Elementary

Posted on September 2, 2016 by Christina Blick -

In mid-October, approximately three-quarters of the way through the eight weeks of Brighter Bites fall programming, representatives from theSustainable Food Center (SFC) will join Brighter Bites at Cunningham Elementary distributions to begin promoting an SFC-run farm stand that will sell reasonably-priced produce after school. Brighter Bites and SFC are optimistic that layering Brighter Bites distributions of free fresh produce and nutrition education materials with SFC’s promotion of the farm stand will result in increased demand for fresh produce in the community and a visible uptick in farm stand sales over last year.

Brighter Bites Dallas Participates in Largest Giving Day in the Nation

Posted on August 24, 2016 by Christina Blick -

North Texas Giving Day is an online giving event for people across the nation (and the world!) to come together to raise as much money as possible for North Texas nonprofits on one day: September 22, 2016.

For the first time in seven years, Brighter Bites will be participating in this incredible event, said to be the largest giving day in the nation! North Texas Giving Day has pumped $119 million into the North Texas community. In 2015, $33 million was raised through more than 118,000 gifts benefiting 2,020 nonprofits.

Founders Make Hulk Smoothies on Fox Morning News

Posted on August 23, 2016 by Christina Blick -

This morning, Brighter Bites founders Lisa Helfman and Dr. Shreela Sharma were interviewed on the Fox Morning News in Houston (Fox 26 – KRIV) to talk about the recent publication of the two-year Brighter Bites study that demonstrates the program’s efficacy. Together, Lisa and Shreela made our famous Hulk Smoothie on air, which Lisa used to make by the gallon when she and Shreela first started Brighter Bites four years ago. In addition to all of the kids in Texas who have come to love this delicious (and healthy) beverage, Fox Morning News Anchor and Health Reporter Melissa Wilson is now a kale smoothie convert too!

Brighter Bites Wins 2016 Texas Health Champion Award!

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Christina Blick -

As part of the 9th Annual Texas Obesity Awareness Week (September 11-17, 2016), the Texas Health Champion Award is presented to public health leaders who have demonstrated exemplary achievement in reducing the burden and/or raising awareness of the obesity epidemic in Texas.

Brighter Bites is this year’s organizational winner and we are thrilled to share the news with you!

The awards will be presented at the 2016 Texas Health Champion Award Ceremony on September 15 in Austin. The ceremony will provide attendees the opportunity to meet and network with other leaders in obesity prevention from across the state as well as celebrate the successes of the 2016 Champions. The event is free and open to the public. Click here to learn more about the award ceremony and register to attend. We hope you will join us!