Highlights from LiveWell’s 2017 HEAL Summit
Everyone wants to live their best life and have the best health possible. But how do you really achieve that goal? How do entire communities create the conditions for all residents to be healthy? These are some of the many questions that over 150 participants convened to discuss on November 30 and December 1 at LiveWell Colorado’s 2017 HEAL Summit. Through keynote addresses, general sessions, and breakout sessions, leaders from throughout Colorado—including individuals from municipalities, public health, nonprofits, the private sector, and the philanthropic community—gathered to share expertise, challenges, and exciting new developments regarding healthy eating and active living (HEAL).
Keynote speaker Dwayne Wharton, Director of External Affairs, The Food Trust, opened the Summit by challenging attendees to consider the key social determinants that cause health disparities within communities. He also shared creative solutions to address the issues. Learn more about Dwayne’s perspective on food justice through this video discussion between Wharton and Wendy Peters Moschetti, LiveWell Colorado’s Food Policy Director:
Tamika Butler, Executive Director, Los Angeles Neighborhood Land Trust, offered a provocative keynote address to kick off the second day of the Summit. In her presentation, she detailed the effects of racism, tokenism, and gentrification, both at the community and organizational levels. LiveWell Colorado President and CEO Gabriel Guillaume joined Tamika in a video discussion to dive deeper into some of her key thoughts:
An array of general and breakout sessions allowed attendees to learn and share challenges and successes on a variety of HEAL topics. Sessions included discussions on a variety of topics, ranging from healthy food in rural communities, to the use of data to inform equity and HEAL work, to strategies for securing local and state transportation dollars for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure. All of the general and breakout sessions were engaging and informative and we appreciate the hard work our presenters put in to sharing their stories.
One of the most unique sessions was Lafayette’s breakout on kids’ meal policies. We were delighted to have a panel of youth from Lafayette’s Youth Council join us to discuss how they successfully worked with their city council and local restaurants to pass an ordinance requiring water to be the default beverage in kids’ meals served in restaurants throughout Lafayette. Learn more about the Lafayette Youth Council’s journey and success in this post: Lessons from LiveWell’s 2017 HEAL Summit | Lafayette Youth Panel: Mobilizing Community to Win a Healthy Kids’ Meals Campaign.
