OPHA NRC Conference: Opportunities for Intersectoral Action on Healthy Food for Healthy Kids
Posted: March 19, 2014
Categories: Edible Education Network / GoodFoodBites / News from Sustain Ontario
On Thursday March 6th the Ontario Public Health Association’s Nutrition Resource Centre held its Health In All Policies: Advancing an Intersectoral Approach to Promoting Healthy Eating in Ontario conference in Toronto. Carolyn Webb – Coordinator of Sustain Ontario’s Edible Education Network – moderated the inter-ministerial panel discussion.
The session, held from 1:00-2:30pm, was entitled “Healthy Food for Healthy Kids: Healthy Kids Strategy and Opportunities for Intersectoral Action”. It explored how different Ministries within the Government of Ontario are working together to realize the food-related recommendations of the Healthy Kids strategy. The session also provided context for participants to discuss how non-government stakeholders could support cross-ministry and cross-sectoral policy efforts.
The session panel was made up of:
- Olha Dobush, Director, Strategic Initiatives Branch, Health Promotion Division, Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care
- George Borovillos, Director, Business Development, Ministry of Agriculture and Food
- Marg Connor, Director, Student Well-being and Learning Branch, Ministry of Education
- Esther Levy, Director, Child and Youth Development Branch, Ministry of Children and Youth Services
Each of the Directors spoke to the collaboration that is taking place to supporting healthy kids in the province and the initiatives that their respective ministries have introduced in support of the Healthy Kids Strategy.
While the Government of Ontario has not adopted a formal Health in All Policies approach, the inter-ministerial collaboration that each of the Directors spoke to during this session provides a strong hands-on Ontario example of how the values of Health in All Policies can play out in practice.
The session then concluded with the full conference participating in FoodShare’s Great Big Crunch.
It’s time for the @foodshareto #greatbigcrunch! Getting our apples ready! #nrchiap2014 http://t.co/xybBvZRscb
— OPHA (@OPHA_Ontario) March 6, 2014
We’ll keep you posted about when the conference proceedings and any videos / powerpoints of the session are made public!