The Farmers Market Is Back! Healthy Summer Food and Fun at EBNHC

This just in from the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center:

Summer is officially here! What better way to celebrate warmer weather than enjoying delicious food with friends and neighbors? The East Boston Neighborhood Health Center makes eating healthy easy and fun with our food access programs!

Food is a basic necessity. The World Health Organization and the United Nations deem access to safe and nutritious food a basic individual right, but many of our community members may face barriers to accessing healthy and affordable food. As a proud member of this community, we work to overcome food access issues. Here's how!

East Boston Farmers Market: It's that time of year again: The East Boston Farmers Market returns July 5! The Let's Get Movin' program at EBNHC runs a bustling farmers market through the summer and early fall. Come have fun while you shop for fresh produce and other healthy foods!

Hours: Wednesdays, 3:00 pm to 6:30 pm
Dates: July 5 through October 18
Location: Lewis Mall, behind the Maverick T station
Payments accepted: Cash, credit, debit, WIC Coupons, Senior Coupons, SNAP/food stamps
Learn more about the Farmers Market!

EBNHC Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA): Our CSA connects community members interested in supporting local agriculture with Farmer Dave's, a farm located in Dracut, MA. Members of the CSA purchase a "share," or part of the farm's harvest, and receive convenient weekly shipments of healthy, affordable produce that change with the growing season! The program began June 15, but we accept applications on a rolling basis. Please join us! Learn more about our CSA!

Healthy Incentives Program: The East Boston Farmers Market and CSA are proud to participate in the Healthy Incentives Program (HIP). HIP is a statewide program that provides SNAP recipients with a 100 percent incentive -- a dollar-for-dollar match -- for each SNAP dollar spent on fruits and vegetables purchased at farmers markets, farm stands, mobile markets, and CSA programs. By increasing access to locally grown fruits and vegetables for SNAP clients, the program seeks to benefit family and community health, and support farms and the local economy. Learn more about the Healthy Incentives Program!

Fair Foods: On the first and third Friday of every month beginning at 2:30 pm, community members can purchase mixed bags of fresh produce for $2 per bag. Fair Foods is open to all and aims to increase access to fresh, affordable, healthy food in Boston communities. Learn more about Fair Foods! 

EBNHC Wellness Garden: Our Wellness Garden is a collaborative project throughout which participants share in the maintenance and products of the garden, including healthful and affordable fresh fruits and vegetables while building gardening skills, engaging in physical activity, skill building, and creating green space. Learn more about our Wellness Garden >>

Our community initiatives coordinator, Gabrielle Witham, is deeply connected to these programs. "It feels very meaningful to be able to help people gain access to healthy, fresh, affordable foods," Gabrielle says.

Tuesday June 16th: East Boston Fights Opioid Addiction

A Night to Learn, Share, and Strategize for a Healthier East Boston

The East Boston community is invited to attend an open conversation about the rise in opioid addiction,
overdoses, and other drug use in East Boston.

This is an all ages event!

Tuesday June 16th 5:30 pm to 8:00 pm

EAST BOSTON HIGH SCHOOL
86 White Street, East Boston
Refreshments 5:30 pm - 6:00 pm 

• Child care will be available on site
 
Keynote Speaker: Dr. Peter Smith, Primary Care Physician,
East Boston Neighborhood Health Center
 
Hear about causes of addiction, learn to identify the signs that a loved one might be using drugs, and explore treatment options. Be inspired by stories from people recovering from alcohol and drug addiction: local community activist and business owner Joe Ruggiero and parent and Drug Court advocate Debbie Hanscom will share their recovery stories.

SPANISH TRANSLATION AVAILABLE

This FREE event is brought to you by the Office of State Senator Anthony Petruccelli, City Councilor Sal LaMattina, State Representative Adrian Madaro, and the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.

City to plan Fitness Parks for East Boston; Meeting set for August 7

The Trust for Public Land, Boston Parks and Recreation Department, Boston Public Health Commission, and the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services invites East Boston to learn about the opportunity and provide comment on a potential Fitness Zone® installation at East Boston Memorial Park. 

Fitness Zones are custom-designed, easy-to-use, outdoor gym equipment made specifically for community parks. 

The Meeting will be held on Wednesday, August 7th, 2013 at 6:30pm at the East Boston Memorial Park. 

If the event of rain, the meeting will be held at the Paris Street Community Center located at 112 Paris Street.  Families welcome!

To learn more about Fitness Zones® go to www.tpl.org or Contact Darci Schofield, Darci.Schofield@tpl.org, 617-371-0514

Fitness Zone(R) sample.

EB Community Food Workshops “Stir a Memory” a huge success!

EAST BOSTON: Can you say “pupusa”!? Over 170 people gathered at the Harborside Community Center this past Thursday to celebrate food heritage at the “Stir a Memory” Community Food Series Workshop, sponsored by the East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.

An evening filled with art, food, and lots of chatter over memories, neighborhoods and health, this was one pupusa-sharing experience that feels sure to stick in everyone’s memory!

Artist Krina Patel discussing “food heritage” and her Stir a Memory project

Led by artist Krina Patel, workshop participants were encouraged to create food memory postcards that documented a particular connection to a food-related experience. Explaining her concept of “food heritage”, Patel stated that “Food - thinking about it, making it, eating it and sharing it with others - is a way of re-creating memories. When we recreate memories we ground ourselves. Instead of feeling alone in the world we feel connected.”

The cards quickly transformed individual experiences into a spontaneous public art project on a cafeteria wall, and sparked lots of chatting about yummy times gone-by!

"That’s what was neat about Stir a Memory," said Cait Van Damm, co-coordinator of the series. "The conversations that arise around our cultural and physical connection to food, whether that be in the context of a kitchen, a neighborhood, or faraway home. That’s what the Community Food Series is about."

Over a feast of pupusas, participants were treated to a cooking demonstration of the Salvadoran specialty by Mildred Alvarado of University of Massachusetts Amherst Ethnic Crops Program, followed by a discussion led by Community Servings nutritionist Meghan Ostrander.

Much like Patel and Alvarado, she believes that better health can be found through the embracement of traditional cooking at home.

The Community Food Workshop Series are an opportunity for discussion about food system issues relating directly to East Boston and provide opportunities for participants to get involved in urban gardening and public health initiatives. 

The series is sponsored by Healthy on the Block/Saludable en tu Tienda, an East Boston Neighborhood Health Center and Boston Public Health Commission initiative to increase access to fresh produce and whole grains in corner stores.

The next workshop, happening on Thursday, April 21, will be centered on “Food Justice 101”, and will feature the youth-led E3C crew (Environmental Chelsea Creek Crew) from NOAH.

A gardener-led “Container Planting” workshop will be happening on May 3. For more information regarding the Healthy on the Block/Saludable en tu tienda project or the Community Food Workshop Series, contact Cait Van Damm at 617-568-4028 or vandammc@ebnhc.org.

Source of this information: Email from Cait Van Damm (April 11, 2011).

Mark the date: July 29, East Boston Main Streets' Fitness Walk

It's time, as always to get in shape.

MS Support Group forming in East Boston

Additional information on MS-Support group enclosed from a press release to eastboston.com

NEW LOCAL SUPPORT GROUP FOR PEOPLE WITH MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS

EAST BOSTON- Individuals who have multiple sclerosis have a new local support group. The East Boston MS Self-Help Group meets the second Wednesday of every month, from 6:30 – 8:30 P.M. at the East Boston Social Center, located at 68 Central Square in East Boston. The group’s first meeting will be held on Wednesday, April 14th. Formally affiliated with the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Central New England Chapter, the group is free and welcomes individuals who have MS, and their family members and caregivers. Group Leader Annette Puccino is available by telephone, 617-561-5850, to talk with anyone who is interested in attending.

"It’s a great way for me to deal with the frustrations of having this disease. Everyone in the group understands what it’s like. We just talk and it’s okay," is a common sentiment by group members.

MS self-help group leaders are volunteers, who have MS and are trained by the National MS Society to provide opportunities for people living with multiple sclerosis, their family members, and their friends to meet with others who are affected by the disease. The group meeting is a safe setting to share common experiences and concerns, to give and receive emotional support, and to obtain MS-related information from peers and from guest professional speakers.

Multiple sclerosis is a chronic, sometimes disabling neurologic disease that affects the central nervous system, causing unpredictable and possibly severe symptoms, including fatigue, blurred vision, and loss of mobility. Commonly diagnosed between ages 20 and 50, about two-thirds of the 400,000 people in the US who have MS are women.

Studies show that early and ongoing treatment with an FDA-approved therapy can reduce future disease activity and improve quality of life for many people with multiple sclerosis. The National MS Society’s medical advisors recommend that people with MS talk with their health care professionals about using these medications and about effective strategies and treatments to manage symptoms. If you or someone you know has MS, please contact the National MS Society at www.nationalmssociety.org or 1-800-FIGHT-MS (344-4867) to learn more.

The Central New England Chapter provides help for today, and hope for tomorrow to 17,000 individuals who have MS in Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Vermont, using 85 percent of Chapter contributions to fund MS education, support, advocacy, and research. If you have questions about MS, please call 1 800 344-4867, or visit www.MSnewengland.org.

Get vaccinated at EBNHC.

Get vaccinated today against the H1N1 (swine flu) and regular seasonal flu at East Boston Neighborhood Health Center.