Access to a variety of food options in clean and sustainable communities is critical for children and families to thrive. That’s why the American Beverage Foundation for a Healthy America in partnership with the U.S. Conference of Mayors are providing grants to mayors who are finding ways to create healthy and sustainable environments in their cities. We’re excited to celebrate the first place winners of the Childhood Obesity Prevention and Environmental Health and Sustainability Awards.

In the large city category, Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ Cooking with C.H.O.I.C.E.S. program offers cooking workshops for children and their families to learn about nutritious meals. The program works with a chef-led nutrition education team to develop healthy, kid-friendly meals for children at risk of obesity. The workshop also offers budget meal planning tips and works with parents and caregivers to address health and chronic disease issues through careful meal prep.

In Tacoma, Wash., Mayor Victoria Woodards’ Recycle Reset Community Ambassadors program trains diverse and multilingual Community Ambassadors to develop action plans and recycling practices that improve waste reduction in their neighborhoods. With the grant, the city will be able to expand their outreach work to residents living in multifamily housing, as well as residential customers seeking proper yard waste management and food waste reduction techniques.

And in Burnsville, Minn., Mayor Elizabeth Kautz’s newly created Grow Burnsville program will provide access to locally grown healthy food to the city’s most vulnerable residents. The grant money will go to develop a community market garden and a “Food Forest,” a program that will set-up underutilized public land and rights-of-way to work as spaces to grow fruits and vegetables through sustainable permaculture.

Congratulations to all of the mayors and we thank you for the important work being done through these initiatives. We look forward to seeing these programs grow in the years to come and as they provide real and lasting improvements to health and wellness in their communities. 

You can learn more about these programs and the other Childhood Obesity Prevention and Environmental Health and Sustainability Awards winners here. You can also learn more about the American Beverage Foundation for a Healthy America here.