Section 1: Community Policies & Environment
Getting Started:
Resources for assisting you in obtaining the necessary information to complete Section 1 include the following:
- Restaurant Information: If you live in the community for which you are completing
the NEAT, you probably already know the busiest family-style or fast-food restaurants. If not,
ask residents of the community or a knowledgeable person in the community government or Chamber
of Commerce. Then contact the restaurant managers once for the information you need.
- Grocery Store & Convenience Store Information: As with restaurants, you probably
already know this information if you live in the community. If not, ask residents of the
community or a knowledgeable person in the community government or Chamber of Commerce.
Then contact the store managers for the information you need.
- Community Programs & Fruit/Vegetable Information: Your community’s local government
and the Chamber of Commerce are both good starting points. Although a single person may not be
able to answer all your questions, a knowledgeable person will be able to direct you to the
correct resource (s). Start by visiting town hall or calling a council member or alderman.
Elected officials are generally very willing to help their constituency. Similarly, the
Chamber of Commerce members are informed about what his going on in the community and are
usually helpful. And it is likely that both the government and the Chamber will also be
supportive of helping make plans for improvement.
- Medical Provider Information: The medical provider that serves the most residents
of the community can often be identified by local medical organizations, hospitals or public
health agencies. The information you need is often readily available via a conversation with
the office manager.
- Local Media Information: As a resident of your community, you probably already know
the most popular local radio stations, newspapers, and television stations. To find out what's
been published or aired, contact the program manager at the local television or radio station.
They can provide assistance in identifying health-related stories. It is likely they may give
you access to a searchable archive so that you can obtain the information yourself. To determine
newspaper articles that have been published, call the newspaper office and have them connect
you with the appropriate manager. Again, they may provided you with access to a searchable
electronic archive. You might also try going to the websites of the stations and newspaper.
You can often search effectively on your own.
Section 1 Definitions
- Family-Style Restaurant: A family-style restaurant is an eating establishment where
you are usually seated by restaurant personnel and almost always served by wait staff. The menu
generally includes a variety of options offered at a reasonable price. Although many family-style
restaurants offer carry out services, most patrons eat at the restaurant. Although there are
many family-style restaurant chains, such as Denny's, Big Boy, and IHOP, there are also many
independently operated family-style restaurants.
- Fast-Food Restaurant: A fast-food restaurant is an eating establishment that offers
fast, inexpensive take out food. Patrons stand in line to place their order and can choose to
eat in or out. Fast-food restaurants often feature drive thrus so that patrons need not leave
their car. The vast majority of fast-food restaurants are chains; examples include McDonald's,
Burger King, Hardees, and Wendy's.
- Healthy Menu Options: Healthy menu options include fruits (canned, fresh frozen, or
dried), non-fried vegetables (canned, fresh or frozen), salads with low-fat dressing, yogurt,
skim or 1% milk, 100% fruit or vegetable juice, baked chips, baked, broiled or grilled meats;
low-fat deli meats and whole grain breads.
- Grocery Stores/Supermarkets: A grocery store (or supermarket) sells a full range of
food products (produce, meats, breads, dairy products, dry goods) and household items
(such as soap or paper products). They are usually operated on a self service basis.
- Convenience store: refers to a retail business with primary emphasis placed on
providing the public a convenient location to quickly purchase from a wide variety of
consumable products (predominantly food or food and gasoline) and services.
Healthy Dining Programs:For information on the M-FIT Healthy Dining Program and the restaurants that participate, go to
www.med.umich.edu/mfit/nutrition/hdp.htm
Healthy Dining & Carry Out Tips: Find tips for dining out and carry out from the American Diabetes Association at
health.discovery.com/centers/diabetes/ada/nutrition/eatingout.html
Grocery Store Point of Purchase Healthy Food Identification Programs: Point of purchase
food identification programs place eye-catching signage to flag healthy foods, such as shelf
markers or brochures. Generally, the signage also includes explanatory information about why
the food is considered to be healthy. The 5-a-day program has a point of purchase program used
by some grocery stores, for example. For more on 5-a-day, go to www.5aday.org
Michigan Farmers Markets: For a listing of locations, months and hours of operation, go to
www.ams.usda.gov/farmersmarkets/States/Michigan.htm or
www.mda.state.mi.us/market/u-pick/index.asp
Locating Local Chapters of National Organizations: To find the nearest local chapter,
visit the national association website. If they do not have a community level contact,
they almost always have a directory of state level associations. You can also check your
community's phone book. Organizations that support healthy eating include (but are not limited
to): American Heart Association (www.americanheart.org ),
American Cancer Society (www.cancer.org ); and
American Diabetes Association (www.diabetes.org) ).
