01/17/2023
We are requesting Community Leaders to attend this event!
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Building a Healthy Community Together
Listening Session
Event Summary
Southern University and A&M College and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) are collaborating to host the first ASCEND for Better Health community listening session to discuss how specific populations interact with food and how food choices lead to health-related outcomes.
The event will be hosted by Southern University through its Agricultural Center and its Center of Excellence for Nutrition, Health, Wellness and Quality of Life at the Smith-Brown Memorial Union (it is not definite yet) on January 31, 2023, from 9:00 am to 2:00 pm.
In December 2022, USDA launched the Agricultural Science Center of Excellence for Nutrition and Diet for Better Health (ASCEND for Better Health). ASCEND for Better Health, which supports President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot effort to end cancer as we know it, is a virtual science center that aims to accelerate research on diet-related chronic diseases and translate that research to impactful solutions that improve public health. The initiative has an enhanced focus on precision nutrition science to better understand how different communities are affected by food and diet-related chronic diseases.
The main purpose of this community engagement is to bring together community members and partner organizations to discuss the best approaches to deliver science-based solutions that promote and elevate food and nutrition security for all Americans, especially those members of underserved communities, with the goal of reducing the burden of chronic diet-related diseases.
Approximately 100 participants are expected at the event from diverse backgrounds, including community members, community leaders, small farmers, university students, faculty, and other personnel. Also, officials from USDA, USDA-NIFA, USDA Rural Development, Louisiana Legislators, LA Department of Agriculture and Forestry, and LA Department of Health will be in attendance.
The goals of this community discussion are:
(a) Identify challenges and opportunities for conducting and translating nutrition-related research with specific populations, with an emphasis on engaging people with lived experience;
(b) Ensure that those with lived experience have a voice at the table and are empowered to engage in and lead this work;
(c) Build trust between research and community members; and
(d) Develop shared goals on improving health through food and nutrition, with a clear understanding that everyone has an important role to play in achieving the shared goals.
SU Ag Center will remain engaged in this work, even after the event, to continue research and outreach components associated with this initiative through its Center of Excellence’s personnel and College of Ag students.
This listening session is the first in a series of meetings that USDA’s ASCEND for Better Health will hold. Each listening session will convene a different population to gain more insights into how food and diet-related chronic diseases uniquely affect their communities.
Additionally, ASCEND for Better Health will also help the President achieve his goals of ending hunger, improving nutrition and physical activity, and reducing diet-related diseases as set forth at the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health and outlined in the National Strategy.
