Urban ‘food deserts’ to be topic at Rice’s Baker Institute March 7

MEDIA ADVISORY

David Ruth
david@rice.edu
713-348-6327

Jeff Falk
jfalk@rice.edu
713-348-6775

 Urban ‘food deserts’ to be topic at Rice’s Baker Institute March 7

HOUSTON – (March 1, 2016) – Leading public health scholar Alex Ortega will speak at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy March 7 on current research on food-environment interventions. Ortega will highlight the example of a comprehensive corner-store intervention in two neighboring Los Angeles Latino communities that were classified as “food deserts.”

Hosted by the Baker Institute’s Center for Health and Biosciences, the event is free and open to the public, but registration is required.

Who: Alex Ortega, professor and chair of the Department of Health Management and Policy and director of the Center for Population Health and Community Impact at Drexel University’s Dornsife School of Public Health.

Dr. Quianta Moore, scholar in health policy at the Baker Institute, will give welcoming remarks.

What: A luncheon presentation titled “The Link Between Urban Food Deserts and Community Health.”

When: Monday, March 7, 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Lunch will be served at noon; Ortega’s presentation will begin at 12:20.

Where: Rice University, Baker Hall, Doré Commons, 6100 Main St.

Improving access to healthy food should lead to better health outcomes in low-income communities, but research has reached mixed conclusions, according to event organizers. This event will provide an introduction to existing research on food-environment interventions. Ortega will describe a comprehensive corner-store intervention in two neighboring Los Angeles Latino communities that were classified as “food deserts.” The intervention, which was funded by the National Institutes of Health’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, involved multiple community partners, health-policy stakeholders, business owners and high schools. At the Baker Institute event, Ortega will discuss study findings, lessons learned and larger implications for community health.

The public must register to attend this event at http://bakerinstitute.org/events/1764.

Members of the news media who want to attend should RSVP to Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu or 713-348-6775.

For a map of Rice University’s campus with parking information, go to www.rice.edu/maps. Media are advised to park in the Central Campus Garage.

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Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top five university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.