The three talks took place November 17^th and 18^th in Portland and Eugene, OR. His first talk in Portland at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) was entitled “Public and Environmental Health Impacts of Nuclear Weapons.” This Grand Rounds presentation was cosponsored by OHSU’s Global Health Center. Approximately 50 people were in attendance, the majority of whom were medical students, and 30 signed up to work with Oregon’s PSR chapter. The talk was well received and available as a simulcast webinar around the country, and helped to solidify the relationship between the Oregon PSR chapter and OHSU’s Global Health Center, which will aid in reaching future students on these important issues. Click here to hear listen to the talk and view the power point Dr. Gould shared.

That same night, Dr. Gould gave a talk to a small group of people in Portland at the home of Oregon PSR President Dr. John Pearson.  In addition to the topics mentioned above, Dr. Gould shared developments from the national Board meeting, including ongoing discussions regarding the challenges of reaching young physicians, health professionals and medical students on nuclear war issues.  He pointed to the fact that many younger professionals are apparently more focused on the types of social justice issues that are captured in the Occupy Wall Street movement around the country and less compelled by nuclear weapons concerns.

The following morning, Dr. Gould appeared as a call-in guest for an hour on Jefferson public radio, a station that reaches southern Oregon to northern California.  Dr. Gould spoke on the issues he covered at his previous talks and also answered listeners’ questions regarding a full range of nuclear weapons and nuclear power issues. Click here to hear his talk (begins at minute 5:52).

Later that night, Dr. Gould gave a talk entitled “Nuclear Weapons: The Ultimate Health Threat” at the First United Methodist Church in Eugene. This talk was sponsored by Women’s Action for New Directions (WAND) and Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC) and was attended by approximately 25 people. Beyond the rich discussion that underscored the imperative of nuclear abolition, a number of questions that came up focused on PSR’s position on nuclear power. Dr. Gould addressed the organization’s extensive work on opposing the nuclear “renaissance” that has accelerated since the disaster at Fukushima, including numerous media appearances by many National PSR members throughout the country.

“First, Dr. Catherine Thomasson has been appointed PSR’s new Executive Director.  She shares our chapter’s view regarding the importance of a deeper involvement on a range of social justice issues. She also has a great deal of experience with environmental health work that is developed by and oriented toward PSR chapters. Examples of this type of work in our own chapter include SF Bay Area PSR’s partnership with Health Care Without Harm and collaborations with medical and public health associations as central mechanisms for advancing a wide variety of environmental health issues, and for organizing new physicians and other health professionals into our work.  SF Bay Area PSR would expect support for efforts such as these, as well as expanded efforts in which our chapter can provide leadership in organizing other chapters into these projects, and help provide the programmatic basis for chapter development in regions that currently do not have a strong PSR presence. (Click here to read more on Dr. Thomasson)

The Board discussion also included  support for better meshing of our Security and Environmental Health programs with Social Justice issues that have become increasingly prominent in the midst of unfolding national and global economic crises. This integration is strongly supported by incoming President Andy Kanter as a way to facilitate the organizing of younger physicians and medical students. It will make clear the connections between our declining health and social fabric and PSR’s traditional work on nuclear weapons, the military budget and the national and global costs of the arms race.”

What have been the highlights of your work at SF Bay Area PSR?

I’ve been with SF Bay Area PSR for 5½ years and have enjoyed immensely working with the “Healthy Food in Health Care” Campaign.  I was brought on as the northern California coordinator of that work.  One of most gratifying experiences has been to see this campaign grow and evolve and to see how much Lucia and I have provided leadership both locally and nationally. When I first took this job, we had a lot of explaining to do about why a health care facility should engage around food; now they come to us! Or, if we approach them, it’s for much more higher-level discussions; the foundation has been set, both by us and because there has been an explosion of media coverage and education around food issues in this country.

Lucia and I have tried to seed a lot of interesting projects in the SF Bay Area and to bring it to our colleagues in other parts of country. We partner with hospitals, who then pilot these projects, and we get to see the projects grow. The “Balanced Menus Challenge” is a perfect example of what one small organization can do locally that gets picked up by a broader range of allied interests: it can really change the discussion and amplify the work in a powerful way.

How do you see the role of physicians in this work?

I think that the connection between food and health outcomes is still tenuous for a lot of people working in the health care sector. There’s a tremendous amount of work to be done to connect the operational home for food service with the clinical side of a health care institution. This disjuncture is slowly being bridged at health care facilities.

Clinicians have a powerful role to play in that integration. PSR’s “Food Matters” is a perfect illustration of how clinicians can impact health care facilities’ approach to food. Clinicians, including doctors, nurses and dieticians, have a lot of power in a health care institution. When doctors want something, the administration pays attention, whereas, unfortunately, Food Services Directors won’t necessarily be heard. Clinicians can be advocates at their respective institutions and make reform toward sustainability a much easier path. They also have a broader role to play as food systems advocates in the way they interact with their own patients around food issues and the way they engage with their communities.  Kaiser Permanente’s Dr. Preston Maring is a perfect example of how a doctor can contribute to a hospital’s approach to food.

Food Matters provides the opportunity for physicians to speak in an informed way on food in the public policy arena and to media. I’d love to see dozens of doctors speaking on these issues.  PSR has incredible power to help realize this vision because they have an extensive network nationally, due to their regional members and contacts. I have a lot of faith that as Food Matters takes off, there’s going to be a great opportunity for PSR to assert itself.

What are your hopes for the organization?

I would love to see PSR’s capacity to mobilize the clinical community grow and expand and for them to own this subset of advocacy. With health care reform on the horizon, and prevention at core of that reform, we’re going to see a radical shift in the health care sector, and food will hopefully be at the center. PSR is really well positioned to assert itself as a leader.

Do you have any last words to share?

I’ve really appreciated working with everyone who I have met at and through SF Bay Area PSR. Their commitment and dedication is impressive. They’ve been at it for a long time, and they don’t lose that spark, the fire in their commitment, which I find amazing. I’ve deeply appreciated the supportive environment that PSR offers for its employees, especially for parents of young children. It stands out to me as being fairly unique. I am grateful for a positive experience, and I look forward to working with the SF PSR team again one way or another the future.

Appreciations from SF Bay Area PSR Board and Staff

Dr. Bob Gould, SF Bay Area PSR President says, “Lena has done such exceptional work with PSR, and I really appreciate the major accomplishments she’s left for us to build on. Her work in partnership with Lucia Sayre on “Healthy Food in Health Care” has been groundbreaking, both on its own obvious merits as well as how it fits into our climate change efforts to reduce hospitals’ environmental footprints. I want to underscore that the results of Lena’s work have not just accrued to the SF Bay Area chapter of PSR, but have been groundbreaking for our organization nationwide. I wish Lena the absolute best in all of her endeavors.”

SF Bay Area PSR Co-Director Lucia Sayre says, “Lena has been a pleasure to work with over the past 5 ½ half years. She is a passionate, smart, and creative organizer who cares deeply about the health of our food systems. During her years at SF Bay Area PSR, Lena led several collaborative efforts in our food work, such as the “Balanced Menus Challenge” and the “Hospital Leadership Team,” that have emerged as models for the national “Healthy Food in Health Care” campaign. She also helped to cultivate many important relationships with key partners and organizations throughout the state of California and nationally that will benefit our sustainable food in health care work for years to come. We will miss her at SF Bay Area PSR and wish her well in her next adventure.”

To view a more comprehensive and historical list of environmental health resolutions passed by medical and public health associations, click here for a compilation posted by UCSF’s Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment.

The following resolutions were passed at the California Medical Association House of Delegates (HOD) meeting October 17, 2011. SF Bay Area PSR President Dr. Robert Gould serves as a delegate from the Santa Clara County Medical Association to the HOD, and in this capacity has worked with members of his delegation to introduce and support many of the environmental and public health-protective policies adopted by CMA over the last 15 years.

Healthy Fast Food Children’s Meals: recommends chain restaurant adherence to appropriate nutritional standards for meals that are marketed specifically to children; that meals marketed to children should adhere to healthy guidelines in accordance with the best available evidence and/or well-researched national nutrition standards.

Healthy Food Marketing for Children: supports efforts to regulate the advertising and marketing of unhealthy food and beverages to children; discourages the advertising and marketing of unhealthy food and beverages in public places frequently visited by children or adolescents; encourages media education programs to reduce harmful health influences of food and beverage marketing to children and to promote the consumption of healthy foods.

Healthy Agricultural Practices: supports the development of healthier food systems through federal farm subsidies and legislation; supports healthy agricultural practices.

Nanoparticle Testing, Monitoring and Regulation: recognizes both the benefits and the potential risks to public health and the environment from the widespread use of nanoparticles; endorses responsible regulation of existing or new nanoparticles prior to their introduction in industrial or consumer products.

Triclosan Antimicrobial Soap: recognizes the toxicity and potential adverse health and environmental effects of Triclosan-containing products and endorses efforts to eliminate this chemical from consumer and health care products; encourages the Food and Drug Administration to finalize the antimicrobial monograph first drafted in 1978 and updated in 1994; encourages the education of members on the issue of the importance of proper hand hygiene and the preferential use of plain soap and water or alcohol-based hand sanitizers in health care settings.

Nuclear Power Plant Safety: calls upon the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to expeditiously implement the recommendations of its Japan Task Force report; encourages the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and other oversight agencies to apply new technologies that will assess seismic risk prior to any licensing renewal of nuclear plants.

The following topics were presented: 1) Clinical Guidance to Help Your Patients Make Healthier Food Choices; 2) The Role of the Environment and How to Promote Greener and Cleaner Food for Maternal and Child Health; and 3) The Role of Physicians and Other Health Care Professionals in Creating a Healthier Food System.

Participants were able to receive CME credits for participating, and those who did not participate in the live webinars can also receive CME credits by listening to them online for up to 1 year.

The webinar series is part of the larger Food Matters project, which was launched as a pilot program in the last year. SF Bay Area PSR is one of the coordinators of the nationwide program and developed the curriculum  with HCWH and the Program on Reproductive Health and the Environment at UCSF.  Lucia Sayre, SF Bay Area PSR Co-Director, said, “The project has ballooned. We were initially only going to offer three half-day in-person trainings in Oakland, Boston, and Philadelphia, but we now have trainings scheduled for Portland, OR and Grand Rapids, MI, and already hosted a Grand Round series in Oakland. In 2012, we plan on translating our curriculum into Spanish to offer it as part of Promotoras (community health workers) trainings. People are clamoring for this information. Once they hear about this kind of curriculum and training opportunity, there’s a great deal of interest. It’s a fairly new topic.” For more information about Food Matters, click here.

Food Med is an opportunity to bring together a wide variety of people working in food services related to the health care community, including sustainable agriculture, food distribution, institutional procurement, and public health.

Lucia Sayre, Co-Director of SF Bay Area PSR, noted,  “This year’s Food Med was striking in that it showed how the work has really evolved to a strategic place. The first few conferences were focused on helping people get started with this kind of work, such as sourcing RBGH-free milk. This year’s conference was focused on larger issues, such as regional sourcing models, aggregating volume in purchasing, and extending community benefits within hospitals to community food programs. This strategic focus was heartening for me, having been involved since the beginning.”

Ms. Sayre pointed to the fact that health care food service directors, some of whom have been working with Food Med for almost seven years, are now champions for the cause . “They are practiced and knowledgeable about how to change their institutions, and most have been quite successful.” Ms. Sayre noted that this year’s conference had a larger presence from the clinical community; in the past, it had been attended primarily by facility directors in food service departments, but this year had many doctors and nurses, including PSR doctors from around the country. She said, “With the work of SF Bay Area, Oregon and Washington PSR chapters in the Healthy Food in Health Care program of HCWH, this region’s PSR chapters are emerging as a strong force for change in this work.”

In 2005, PSR collaborated with Kaiser and Health Care Without Harm (HCHW) to host the first FoodMed conference in Oakland. Since then, SF Bay Area PSR has played a leading role in the organization and coordination of HCHW’s national Healthy Food in Health Care program, and has coordinated all of this program’s California work. Ms. Sayre is currently the Co-Coordinator of the national Healthy Food in Health Care program for the HCWH campaign. To date, over 380 hospitals around the country have signed on to the Healthy Food in Health Care pledge, and the program continues to gain momentum as the leader in sustainable food work in the health care sector. Click here to read about Kaiser’s success in promoting sustainable food and agriculture.

At this year’s Food Med, Ms. Sayre moderated the session “How Physicians can Ease the Burden of Chronic Reversible Disease in a Health Care Setting;” and she co-moderated the session “Hospital Leadership Teams in Action” with Lena Brook, SF Bay Area PSR Program Associate. Presentations are available to view on the Food Med website.

SF Bay Area PSR also helped to organize a pre-conference training for nurses and nursing students through the Food Matters program, a clinical advocacy and training program that encourages hospitals and healthcare professionals to become leaders and advocates for a food system that promotes public and environmental health. Ms. Sayre was one of the presenters. Food Matters is also a joint program of SF Bay Area PSR and Health Care Without Harm.

Click here to read a PR Newswire article on the Food Med conference.

Ms. Sutton presided, and Dr. Gould served as one of the co-facilitators, for the roundtable “Advancing APHA’s 2009 Policy `The Role of Public Health Practitioners, Academics, and Advocates in Relation to Armed Conflict and War.’” In 2009, the Peace Caucus collaborated with other Sections in APHA to develop a comprehensive policy pulling together disparate elements that address war as a significant public health issue. These elements including direct impacts, such as deaths and injuries to soldiers and civilians, and creation of refugees; and more “indirect” impacts, such as environmental issues related to preparing for and conducting war.  The goal of the roundtable session was to discuss how to bring an understanding of war as a public health issue to other APHA Sections, to encourage them to hold panel presentations on this issue, and to support participants in working with public health schools in their communities to integrate this issue into the curriculum. Dr. Gould said that Shelly White’s earlier talk on the “War, Terrorism and Public Health” panel had great relevance to the roundtable. Ms. White presented original research in which she looked at the top 20 schools of public health in the country: out of 6,000 courses, only a handful addressed war in the curriculum, and none dealt with the impacts of military spending on public health.

Dr. Gould said the highlight of the conference for him and many others was a Special Session honoring Dr. Jack Geiger, co-founder of PSR: “This session was held to celebrate Dr. Geiger’s work, which has been devoted to protecting and promoting health by combating poverty and racism, protecting human rights, and preventing war. There was an outpouring of appreciation by people who’d been touched by Jack. It was extraordinarily moving. Jack talked at the end and included incisive remarks about the negative impacts of the war on terror on civil liberties and human rights.” Click here for more information about the Special Session for Dr. Geiger.

Several other speakers gave inspiring talks at the event as well. Assemblymember Bill Monning, Chair of California State Assembly Committee on Health delivered the keynote, underscoring the mutual benefits to farmers, workers and others in the Salinas region of growing food without  harming the health of the total community. Other speakers included Jim Cochran, Farmer and President of Swanton Berry Farms (the first organic strawberry farm); and Professor Kathy Collins, Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at University of California at Berkeley. The event was sponsored by the Office of Assemblymember Luis Alejo, Monterey Safe Strawberries, Pesticide Watch Education Fund, United Farm Workers, Planned Parenthood Mar Monte, and the Monterey Bay Central Labor Council. The event was free and provided Spanish translation.