ATLANTIC – The goal following a meeting on healthy eating and physical activity is to create a project for Atlantic, and write a grant for funding for the project.
Erin Hudson, Community Development Director at Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO), said state officials pick four to five cities each year to collect information on access to healthy food and physical activities, and Atlantic was one of the towns picked this year. From there, a steering committee was formed to set up a community meeting to collect the information.
During a meeting on March 20, Hudson asked those who attend questions related to collecting the information, such as what do you do for physical activity and where do you get your food.
Many people said by walking or working out at the Nishna Valley Family YMCA, and as far as where people get their food, many said from grocery stores, by eating out or growing it in a garden.
Hudson said the plan is to have the report completed by June, and then use the information to determine what type of project to create.
Officials from Produce in the Park, Nishna Valley Family YMCA, Public Health, Healthy Cass and Nishna Valley Trails also gave short updates about what their groups are doing.
