Below is a repost of a great, great story by Carolyn Szczepanski of The League of American Bicyclists about how Neil Walker, a leading League Cycling Instructor Coach, a youth program coordinator for Metro Atlanta Cycling Club, founder of Cycles and Change and member of the League’s Equity Advisory Council.

The URL of the original story is http://blog.bikeleague.org/blog/2013/05/where-the-ride-takes-us-connecting-kids-to-healthy-foods/

Where the Ride Takes Us: Connecting Kids To Healthy Foods

In honor of National Bike Month, we’re spotlighting how bicycles are tools for personal empowerment, social justice and community development in our with our “Where the Ride Takes Us” web series. Today’s post comes from Neil Walker, a leading League Cycling Instructor Coach, a youth program coordinator for Metro Atlanta Cycling Club, founder of Cycles and Change and member of the League’s Equity Advisory Council.

Two years ago, the Atlanta Bike Coalition, the Dream Team and Metro Atlanta Cycling Club partnered with City Councilman Aaron Watson to do a series of rides called “Living Smarter.” These rides were developed to support farmers markets and community gardens.

There has always been the conversation about quality food and the fact that it isn’t affordable for those that are financially challenged. Unfortunately, whole foods are not an option when you are living on a limited budget — but visiting the local community gardens and understanding how they work gives parents a more viable option.

The initial idea was to find a way to deal with obesity and Type 2 diabetes. We have always worked with nutrition as part of our  programming but most of it had been done through our partnership with the East Atlanta Kids Club. The Tour de Farm was different than anything else that had been done in Atlanta — an opportunity to educate our youth contingent (The Dream Team and The Drew Charter School Bike Club) on healthy eating choices and  affordable food options other than the local supermarkets.

Each farm or vendor site represented a unique aspect of local sustainable agriculture, offering a great learning experience — with riders having the option of participating in the whole tour with camping or for one-day only. All meals and snacks were provided and primarily sourced from the farms on the tour and other market vendors and partners fincluded the East Atlanta Farmers Market, the Grant Park Farmers Market, Whole Foods, The Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, Loose Nuts Cycles, Georgia Organics, and the participating farm sites.

While bike tours are common, it’s not often you get to camp out on an urban farm and have a casual dinner with one of the city’s hottest chefs. The kids not only saw the backyards and patched pieces of land that urban farmers are utilizing; they also get to see behind the scenes of some of the most popular new food entrepreneurs. From experiencing sausage making to perfecting a croissant, the event highlighted the most unique and edgy parts of the Atlanta local food scene.

The response from the kids was superb; after all, they love to ride and they love to eat! The most fascinating part for me was to see them get involved. They have no problems getting their hands dirty. The knowledge they received during those rides and the various classes have birthed two new Community Gardens in areas that were once abandoned lots.

The other aspect is that they are aware of terms such as GMO (genetically modified organism), saturated fats, cholesterol and pesticide. They now know that “you are what you eat.” They know that potato chips and sodas are not an option — and the proper foods they should eat to help fuel their bodies on our weekly bike rides.

It all works together, exercise (cycling), proper nutrition and the rest. Overall, it has been a success for the farms, the farmers markets and for the riders. We are looking forward to the second annual Tour de Farms and to continuing to ride, as well as educate and inform.

The collaboration of bicycling and proper nutrition is just one of the ways we are fighting against obesity and other health related disparities in our city.

Read more about Neil and his efforts in the January/February issue of American Bicyclist. 

Carolyn Szczepanski
Communications Director

Carolyn joined the League in March 2012, after two years at the Alliance for Biking & Walking. In addition to managing the League’s blog, magazine and other communications, Carolyn organized the first National Women’s Bicycling Summit and launched the League’s newest program: Women Bike. Before she crossed over to advocacy, she was a professional journalist for nearly 10 years.

Do you walk, bike, drive, or use the T in Lawrence or Douglass County?  A public open house will be held on Wednesday, June 5 from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Lawrence Union Pacific Depot (402 N. 2nd Street) in Lawrence. Members of the project team will be at the meeting to discuss the three elements of the multimodal planning studies. An online, interactive-mapping tool (additional information provided below) will be available at the open house to allow attendees an opportunity to identify deficiencies, gaps, and other mobility issues. Click Here to download the Open House Flyer.

If you have any questions regarding the public open house please contact:

• Todd Girdler, Senior Transportation Planner, Lawrence-Douglas County MPO, at (785) 832-3155 or email tgirdler@lawrenceks.org
• Jessica Mortinger, Transportation Planner, Lawrence-Douglas County MPO, at (785) 832-3165 or email jmortinger@lawrenceks.org

Can’t Attend? Use the Online Interactive Maps to Provide Your Comments.

The project team is currently collecting and analyzing data for the three multimodal planning studies and we need your help. Please take a few minutes to use the online, interactive-maps to identify deficiencies, gaps, and other mobility issues within the region. An online map has been developed for each of the three multimodal planning elements which you can access by clicking on the following links. Once you have accessed the first map, you will be able to access the other maps within the program, or you can return to this page to access the other maps.

• Countywide Bikeway System Plan: http://tinyurl.com/DouglasCoBike
• Fixed-Route Transit & Pedestrian Accessibility Study: http://tinyurl.com/TransitPedAccess
• Commuter Park & Ride Study: http://tinyurl.com/DouglasCoPark-Ride

We encourage you to provide as much information as possible. Feel free to complete one, two, or all three of the maps. You can also return at any time to add comments or review comments that other people have provided. The online, interactive-mapping tool will also be available at the public open house.

Below is a repost of the 4/29/13 Derek Prall’s American City and County post.. it’s pretty interesting.

________________________________

In an effort to curb the congestion on public transportation and roadways, Chicago’s new bicycle sharing program expects to offer over 4,000 bikes to public transit riders looking for a fast, inexpensive way to travel the last legs of their daily commutes.

The program, known as “Divvy,” will be managed year-round by Portland, Ore.- based Alta Bicycle Share, according to the Chicago Tribune. The $22 million dollar project is “expected to pay for itself” over time, Sean Wiedel, an assistant commissioner at the Chicago Department of Transportation (CDOT) who oversees the program, told the paper.

Federal grants provided the initial funding for the project to cut traffic congestion and improve air quality, the Tribune reports. While Divvy is emphasized as being a complement to public transportation, the bikes will be available for anyone wishing to swap four wheels for two.

Bike sharing memberships will go on sale mid-May. Yearly memberships will cost $75 and daily passes will run $7. Both fees allow for unlimited trips of up to 30 minutes each, with hourly rental fees applying after the initial half-hour, the Tribune says. Riders will pick up a bike from one of 400 planned solar powered docking stations, and return it to a station near their destination.

According to the Divvy Bike website, riders will be responsible for the bicycle from the time they remove it from a dock until they have successfully secured it at the end of their trip. The cost to repair or replace a Divvy bike could be up to $1,200.

For safety, the bikes are outfitted with always-on lights, bells and GPS devices. While Chicago (for logistical reasons) is unable to provide riders with protective gear, cyclists will be encouraged to wear their own, Pete Scales, as spokesman for the CDOT told the Tribune.

“We used to only think cars and mass transit,” Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel told the Tribune. “Today, Milwaukee Avenue is one of the most-biked streets in America.”

For more information on the program visit www.divvybikes.com

At this week’s Lawrence Central Rotary Wednesday 5/1 meeting Steve Lane will tell us about this year’s Community Bike Ride scheduled for July 20th. This is the club’s signature community project. If you’re interested in hearing more or volunteering to help stop by the Eldridge All American Room!