Florida Dietetic Association - http://www.eatrightflorida.org

American Dietetic Association - http://www.eatright.org

American Heart Association - http://www.americanheart.org

American Cancer Society - http://www.cancer.org

National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases - http://www.niddk.nih.gov

American Academy of Pediatrics - http://www.aap.org/

USDA Center for Food Safety & Applied Nutrition - http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/

Florida Department of Health - http://www.doh.state.fl.us/

Health Data by State - http://www.statehealthfacts.org

America's Let's Move Campaign - http://letsmove.gov/accessing/index.html

Calorie Counter information - http://www.newcaloriecounter.com

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The U.S. Food Environment Atlas - http://www.ers.usda.gov/FoodAtlas/

Food environment factors—such as store/restaurant proximity, food prices, food and nutrition assistance programs, and community characteristics—interact to influence food choices and diet quality. Research is beginning to document the complexity of these interactions, but more is needed to identify causal relationships and effective policy interventions.

Objectives of the Atlas:

• To assemble statistics on food environment indicators to stimulate research on the determinants of food choices and diet quality
• To provide a spatial overview of a community’s ability to access healthy food and its success in doing so

What information is included in the Atlas?
The Atlas assembles statistics on three broad categories of food environment factors:

• Food Choices—Indicators of the community's access to and acquisition of healthy, affordable food, such as: access and proximity to a grocery store; number of foodstores and restaurants; expenditures on fast foods; food and nutrition assistance program participation; quantities of foods eaten; food prices; food taxes; and availability of local foods
• Health and Well-Being—Indicators of the community’s success in maintaining healthy diets, such as: food insecurity; diabetes and obesity rates; and physical activity levels
• Community Characteristics—Indicators of community characteristics that might influence the food environment, such as: demographic composition; income and poverty; population loss; metro-nonmetro status; natural amenities; and recreation and fitness centers

The Atlas currently includes 90 indicators of the food environment. The year and geographic level of the indicators vary to better accommodate data from a variety of sources. Some data are from the last Census of Population in 2000 while others are as recent as 2009. Some are at the county level while others are at the State or regional level. The most recent county-level data are used whenever possible.

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The Rudd Center has just launched a new legislative database for policy makers, journalists, advocates, researchers and concerned citizens.

The Legislative Updates database, which tracks federal and state bills filed during the current Congressional and state legislative sessions, provides detailed bill language and status updates. Issues include access to healthy food, school initiatives, menu labeling, sugar-sweetened beverage taxes, and more.

Key features of the database include:

• Detailed search functionality, which sorts and displays bills by federal or state filing status, and by topic;
• A list of bills that have been acted upon in the last day and week;
• A list of bills that have been enacted into law;
• Contact information for bills sponsors.