Archived Features

CLF Community Partner Joyce Smith Awarded Baltimore Community Fellowship
Joyce Smith, executive director of the Operation ReachOut Southwest community association, is the recipient of a Baltimore Community Fellowship from the Open Society Institute for her work to teach her community about diet and exercise, and remove the barriers to healthy food and exercise that often plague the city’s low-income neighborhoods....Read More....
    
CLF Director Discusses Animal Antibiotic Use at Wild Farm Alliance Food Safety Conference
CLF Director Dr. Robert Lawrence was one of fifteen expert speakers at a recent conference in San Francisco hosted by the Wild Farm Alliance entitled “Food Safety Gone Astray: The Misguided War on Wildlife.”.....Read More.....

Center for a Livable Future and Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health representatives to serve on newly announced Baltimore City Food Policy Task Force
Research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has shown that Baltimore’s food environment lacks in access to convenient, healthy foods.  In an effort to increase this access and decrease the city’s rates of malnutrition, obesity and cardiovascular disease, Mayor Sheila Dixon has commissioned a Food Policy Task Force....Read More....

CLF Director Addresses Need for Collaboration at International Symposium for Environmental Health
Forty-eight speakers and 192 participants reviewed current research and identified future opportunities for collaboration at the recent International Public Health Symposium on Environment and Health Research, “Science for Policy, Policy for Science: Bridging the Gap,” held in Madrid, Spain....Read More...

Sustainability Plays Role in Reducing Conflict 
In the eighth and final installment of the Connecting Sustainability and Health lecture series, Geoffrey Dabelko, director of the Environmental Change and Security Program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, discussed the role of environmental preservation in the context of conflict and security around the world....Read More....

CLF Helping to Make Campus Food More Climate-Friendly
With food consumption accounting for up to one fifth of household greenhouse gas emissions, greater efforts must be made to measure and communicate the environmental impacts of dietary behavior, according to experts....Read More...

Antibiotic-Resistant Organisms Can Spread Via Livestock Transportation, Hopkins Researchers Find
The last time you took a nice summer drive to the beach, enjoying the scenery with your windows rolled down, chances are you weren’t thinking about breathing in antibiotic-resistant microorganisms from broiler chickens....Read More....

What’s new with the Great American Smokeout?
STAY QUIT MONDAY
Quitting is hard and staying quit is even harder. On Thursday, November 20, the countless Americans who want to quit smoking in the American Cancer Society's 33rd Great American Smokeout will have an easier time to stay quit with the new Stay Quit Monday initiative.....Read More.....

Sustainability Messaging Requires Variety of Tactics
Last year, Dr. Margaret Chan, the director-general of the World Health Organization, told fellow health leaders the following: “Up to now, the polar bear has been the poster child for climate change....Read More....
   
Social, Media Influences Highlighted in Sustainability Series Presentation
In the quest to encourage people to make healthy, environmentally friendly decisions, the public health community must not only examine media and peer influences, but also how individuals perceive these influences to affect themselves and others....Read More....
 
Grist Magazine Interviews CLF's Roni Neff
A GRIST MAGAZINE EXCLUSIVE! CLF Research Director discusses her recent research on the news media's coverage of climate change and the food system....Read More....
 
CLF Staffers Address Conference on Food Security
Assistant Director, Shawn McKenzie, MPH, and Research Director Roni Neff, PhD, MS, represented the Center for a Livable Future at the 12th Annual Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) conference held recently in Cherry Hill, NJ....Read More....

Sidney Mintz Honored at Book Celebration
Dr. Sidney Mintz, world-renowned food anthropologist, JHU emeritus professor and recipient of CLF Innovation grants, has been presented with the Center for a Livable Future Individual Award. The presentation took place at a recent event held at JHSPH to celebrate the publication of the new book, World of Soy, edited by Dr. Mintz, Chee-Beng Tan, and Christine Du Bois....Read More....

Author Discusses Global Water Crisis at Seminar
Maude Barlow, esteemed author and activist from Ottawa, Canada, discussed the global water crisis at the JHSPH as part of the Connecting Health and Sustainability lecture series on October 9....Read More....

Why Our Industrial Food System is Not Sustainable
According to Fred Kirschenmann, our system of industrial food production is unsustainable, and the extent of the problem is not well understood by the public.....Read More.....
 
Baltimore Green Living Guide Online
Are you new to Baltimore or have lived here for years but want to be more green? The Environmental Stewardship Committee, the Environmental Health Sciences Student Organization and the Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health have created the Baltimore Green Living Guide to help you do just that. The guide provides resources for making more environmentally friendly purchasing and lifestyle decisions from buying locally grown, organic produce or renewable electricity to reducing the carbon footprint of your commute. Look no further, your green living resource is here!....Read More....

News Media Overlook Food System and Climate Change Connection
A study conducted by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future at the Bloomberg School of Public Health shows the nation’s top newspapers have largely overlooked the food system as one of the more important contributors to global climate change....Read More....

Eating and Climate Change
Did you know your diet can affect global climate change? Find out how—and what you can do about it—in the new fact sheet available in the CLF Publications library....Read More....  

Economist Details Costs of Addressing Climate Change
In the second installment of the Connecting Health and Sustainability Seminar Series, economist Matthias Ruth of the University of Maryland discussed the economical implications of tackling climate change...Read More.... 

South Bronx Sustainabilty Program Highlighted in First Seminar
In the South Bronx, 50 percent of residents live below the poverty line and the asthma rate is seven times higher than the national average. Dirty air, abandoned lots and even a prison barge have marred the landscape, but the Bronx Environmental Stewardship Training Program (B.E.S.T) is working to turn that around by training residents for “green-collar” jobs and rejuvenating community open spaces....Read More...

Climate Change and Health is Focus of New Book
A new book, “Climate Chaos, Your Health at Risk,” illustrates how much climate change will affect our lives. The authors, Dr. Cindy Parker and Dr. Steven Shapiro, explain our possible physical and mental responses to such climate change factors as heat stress, poor air quality, insufficient water resources, and the rise of infectious diseases fueled by even minor increases in temperature....Read More....

CSA’s Extra Shares: Where do they go?
The practice of tithing dates to biblical times when farmers were expected to donate one tenth of their crops to those community members who could not produce for themselves. Today, One Straw Farm, an organic farm in Northern Baltimore County, continues this charitable practice by donating one share from their Community Supported Agriculture program (CSA) for every 10 shares sold....Read More....

Lecturer Calls for More Testing on Chemicals Affecting Endocrine System
The vast quantities of chemicals found in everyday life are building in the human body and having a profound effect on everything––from our ability to reproduce to the development of our brains, noted Theo Colborn, PhD,  founder of the Endocrine Disruption Exchange....Read More....

Twelve Predoctoral Fellowships Awarded
The Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) has awarded predoctoral fellowships to 12 students for the 2008-2009 academic year. This year, for the first time, CLF Predoctoral Fellowships have been awarded to Johns Hopkins University predoctoral students who are committed to the discovery and/or application of knowledge in one of CLF’s three program areas: Farming for the Future; Eating for the Future; and Living for the Future.....Read More....

CLF Research Fellow Testifies Before Senate Committee
Washington, DC—Jay Graham, PhD and CLF Research Fellow, was one of six panelists asked to speak recently before a U.S. Senate Committee investigating antimicrobial resistance in the US....Read More....

CLF Announces RFP for Innovation Grants Program
For the 10th year, the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF) will be offering Innovation Grants for innovative, interdisciplinary study by Johns Hopkins University faculty, fellows, and graduate students. The deadline for grant applications in August 11....Read More....

Robert S. Lawrence Named Inaugural Center for a Livable Future Professor
Robert S. Lawrence, MD, professor and founder of the Center for a Livable Future, was named the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health’s inaugural Center for a Livable Future Professor. A formal installation ceremony was held at the Bloomberg School on June 3, 2008...Read More....

Pew Commission Releases Final Report
Washington, D.C.—April 2008—The current industrial farm animal production (IFAP) system often poses unacceptable risks to public health, the environment and the welfare of the animals themselves, according to a report released April 30 by the Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (PCIFAP).....Read More....

Second Year Begins for CSA at JHSPH
Community Supported Agriculture is bigger than ever this year at the Bloomberg School of Public Health. Colorful rainbow chard, crisp spinach and bright red strawberries topped the list of favorite items when the CSA kicked off the beginning of its second year...Read More....

Research Day Highlights Student, Faculty Work
The 12 presenters at this year’s Research Day offered attendees a first-hand glimpse into scientific work on key sustainability issues conducted with grants from the Center for a Livable Future....Read More...

‘SEE’ Campaign Launches at JHU
For two weeks in March, students on the Johns Hopkins University’s Homewood Campus seemed a little perplexed by the ubiquitous posters and signs lighting up plasma message screens. “Can you SEE?” asked one message in bright green letters on purple background. A few days later the question, “Will you SEE?” flashed on the boards; then, a week later, came “Do you SEE?” ...Read More...

Bloomberg School of Public Health Adopts Environmental Committee Recommendations
The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health will adopt a single-stream recycling program, in addition to many other activities, beginning on Earth Day, April 22. The Center for a Livable Future was one of the key departments behind developing new recommendations for revising environmental policies at the school....Read more….

CLF Announces Living for the Future Scholar
The Center for a Livable Future has named Gila Neta as its first Living for the Future Scholar. The Living for the Future Scholarship provides support for JHU doctoral students pursuing scientific research related to a range of issues that are central to CLF’s Living for the Future Program... Read More...

CLF Director Testifies at House Hearing on ‘No Child Left Inside Act’
CLF Director Dr. Robert Lawrence provided testimony at a special House subcommittee “Field Hearing” on the No Child Left Inside Act. The hearing, conducted outside on Earth Day at the Patuxent Wildlife Research Center in Laurel, Md., was the first held on the legislation introduced by Rep. John P. Sarbanes (D-Md.). The No Child Left Inside Act would direct $500 million in federal funding over five years for environmental education....Read More...

'Water’ Website Receives Nomination
The website promoting the exhibit Water:H2O=Life has been nominated for a Webby People's Voice awards.  The exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History was developed with technical assistance of CLF....Read More....

Food & Water Watch Student Video Contest
Food & Water Watch has announced a celebrity-judged “I Heart Tap Water” student video contest. It is part of Food & Water Watch’s “Take Back the Tap Campaign” that encourages college students and entire campuses to kick the bottled water habit and take back the tap...Read More....

APHA Publishes Position Paper on Food Systems
The American Public Health Association has adopted a landmark position paper, “Toward a Healthy, Sustainable Food System,” formalizing APHA’s recognition  of the interconnectedness of the food system....Read More... 

Announcing 2008-2009 Predoctoral Fellowship Request for Applications
CLF Predoctoral Fellowships will be awarded to Johns Hopkins University predoctoral students who are committed to the discovery and/or application of knowledge in one of CLF’s three program areas: Farming for the Future, Eating for the Future or Living for the Future....Read More....

CLF to Present at Yale Seminar
CLF’s Research Director, Roni Neff, will be speaking on food contributions to climate change Wednesday, April 9, at the Yale University Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity Seminar Series as part of National Public Health Week.  The Center welcomes speakers from different disciplines to present and discuss their work and its implications for the study of obesity and food policy. The Rudd Center is interdisciplinary, with meetings attended by a diverse group representing psychology, public health, law, medicine, nursing, public policy, and other fields. Meetings are open to the public, and all are invited to attend...Read More...

Research Day Planned for April 8
Make plans to attend the Center for a Livable Future Research Day on April 8. Each year, CLF presents work by faculty and students and supported by the Center. Recipients will report on their work in the areas of problems in the health impacts of food availability and access; health impacts of consumption and exposures; food security impacts of agricultural practices; and the public health implications of industrial food animal production.  The program will be held from 12:00 to 5:00 pm in Feinstone Hall at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 615 N. Wolfe Street, Baltimore, MD 21205.....Read More...

Go Home-Grown
Op-Ed in the Baltimore Sun from MPH Student Sarah Henly-Shepard on why Baltimore residents and the City should work together to boost the availability of locally produced food... Read More...

Pew Commission Holds Capitol Hill Briefing on Antibiotic Resistance
Dr. Robert Lawrence, director of the Center for a Livable Future, was one of three panelists speaking a January 30 briefing on Capitol Hill. At right, Dr. Lawrence speaks to a reporter from the Voice of America...Read More...

Center for a Livable Future Publishes Resource on Animal Feed
What is fed to animals produced for human consumption can have important implications for the health of the public. A just-released resource document, produced by the Johns Hopkins Center for a Livable Future (CLF), offers a compendium of information for locating resources and detailed data regarding animal feed practices in the U.S...Read More...

How much water do you really use? The truth may shock you...
The Center for a Livable Future joins public interest organizations in design of web-based water calculator...Read More...

Poultry Workers at Increased Risk of Carrying Antibiotic-Resistant E.coli
Poultry workers in the United States are 32 times more likely to carry E. coli bacteria resistant to the commonly used antibiotic, gentamicin, than others outside the poultry industry...Read More....