Members of the statewide Act FRESH Leadership Team met at the Worcester office of the Mass. Department of Public Health on September 13, 2011 in order to continue to plan activities for this year's campaign, Priorities for Healthy Places. The campaign is a project of the Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) and is led by a diverse group of MPHA member organizations - grassroots organizations and statewide associations from every region of the Commonwealth, including representatives of VOICES for a Healthy Southcoast. This year's campaign is focusing on: 1) passing the Comprehensive Land Use Reform and Partnership Act, 2) passing physical education legislation, 3) improving access to healthy food stores, and 4) successfully implementing state and federal legislation on school nutrition. The group created a six-month calendar showing activities for the subgroups and opportunities to engage a broader network of partner organizations into the Act FRESH campaign. For more information about how to become involved in the campaign locally, contact VOICES representatives Nancy Bonell at the Southcoast YMCA or Dave Weed at Healthy City Fall River.

(Top row, left) Sarah Kavensky, Assistant Director of Regional Strategies for the Massachusetts Public Health Association, welcomes the group before dividing them up into four working task forces to brainstorm strategies for the coming year. (Top row, center) Maddie Ribble, Director of Policy and Communications, meets with the group working on the Comprehensive Land Use Reform and Partnership Act (CLURPA). (Top row, right) Aliza Wasserman, Policy Analyst for the Boston Public Health Commission, makes some suggestions about strategies for improving access to healthy food stores. (Middle row, left) Dr. Anna Rosenquist from the Massachusetts Chapeter of the American Academy of Pediatrics is joined by Cheryl Sbarra of the Massachusetts Association of Health Boards and Allyson Perron of the American Heart/Stroke Association for a discussion of strategies to pass physical education legislation. (Middle row, right) Judy Blume of MPHA talks with Steve Miller of the Partnership for Healthy Weight about CLURPA. (Bottom row, left and right) Liz Sheehan Castro of the Worcester Food and Active Living Policy Council listens to a suggestion from MPHA Executive Director Valerie Bassett in the discussion about implementing state and federal legislation on school nutrition as Deirdra Murphy from the Greater Lowell Healthy Weight Task Force, left, listens. (Bottom row, center) Jessica Collins of Partners for a Healthier Community in Springfield, MA, goes over the results of her group's discussion with Maddie.