Recommendation to adopt resolution amending and restating the City of Long Beach Healthy Snack Food, Beverage and Vending Policy. (Citywide)
Item number 28 report from Health and Human Services Recommendation to Adopt Resolution Amending and restating the City of Long Beach. Healthy snack food, beverage and vending policy citywide. Case staff. Do you want to give a staff report? We have Kelli Collopy, our Health and Human Services director. Good evening, Honorable Mayor and members of the Council. The March 10th, 2015 meeting, the Council passed a motion to amend the current healthy snack food and beverage policy and the Healthy Beverage Policy. The motion expanded the existing snack policy that was previously focused only on youth to include all snacks served at city sponsored community meetings, ground breaking and ribbon cuttings. It also added to the vending policy that at least 50% of snacks sold in vending machines on city property will meet the nutritional standards. And 50% of beverages sold in vending machines on city property they're not accessible to public will meet nutritional standards. The policy for beverages and vending machines that are accessible to the public will remain at the same at 100% of healthy options. The policy before you combines the two previous healthy snack food and beverage policies and simplifies them. The nutrition standards for this policy are outlined in Exhibit A on page three and reflect the Federal Food, Nutrition and sustainability guidelines for concessions and vending operations and are consistent with the 2010 USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans. The resolution allows for updating the policy to reflect revisions in the USDA and vending guidelines as they become available. It also requires a specific language to compliance to these standards be included in vending contracts and that by by 1201 2016, all vending machines meet Section 40 zero five of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which requires that total calorie content is displayed for each item. There are some exceptions to the nutritional standards, which include fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, including nut butters and peanut butter plant based spreads such as hummus, guacamole and pesto and low fat cheeses. It also focuses only on snacks and beverages, not food served as meals. It does not include city events that require special permit or city celebrations. It does not include donated food or food purchased by individuals. And it does not include during times of emergency is declared by the authorized city safety personnel. As you can see on pages four through nine of the Exhibit A, the list of snacks that fit the criteria is long, provides many appealing options. It's not exhaustive, but it provides a sample of snacks that meet the nutrition guidelines as outlined in the policy. We believe this policy is an important next step supporting health within our community, ensuring that all people visiting city property have access to healthy and nutritious options. Thank you. That concludes my report and I'm open for questions. Okay. There's a motion in a second. Councilman Austin. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you. Ms.. Culpepper, for your report and for bringing this back to the council. I also want to thank Council Member Richardson for his efforts on this. This this item as well. I have been working in close contact and with some members of the community on on this issue for some time , along with the community partners like the American Heart Association. And I am pleased to see this motion before us to this item before us. You know, Long Beach has long been a leader in promoting healthy choices in a number of settings. Since 2011, the City of Long Beach has required strongly nutritional standards for public spaces, vending machines and youth settings. Earlier this year, the Health Department gave a presentation on the origins of the City Health Healthy Snack Food, Beverage Vending Policy. The policy has been a success. The community members are satisfied by the selection of the healthy options. However, today we have an opportunity to really strengthen the nutritional standards to cover all see vending machines and food served at city public events. And for this reason, I like to introduce the motion for and support this motion. But I'd like to to amend it to actually include 100% sodium and 100% trans fat nutritional standards recommended by the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Health and Sustainability Guidelines for the Federal Concessions and Bidding Machines. I think it's very important that we do this to have a real policy that that that really addresses the health of our employees and those in the public, that that will come in contact with any machines and and events sponsored by the city of Long Beach. I would love to get a second on that amendment. Because that well Constable Richardson had seconded the original motion. And that. Is. It does so. So Councilman. So yeah. Well actually then you need to not second that's the motion that councilman is making. So a second the staff recommendation. It is a different. It's a different it's a different motion. So you should remove that motion. Councilman Okay. So I will. I'll go with the staff recommendation. We don't go forward with that, but I think we should definitely talk about enhancing the staff recommendation as well. I don't I don't know see any good reason why my colleague would would not support a stronger policy. But I'll leave it to him to explain that. Okay. So then so Councilman Austin, that you're just to be clear, so you're back to just making a motion on the staff recommendation, is that correct for right now? Okay. So can someone second that. Okay. The second on that. Councilman Richardson, you're cued up. Do you want to one offs or are you done or you want to do anything else? Well, I have a new seconder on a motion. Councilman Tharanga. And so I'm asking council member your angle would you second the motion to add the the include 100% sodium and 100% trans fat nutritional standards recommended by the USDA and the American Heart Association. Yeah. Okay. There's a motion on the floor. Second category, Ranka, do you have any additional comments? I want to go on to the speakers list. I'll let my colleague speak. Summary Ranga, you're you're. You're the second on this motion. Did you want to make an additional comment? I mean, I agree that the amendment is an important one. We should also look at salt intake and and. Okay. Councilmember Richardson. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So. So I'm a little disappointed just at the tone that this is taking. So first I'd like to ask Miss Colby, who led on this item, bringing this the City Council for Adoption, which council members signed on to that item? In the original Councilman Richardson. Was Councilmember Austin a member of that item? In this pattern in March or when it came to item. This item that prompted you to make this report. Councilman Richardson, you brought this to the table. I'm sorry. Councilman Richardson brought this to the table. The councilman out into office, worked very close, was working also very closely with the American Heart Association. And when this item came to city council in 2011. In 2011, which members of the City Council are still on the City Council today? I would I would think is probably Councilmember Lowenthal and Andrews are the only ones that were on the city council at that time. So traditionally when a concept comes to city council, we like to see those things from start to finish. And that means do the work in our community to include folks like the Coalition for Healthy North Long Beach, who's been really at the forefront of really determining and developing health policy in North Long Beach, but also citywide. I think it's not only is it disrespectful, but it's bad tact and not very politically astute to to step in on a motion like this, that should be a relatively positive thing. That should get relatively unanimous support at the city council. I would love to make our health policy stronger. We began in 2011 and it was significantly watered down. We took steps to make it stronger. We took additional steps last year to make it even stronger since then. And tonight I had a motion here to make it even further, even more strong, that I worked with the Coalition for Healthy North Long Beach and a number of people here. But I was I wasn't given that opportunity. So tonight I'm going to offer a substitute motion and to to go back to the original policy and to come back with some recommendations on how to make it stronger by taking a look at trans fat and some of the other recommendations from the American Heart Association. And that's my motion. Is there a second to the substitute? So I think, councilwoman. Councilman I think Councilwoman Gonzalez or Councilman Mongo Lowenthal OC Vice Mayor Lowenthal is the one that's in there. So that is there's a substitute motion by Councilmember Richardson to go with staff's recommendation and then to return with additional measures to make the to make it stronger. So that's the motion currently on the floor. Of a point of order, I guess, in terms of this is already an audience. Is that what it is? Yes. This is an this is this would be an update to the policy. Okay. So if the original motion is not adopted and we accept the the substitute motion that's proposed by Councilman Austin, it basically changes what we can't do. Councilman Councilor Richardson. It would it would update the policy and then it would return with additional amendments to that policy. At some point in the future, it would still update the policy. Okay. Is that correct? I think that's that's correct. Okay. Vice Mayor Lowenthal, you want to speak to your second? I concur with Councilmember Richardson. This is something that started some time ago. I believe that it was Councilmember Neal and I either were the original sponsors of this, which does not mean, of course, that there is no opportunity for others to weigh in. So hopefully in the time that staff will take to come back with the item, the issues that Councilmember Austin has raised will be addressed and also the issues of working with the community. I do think every time something comes before the council, we do have an opportunity to make something better and hopefully that's what supporting this motion will do. Councilmember Richardson's motions make it better. Thank you. Councilman Andrews? Yes, Mayor. I'm sure that I was one of the original, you know, of this you know of this policy back in that time. Because I because I can say without a doubt, the policies has been great for our city. But I also tell my staff and kids that, you know, I teach that your your health is all you have. You know, and once it's gone, it's gone. And so if you have to do it what you can while you can still keep your body healthy. And this is definitely I'm in favor of this because the fact that this is what we're seeing every day is no doubt about it in our schools and even in our walk of life, you know, diabetes, high blood pressure, overweight. These are things that we really going to have to get ourselves more in line with because we don't you know, we're just running the risk of just losing a generation here. So I'm actually in favor of anything we can do to help, you know, make this even better. Thank you. First question, I want to back on the coolest that you have know. Okay. Councilman Austin. Yes. Yeah. I thought this would should be a pretty pretty much a no brainer in terms of the getting support from the council. The the substitute motion on the floor, I think, essentially seeks to do what the original motion will do. But as time and you know, in terms of I won't address the the comments made earlier about political correctness, I think this council is here and I think all every body up here is is committed to promoting promoting health and safety in our community. That is or should be our number one charge as it is a city council. I wasn't here in 2011, but I was here in 2012 before most of the members of this council. And no, I wasn't a part of the original motion and I wasn't on staff for anyone who brought this original motion forward. But it doesn't any way, in any way diminish my commitment to the health of our residents, the health of our employees, the health of our community as a whole. And so I'm committed to that. Diabetes is real. Hypertension is real. These are real factors that that that impact the our communities, particularly in the lower income areas where people have less access to quality food. And to the extent we as a city council can make a good decision tonight to improve this policy, but include the the amendment that put forth in the original motion. I encourage us to do that because it's the right thing to do. I don't think we should get into ego trips up here in terms of who brought what first and and protocol because protocol has been. Broken on many occasions in my my three plus years on this council. For the most part, we try to get it right. We try to work together to do the right thing. So the original motion put forth by myself and seconded by Councilmember Urunga, I think is the right motion. It addresses a healthy building policy and we move forward with including trans fats and sodium. Based on the standards recommended by our our national or our health, federal government and the American Heart Association. I love to hear public comment on this. Okay. That concludes Council on the cued up right now. So we're going to get a public comment so we can hear of members of the public. Please come forward. Come on. Good evening, Mayor. Council members and staff. I'm really excited to be taking a look at amending the snack food and beverage policy. And I hope that we can come to a strong conclusion to make sure that the standards are as strong as it can be. My name is Violet Ruiz, and I'm the government relations director for the American Heart Association in Los Angeles County. And first, I would like to begin by thanking the leadership and the council members that we've been working with on this issue. I would like to thank Council Member Rex Richardson and Council Member Al Austin for your leadership in leading efforts to improve nutritional standards for snack beverage vending machines and food served at city and public events. The American Heart Association has worked with several community partners on improving nutritional standards for the past year, which include Long Beach Fresh Long Beach Alliance for Food and Fitness, Cambodian Association of America Building, Healthy Communities Center for Latino Community Health and Long Beach. Latinos in Action to name a Few. The American Heart Association is in strong support of the proposed changes to the city of Long Beach healthy snack, food, beverage and vending policy. While this is a step in the right direction, the American Heart Association is requesting to amend the policy so that all food served in Long Beach vending machines meet 100% of the sodium and trans fat nutritional standards recommended by the USDA Dietary Guidelines for Americans and the Health and Sustainability Guidelines for Federal Concessions and Vending Machines. Diets high in sodium and trans fat are the leading contributing factors of heart disease and stroke. And to illustrate this issue, 77 million Americans have high blood pressure, which is the leading risk factor for death in American women, resulting in 200,000 deaths per year. Long Beach has the opportunity to continue being a leader in the region, state and nation by providing solutions in healthy food access as a means of public health prevention and health equity. Other cities have established strong vending standards, which include El Monte, Baldwin Park, Santa Clara and Pasadena, which are similar to Long Beach as it has a city run Department of Public Health, which is one of three in the entire state of California. And furthermore, Long Beach has the opportunity to really level the playing field for nutrition standards so that they are the same for youth, employees, residents and visitors. The American Heart Association respectfully request your support in amending the city of Long Beach food, beverage and vending policy to not only include the amendments from the Department of Health and Human Services, but also to include 100% sodium and trans fats standards to really make access to healthier options available to everyone in the city of Long Beach . Thank you. Thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Good evening, Mr. Mayor. And members of. Staff and members of Council. Huge. Thank you to Kelly Collopy and the Department of Health for continuing to be leading pioneers in health policies. And to council members Austin and Richardson for their leadership as well. My name is Tony D'Amico and I represent. Long Beach Fresh, and I'm also on the executive committee of the Long Beach Alliance for Food and Fitness and a member. Of the Building Healthy Communities. Neighborhoods Work Group. I stand. Here to support restating the city's healthy vending policy with the proposed change that the recommended guidelines for sodium and trans fats. Would be applied to all vending machines, not just 50%. So it's 100% of the standards applied to all. Of the machines. As a local food systems collaborative and an active member of the California Food Policy Council, Long Beach Fresh believes that our local government plays a critical. Role in tipping the scale toward healthy living, especially with nine in ten Americans eating too much sodium and 75% of that sodium coming from. Package and processed food. So I urge council to show a deeper commitment to preventing deadly illness by making the healthy choice the standard in Long Beach. And again, commend you for. Your efforts and stand today with the American Heart Association Building Healthy Communities, Long Beach, Long Beach Alliance for Food and Fitness and. Respectfully requesting. That you are vote for the. Proposed amendment by Al. Austin. Thank you. Thank you. And Speaker, please. Good evening. Mayor. City Council and staff. My name is Erica Bonia. I work at the Center for Latino Community Health at Cal State Long Beach, and I am also a resident of District seven. Thank you for the opportunity to just be able to share with you tonight. I am in strong support of amending and restating the city of Long Beach, healthy snack food, beverage and vending machine policy. As we know, there are many chronic conditions that affect our communities. Diabetes being one of them. And it's as we've seen, it's one of the leading causes of death here in Long Beach. So I respectfully request the amendment so that all food offered in Long Beach snack vending machines meets 100% of the sodium and 100% of the trans fat nutritional standards. And, of course, any amendments to further strengthen the policy. Thank you. Speaker. Good evening, Mayor. And the city council members and our staff. My name is Jan to you. I'm working with Cambodian Association America. I'm a program specialist and I live in the eighth District. And I would like to thank you, the council member, Al Austin and Council and Richard Richardson, for your leadership and your support in the strong support of the amendment of the city of Long Beach for healthy snack food, beverages and vending machine policy. I respectfully requested an amendment so that all the food offered in our Long Beach snack vending machines meet 100% of the sodium. 100% of the meat of the. The transfer nutritional standards to meet the federal guidelines. Thank you very much. And good night, Don. Thank you. Thank you for being so patient tonight. We're going to go and go back to the council and to a vote. I just want to restate the motion on the floor, which is to recommend to adopt the resolution amending and restating the Long Beach healthy food sack policy and to work with the community and come back for additional amendments to the council. This is a motion by Councilmember Richardson. And secondly, Vice Mayor Lowenthal, Councilmember Austin. Yes. And can you state the original motion? I would just ask that the the the council reject this this amendment or the substitute motion it seeks to actually accomplish what the original motion does. The original motion will accomplish that tonight and without delay. And so I think we send a strong message that we are serious about promoting healthy vending here in the city of Long Beach for and our vending machines and our in our our public events tonight. So let's let's let's reject the substitute motion and and support the original motion on the floor. So okay, so that was a restatement of the wisdom of the original motion. So we're right now we're on the substitute motion. And good. Gordon Cashman wants a counteroffer. And you restated the original version, correct? Okay. So I want to make sure that. So I take it please vote now on the subsidy motion by Richardson and Lowenthal. Motion carries five three motion carries. So the motion passes and the Health Department will work back with the community and come back for additional amendments. So, Madam Clerk, let's go ahead and go back to. Believe it will be now. Item 25. Yes. Thank you. Item number 25, report from Financial Management Recommendation to adopt specifications and execute a contract with Worthington Ford for the purchase of 11 compressed natural gas field service trucks in an amount not to exceed 660,000 citywide.