Co-Leaders:

Updated 3/21/2024

2023-2024 Priorities:

• Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages.
• Promote healthy procurement policies to support public and private investment to increase the availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks and limit “default beverage” options for all meals served to people of all ages at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water.
• Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety.
• Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools, community colleges, universities, and parks.

Note: The following are draft action plans based on discussions during the work group meeting on April 19, 2024. The co-leaders will be meeting to review action plans at the co-leader meeting on Friday, May 31, 2024.

2023-2024 Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Work Group Meeting Schedule:

• Friday, November 3, 2023, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom
• Friday, January 12, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom
• Friday, April 19, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom

Friday, April 19, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Tracey Bates, Mary Anne Burghardt, Jayne McBurney, Tish Singletary, Sarah Tomlinson; Staff: Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Jayne McBurney welcomed everyone. The icebreaker question was what their favorite flower was.
• *DRAFT* NC SHIP 2030 Action Plan: Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption
  • The action plans shared were based on the action planning template and previous meeting discussions.
  • Updates shared and discussed during the meeting are included in the “Meeting Notes/Updates” columns for each of the policy priorities.
• Closing
  • Suggestions and recommendations can be added to the action plan charts in 2024-04-19 Agenda- Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Consumption Work Group Meeting.docx or emailed to Jayne McBurney by the end of April.
  • Next Meeting Dates:
    • This was the last scheduled work group meeting for the Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Work Group.
  • The co-leaders will be meeting to review action plans at the co-leader meeting on Friday, May 31, 2024, from 10:00 to 11:00 am on Zoom

Friday, January 12, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Tracey Bates, Mary Anne Burghardt, Jayne McBurney, Courtney Ramsey-Coleman, Rhonda Stephens, Sarah Tomlinson; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Jayne McBurney welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was what key word defines them for 2024.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The purpose of the meeting was to wordsmith the identified priorities and discuss action planning.
  • The following were identified at the previous meeting as the work group’s 2023-2024 priorities:
    • Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages.
    • Promote healthy procurement policies to support public and private investment to increase the availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks and limit “default beverage” options for children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water.
    • Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety.
    • Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools, community colleges, universities, and parks.
• Wordsmithing the priorities
  • Included below are the updated priorities and related discussions.
  • Priority A: Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages.The following taglines were discussed as potential updates for refreshing “Rethink Your Drink.”
    • Make the clear choice...water (for a healthy body and smile)
    • Say Yes to Water (Used by Durham Health Department)- has leverage already.
  • Priority B: Promote healthy procurement policies to support public and private investment to increase the availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks and limit “default beverage” options for all meals served to people of all ages children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water.
    • The group discussed updating children’s meals at food venues to all meals served to people of all ages.
    • What ages drink the most sugar-sweetened beverages?- Considering buying power and rural/ urban- quality of water.
    • Targeting this message to places that impact these audiences.
    • Including community colleges to support this in strategic plans: https://archive.nccommunitycolleges.edu/strategic-plan
  • Priority C: Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety.
    • Les Spell had shared a document from NCDPI about water policies allowing students to have water at their desks.
    • Funding water filling stations- get more information on water quality in schools, assuming filling stations have a filtration system.
  • Priority D: Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools, community colleges, universities, and parks.
    • Including community colleges to support this in strategic plans: https://archive.nccommunitycolleges.edu/strategic-plan
    • The community colleges do not have a say what is placed in their vending machines, the vending machine owners determine the inventory in the machines.Would vending machine companies be interested in “healthy retail designation”?
    • Driving demand
• Action Planning
  • The group discussed the following related to action planning for each of the priorities.
  • Priority A (Rethink Your Drink): Who will update the toolkit and create/run a campaign with a new tagline?
    • The SNAP-Ed Statewide Social Marketing Committee will work on a new toolkit that can be added to the Eat Smart, Move More website and shared broadly. They are working on a social marketing campaign about drinking water targeting those who are SNAP eligible.
    • Are there funds available to develop messaging and promotional materials? The target audience is not only SNAP-Ed.
  • Priority B (Healthy Procurement): Who leads the recommendations for policies being put in place?  Who has influence?
    • Local Health Department, local government, Council of governments
    • Finds events where these organizations are, such as NC Association of County Commissioners.
    • Integrating students, interns, fellows, NC Public Health Association, student group (Leah Mayo), ESMMNC (Eat Smart Move More North Carolina)
    • Association for college presidents/ administrators; the NC Community College Association is responsible for their strategic planning.
  • Priority C (Safe and Clean Water in Schools): Water stations and water bottles are allowed in school (information from Les Spell); water safety (more information on water quality data needed)
    • Environmental health-  DPH, DEQ, what % of households are on well water
    • Healthy Environments Collaborative (Tish Singletary has information on this.)
    • Number of municipalities with fluoridated water, availability of bottled fluoridated water.
    • NC Environmental Working Group- healthy lives/ healthy environment:
    • Jayne McBurney to contact NCSU Extension.
    • Clean Water for NC
    • Advocating is good, but also need to encourage/ work past barriers (for example, computers and water, also equity for those who may not be able to afford a reusable bottle), cost of water filling stations, teachers/ educators as models, student ambassadors.
  • Overcoming regression of COVID behaviors around water stations.
  • Priority D (Healthy Vending) Who leads the healthy vending work? 
    • Vending for rest stops is done by the Division of Services for the Blind, connecting to learn policies/guidelines.
    • Can some of the community college healthy pantry work expand to vending/food service guidelines?
    • North Carolina Vending Association
    • Can NCCE/Health Departments/ others provide services to help vendors provide healthy options that consumers like.
    • Taste testing options in high vending spaces.
    • Association for college presidents/ administrators; the NC Community College Association is responsible for their strategic planning.
    • Ask Tish Singletary if she has a contact.
    • Alice Ammerman/ Basheerah Enahora- Healthy food bowls work.
    • NC Beverage Association?
    • NC Restaurant and Loding Association
    • Healthy Vending Foods List
• Closing
  • The co-leaders, Jayne McBurney, Alice Ammerman, and Tish Singletary will meet to review action steps and brief for the meeting in April. Next steps will be shared with the work group over email.
  • The group discussed creating a wish list of materials and funding needed to support the work.
  • Wish list: Social media, graphic design, printing, factsheets for different stakeholders, website to host resources, mini grants to implement strategies
• Next Meeting Dates:
  • The next work group meeting will be on Friday, April 19, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am via Zoom.

Friday, November 3, 2023, from 9:30 to 11:00 am, Zoom- Work Group Meeting

Attendees: Crystal Adams, Alice S. Ammerman, Tracey Bates, Mary Anne Burghardt, Jayne McBurney, Lisa Shock, Tish Singletary, Les Spell, Rhonda Stephens, Sarah Tomlinson; Staff: Hannah McDiarmid and Ashley Rink

• Welcome and Agenda Overview
  • Jayne McBurney welcomed everyone and asked for introductions. The icebreaker question was what their favorite fall beverage was.
• Grounding and Level Setting
  • The purpose of the meeting was to provide grounding and level setting, and review the priorities identified this past year.
  • Group agreements, common language, Indicator 13: Sugar-Sweetened Beverages, and the Year of Action asks, roles and expectations, and timeline were reviewed.  Refer to the slides for additional information on these topics.
• Priority Review
  • The purpose of the priority review was to determine if the priorities were clearly stated, were actionable, were resourced, and if they would continue to be a priority.
  • The 2022-2023 Priorities from the 2023 NC SHIP report were:
    • Integrate “Rethink Your Drink” toolkit into school curricula, promoting water as a healthy alternative to sweetened beverages
    • Establish healthy food procurement policies that support public and private investment in healthy food, and increase availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks
    • Recommend NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI) adopt a statewide policy permitting students to bring water bottles to school (containing only water)
    • Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety
    • Limit “default beverage” options for children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water
    • Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines at schools and parks
  • The work group reviewed each of the 2022-2023 Priorities. The work group discussed the following being the priorities for 2023-2024.
    • Promote “Rethink Your Drink” messaging and availability of nutritious beverage choices (To potentially be reworded.)
    • Promote healthy procurement policies to support public and private investment to increase the availability of healthy alternatives to sugary drinks (To be combined with Limit “default beverage” options for children’s meals at food venues to include only milk, 100% fruit juice, or water.)
    • Ensure access to safe and clean water in schools at water-filling stations that have been tested for safety
    • Implement healthy choice beverage in vending machines (Expand beyond schools and parks.)
• Action Planning
  • The co-leaders will meet in December to discuss the next steps.
• Closing
  • The next work group meeting will be on Friday, January 12, 2024, from 9:30 to 11:00 am via Zoom.

• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Increasing Access to Drinking Water in Schools (2014): https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/npao/pdf/water_access_in_schools_508.pdf
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention- Water Access in Schools (2022): https://www.cdc.gov/healthyschools/nutrition/wateraccess.htm
• Healthful Living Standards, https://www.dpi.nc.gov/districts-schools/classroom-resources/academic-standards/standard-course-study/healthful-living
• Healthy Drinks, Healthy Kids: https://healthydrinkshealthykids.org/ SNAP-Ed Toolkit: Obesity Prevention Interventions and Evaluation Framework (2023): https://snapedtoolkit.org/
• World Health Organization- Healthy public food procurement and service policies (2022): https://www.who.int/news/item/15-07-2022-the-untapped-potential-of-healthy-public-food-procurement-and-service-policies-to-support-therepurposing-of-food-and-agricultural-policies-for-delivery-of-affordable-healthy-diets