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The Lunch Lab & Public Health on Capitol Hill · Healthier Together: Larimer County's Public Health Podcast

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Welcome to Healthier Together, Larimer County's
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public health podcast, where we come together
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for healthier lives, connected communities, and
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real conversations. From your local public health
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team, I'm your host, Tom. Today, we're joined
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by Zach Hummel, Community Impact Manager at the
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Food Bank for Larimer County. Zach, thank you
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so much for joining us. Yeah, good to be here.
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So to start, can you tell us a little bit about
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your role at the Food Bank for Larimer County?
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Sure. I am the Community Impact Manager at the
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Food Bank for Larimer County. And what that means
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is I oversee our various programs that we have
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in the community. So we work with about 100 different
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partners in the community who get food from us
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in various capacities. We have senior programs.
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We help with SNAP assistance. We have a variety
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of kids programs, one of which being the Lunch
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Lab. So what exactly is the Lunch Lab? Yeah,
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so we have a program over the summer that kind
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of falls into the bucket of our fresh focus for
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kids. And that means that when school is out,
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we have the ability to step in and provide meals
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at no cost for kids, both who are attending camps,
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things like Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCAs, Northside
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Asset Land Center. And then we also have two
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different mobile food trucks where we drive around
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Larimer County, primarily Loveland, Fort Collins,
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and Wellington, and we get to distribute free
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lunches. How did the Lunch Lab get started? Back
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in 2019 was the first year that we took the truck
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out. And really, it was a recognition of a gap
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in our community. There's some other providers
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in Larimer County who will provide lunches, but
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no one does it in the capacity of being able
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to travel around. And we had the ability to do
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that. And so we did. So did it just start with
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the one truck and then you guys expanded from
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there? Yeah, we started with one truck, and then
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now we have basically a food truck, and then
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we have another van where we prepare all the
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meals ahead of time, put them in hot holds in
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the van, and then we can hand them out for kids.
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Well, that's pretty neat. What are the eligibility
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requirements for getting a lunch through Lunch
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Lab? The primary one is that kids have to be
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18 years or younger, and that is a self -declared
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number. Other than that, there are no eligibility
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requirements. We don't require folks to provide
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an ID or proof that they live in Larimer County.
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Oh, perfect. So I'm curious, though, what kind
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of food do you guys serve through the Lunch Lab?
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Yeah, so we provide all of the meals from scratch.
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We have a commercial kitchen in our food bank.
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And so we have a team of volunteers and staff
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every day who are producing these meals. And
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they are kind of a myriad of different options.
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Our kitchen manager really likes to try to keep
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things fresh and exciting. So you could see different
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kinds of salads on the menu. You could see honey
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mustard chicken, turkey tacos. The meal patterns
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that we follow is the same as what schools need
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to follow for kids when they're in school. So
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every kid has to get a grain. They have to get
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a meat or meat alternate, a fruit. a vegetable,
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and a milk. So what kind of other activities
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does the Lunch Hub offer? One of the really exciting
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things that we get to do, particularly in Fort
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Collins, is we've created a cohort called the
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Summer Mobile Program. The Summer Mobile Program
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is a group of nonprofits and organizations similar
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to us at the Food Bank who have a passion for
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connecting and reaching kids in our community.
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So in addition to the Food Bank, We have partners,
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including the Bookmobile with the Poudre Library,
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who will join us at stops. So kids will come
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get a meal from us and then sit around for story
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time. They can check books in and out there.
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So that's really helpful in some of our mobile
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home communities or neighborhoods that are a
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little bit farther away from the library. Allowing
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kids to be able to access reading materials basically
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in their backyard is really exciting. The Museum
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of Discovery will come out and provide STEM activities
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or kind of exciting games or connections with
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their kind of work. Kids get little like STEM
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packets of things to take home to maybe like
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build a little model rocket or something like
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that. We also have the gardens on Spring Creek.
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As it gets to the end of the season, they'll
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have fresh produce that they can hand out to
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families that they've grown in their gardens.
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We have different CSU camps who will come out
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and join us. When kids come out to the Lunch
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Lab, they're going to get a free meal. They're
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also going to get some capacity of fun activities
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to keep them both well -fed and engaged over
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the summer months. That's pretty neat. So where
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and when can people find the Lunch Lab this summer?
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Yeah, so as I mentioned, we have two different
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routes. So every day we will be in Loveland and
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in Fort Collins. Our website, thelunchlab .org.
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Easiest place to find us? We have a schedule.
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So we are at parks. We're at each of the libraries,
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mobile home communities, a variety of places.
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Again, folks don't have to live in the housing
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complex or in the town where we are. If they're
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passing through, they're welcome to join us.
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I am very curious. How many people has the Lunch
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Lab served? Since we don't ask for any ID. We
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don't know how many unique individuals we serve
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in Larimer County. What I can tell you, last
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year we did just over 33 ,000 meals over the
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summer. We go to three different stops every
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day on each route. And so a big day might be
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80 to 100 people just at one stop. And then we
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might see another 40 to 50 at a couple other
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stops. So probably the biggest day we've had.
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would be about 1 ,000 different individuals.
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But again, we distribute well over 30 ,000 meals
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over the summer. Oh, wow. That's a huge amount
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of people. It is, yeah. So how is the Lunch Lab
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program funded? The Lunch Lab is funded by a
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USDA program called the Summer Food Service Program.
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And so it's very similar to Healthy School Meals
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for All. So in a way, that's another reason why
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I like to encourage... families, parents, bring
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your kids out to see the lunch lab. We keep it
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low barriers. There's not an income requirement.
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Really, we see this as your kids get free meals
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during the school year. Over the summer, it's
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hard. You're taking your kids around. You're
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trying to find fun activities for them to do.
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Bring them out to the lunch lab. They can get
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a free meal and they can get connected with other
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community partners and meet new friends. What
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does food insecurity look like here in Larimer
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County, especially for children? It's a great
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question. Yeah, the data that we have tells us
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that there's just over 8 ,000 children in Larimer
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County who are food insecure. We know as a general
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broad number, about 12 % or just over 43 ,000
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people in Larimer County experience food insecurity.
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And so this program is really fantastic because
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we try to make it fun and exciting and really
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remove stigmas for families and kids that they
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can come out. no barriers, access a meal, and
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have fun together. If people are interested in
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volunteering for the Lunch Lab or supporting
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the food bank in some other way, where can they
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go for more information? As you can imagine,
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producing these additional 33 ,000 plus meals
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over the next two and a half months is really
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a crunch and requires a lot of volunteer support.
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So we are especially looking for volunteers right
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now in our kitchen or individuals who might want
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to join us out en route to help us hand meals
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out and have fun interacting with kids. The best
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place to find that is on our website, foodbanklarimer
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.org, and then go to the volunteer section and
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just note if you're interested in the lunch lab
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and our team would be more than happy to get
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you connected. So Zach, thank you so much for
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joining us today. We really appreciate you taking
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the time. Of course. Yeah, really good to be
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with you. And again, I would encourage anyone
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who's interested to learn more about the Lunch
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Lab. That is thelunchlab .org. You can learn
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more. You can see our routes. You can see the
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meals that are going to be available. Learn about
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the partners who are with us. And come on out
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and join us. Next, we're joined by Kimberly Baker,
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Larimer County's Health and All Policies Coordinator,
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here to provide an update on the 2026 legislative
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session. Kimberly, thank you so much for joining
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us. Thank you for having me back. To start, can
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you remind us what you do here at the Health
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Department? Yes. So I'm the Health and All Policies
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Coordinator here at the Health Department, and
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I follow state and local and some federal policies
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to understand their impact on public health.
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We talked on the last episode that I was on that
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a lot of our health outcomes are impacted by
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the policies within our community. What did this
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legislative session look like? So the primary
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theme of the session was budget. There was a
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$1 .5 billion deficit in the state budget, so
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there wasn't room to pass bills that had a fiscal
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impact. How many total bills were introduced
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this session? There were 626 bills introduced
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this session. And I know you've mentioned in
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the past that there's a limit to the number of
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bills each representative can submit in a session.
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Did we hit? our max number of bills this session?
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Yes, we certainly did. And how many of those
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passed? 449 of those passed, and that was about
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72%, which is actually a little lower than what
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I've seen in previous session. What percentage
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typically gets passed? Usually 80, 85. It's usually
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a high amount. So last time we talked, there
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were a number of bills that we discussed that
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impacted public health in some way that I just
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wanted to get an update on. One of those was
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an expansion of cottage food law. What happened
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with that bill? So that bill passed, and when
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I checked this morning, it's still awaiting the
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governor's signature, which we anticipate will
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happen soon. And we were able to get some public
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health protections in the bill, including a limit
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on the number of time and temperature controlled
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for safety foods a vendor can sell. So it'll
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allow a vendor to sell one item with up to five
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variations. So a vendor could make... tamales
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and then sell them as beef, chicken, vegetable,
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and two other types if they wanted to. Additionally,
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the foods need to be packaged to be sold. And
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then there's also an educational requirement
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to take a course on food safety, which is already
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part of the Cottage Food Act, but this extends
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that course for vendors to learn about food handling
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and time and temperature control, among other
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things. We also talked about some bills aiming
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to expand access to immunizations. What happened
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there? So that bill passed early in the session
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and was signed by the governor in March. And
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the goal of that bill was to ensure that vaccine
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guidance in Colorado is evidence -based. It's
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kind of a response to some of the changes at
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the federal level where the vaccine recommendations
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have been changed and there's not necessarily
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evidence to back up those changes. So Colorado
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wanted to ensure that we are following vaccine
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recommendations that are evidence -based and
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come from places such as the American Academy
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of Pediatrics. and other physician organizations.
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We also talked about some efforts to expand access
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to mental health care, specifically a bill that
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aimed to offer six free therapy sessions to adults,
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similar to the I Matter program that's currently
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available for youth. What happened with that
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bill? So that was Senate Bill 008, and it was
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lost. The bill sponsor resigned from the legislature
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in February, and there were other champions for
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the bill who continued that effort. But they
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opted to pull the bill to work on it in the interim
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period and bring back stronger proposed legislation
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next year. And part of this was to have a more
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robust stakeholder process for the bill. But
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the primary work they want to do is for the funding
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mechanism of that bill. Were there other bills
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related to mental health care access that did
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pass this session? Yes. So a bill that we followed
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closely was a mental health in sports bill. So
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it's called ELISA's Youth Concussion and Mental
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Health Protection Act. And it requires coaches
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of youth athletic activities to complete biannual
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mental health training courses and to notify
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parents of mental health risks associated with
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concussions. So this is something that's already
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occurring in our school system. So now it extends
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into those private sports leagues as well. We
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also talked about AI and data centers and specifically
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their impact on our environment. What happened
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to bills that were related to that? Neither of
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those bills made it through the legislative process.
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They were pulled by their bill sponsors as they
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were unable to get to a point where those bills
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would be able to pass and keep everybody comfortable
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with where they were at. And so I imagine we'll
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see similar bills return in the next session.
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But in the meantime, in Larimer County, the Board
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of County Commissioners are developing land use
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regulations to address the impact of data centers.
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And there's currently a public comment period
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open if anyone is interested in providing their
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input. You mentioned that the state was grappling
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with a $1 .5 billion budget shortage this session,
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and I know one of the potential proposed cuts
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was to local public health agencies. Can you
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tell us what happened there? So this was a win
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for public health. There was a proposed $3 .3
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million cut to local public health agencies,
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and several joint budget committee members were
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not comfortable cutting local public health.
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Those members negotiated the cut to be $1 .5
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million instead of $3 .3 million. Which is great
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news for us as this particular funding source
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is flexible, which allows us to respond to local
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concerns quickly. Was there other public health
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-related legislation that came up during the
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session? You know, we tracked fewer bills compared
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to previous legislative sessions. And so it was
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a little slower for public health than it has
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been in previous years. But there were several
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bills related to access to THC beverages, changes
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to alcohol sales, and reducing cigar taxes. Those
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bills failed. And there were several bills responding
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to federal policy changes that were introduced.
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Those bills had mixed success, and we mostly
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monitored those just in case they had impact
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to public health, which only one of them would,
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and we had no concerns about that one, and it
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happened to be the one that passed. Are there
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other bills that didn't pass this session that
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you expect to see come back in the future? So
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I certainly expect to see the THC bill come back.
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When does the next legislative session start?
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January 11, 2027. And it'll be a different vibe.
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We'll have a new administration in the governor's
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office and several other high offices will have
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some new folks. And then there's always some
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legislators that are term limited. So we'll have
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some new replacements for those folks. After
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catching your breath, what will you be working
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on during the break in between? So I'll be working
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on tobacco prevention and cessation policy at
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the local level. And I'll be monitoring the federal
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budget process. And then in the last days of
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the Colorado legislative session, a bill was
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passed to establish a Medicaid commission to
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review Medicaid spending utilization and administration.
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And Medicaid is a big portion of the state's
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budget, so they're trying to figure out how to
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potentially rein in some of those costs. So that
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commission's report is due in December, and I'll
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be following that process closely. And I'll also
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do some work with the Colorado Association of
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Local Public Health Officials and some partners
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at other public health agencies regarding the
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implementation of the expanded Cottage Food Act.
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And of course, we'll be preparing for next session.
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Awesome. Kimberly, thank you so much for joining
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us. Thank you for having me. Do you have a question
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about public health in Larimer County or a topic
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you'd like us to discuss? Let us know. Email
16:00
us at healthiertogetheratlarimer .org. Thanks
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for listening, Larimer County. Until next week,
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stay well, stay connected, and remember, we really
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are healthier together.