Issues of affordable and accessible healthy eating and building connections to the natural world in southcentral Pennsylvania will be the topic of the “Go Local for Health” Conference to be held October 2 at the Rhodes Grove Camp and Conference Center in Chambersburg, Franklin County.

The event is coordinated by the South Mountain Partnership. Sparked by DCNR’s Conservation Landscape Initiative, the partnership is an effort to engage communities, local partners, state agencies and funding opportunities to conserve the high-quality natural and cultural resources while enhancing the region’s economic viability.

“We need to shift our understanding of health care from a conversation between a patient and healthcare professional once someone is sick, to a proactive, comprehensive approach to healthy lifestyles and wellness that involves not only individual, but community decisions,” said Jon Peterson, environmental planner with the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and lead of the South Mountain Partnership.  “Good health should be a conversation that includes all facets of our communities.”

The event at the Meadows Conference Center of Rhodes Grove will be held from 8:00 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will kick off with a keynote address by Dr. Stephen Holoviak of Penn State Mont Alto entitled “Leading in Difficult Times.”

Sessions will include: understanding the region’s health status; connecting children and families to the environment; prescribing wellness; and spreading innovations in food and healthy eating from schools.

“Go Local for Health” is sponsored by the Carlisle Health and Wellness Foundation; DCNR; Summit Health; WellSpan Health; and the South Mountain Partnership.

Registration for the summit is required and can be completed online. There is a $10 fee to attend.  A continental breakfast and lunch will be provided during the summit.

9/30/2013