Looking for tips to get active? Take a new quiz for personalized recommendations on getting enough physical activity.

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For more information about physical activity recommendations, lear n about the recently updated Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans.

Next week on December 13th at 3pm EST, the President's Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition will be hosting a webinar to focus on new strategies and ways to increase physical activity for youth.

Register for the webinar at: https://www.etouches.com/ereg/newreg.php?eventid=52286&

Marissa Duswalt is the Let's Move! Associate Director for Policy & Events

Editor's note: This was originially posted on the USDA blog.

The feedback about last year’s webinar series was overwhelmingly positive! That’s why USDA’s People’s Garden Initiative is bringing it back.

We’re asked all the time for a specific recipe for starting and sustaining a People’s Garden. And each of this year’s webinars focus on ingredients that can be mixed into any garden project to make it healthier: processing and storing seeds, engaging volunteers, growing native plants, composting, and school garden best practices.

The series of five hour-long trainings will broadcast live on Thurs. Nov. 29, Dec. 6 and Dec. 13 and Wed. Dec. 5 and Dec. 12 from 12 noon to 1 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time. They are free for anyone to watch live online. Register at http://www.ksre.k-state.edu/2012webinars/ to participate.

You can ask the instructor questions during each LIVE webinar on Twitter using hashtag #AskPGI to @PeoplesGarden. We will ask as many questions as time permits towards the end of each session.

Each webinar will be recorded, closed captioned and posted for anytime viewing. Once this is complete, webinars will be available on the People’s Garden website under ‘Gardening Resources’.

Download the 2012 Fall Webinar Series here.

2012 Fall Webinar Series

Thursday, November 29
Webinar: Seed Saving: Processing and Storage with Shannon Camody, public programs manager for Seed Savers Exchange

Last year Shannon introduced us to seed saving with this webinar. Now she’s back to build on that foundation and teach us ways to process and store seeds. Learn how to ferment, clean, thresh, winnow, and dry seed after harvesting, and how screens, tarps, fans, and other commonly available items can be used during the process.

Wednesday, December 5
Webinar: Engaging Volunteers in the Garden with Lori Jean Mantooth, director of training programs with Points of Light

Volunteers can be your greatest assets as they increase your capacity to grow, maintain and make a garden sustainable. This session will explore best practices for volunteer engagement including how to identify meaningful service opportunities and recruit volunteers with diverse skills and interests.

Thursday, December 6
Webinar: Going Native with Thomas D. Landis, retired national nursery specialist with USDA Forest Service and Cori Rotter, manager of beautification and community greening with Keep America Beautiful

Growing native plants can be fun, challenging, and rewarding. Obtain practical information on the growing and planting of North American (Canada, US, and Mexico) native plants for restoration, conservation and landscaping. Hear how Keep America Beautiful, its affiliates and its partners mobilized Americans this fall to plant native species in support of National Planting Day.

Wednesday, December 12
Webinar: Composting & Compost Use – How, Why and Where with Cary Oshins, director of education and outreach with US Composting Council and Al Rattie, director of market development with US Composting Council

Wanna make your own compost? You can produce high quality compost on a small-scale, but it’s important to use quality control standards from start to finish. Learn how you can get started, what to do with what you produce, and the many benefits and uses of compost.

Thursday, December 13
Webinar: Best Practices in Starting and Sustaining a School Garden with Liz Falk, professional development educator with Cornell Garden-Based Learning, Department of Horticulture

We know that garden-based learning increases a child’s likelihood to eat fresh vegetables, can increase a child’s attention span, and foster positive relationships across ages. Learn best practices on how to incorporate gardens into schools, to make garden projects successful and sustainable, and to encourage participation from others in your community.

Anne Ceccarini is the Outreach and Education Specialist for USDA People's Garden Initiative.

Editor's Note: This article was cross-posted from the USDA blog

New Jersey Farm to School Network and Edible Jersey Magazine recently awarded their inaugural School Garden of the Year Award to three projects for innovative efforts to connect their school gardens to the cafeteria, curriculum, and community. How fitting that schools in the Garden State are host to a number of exemplary school gardens!

Students at Lawrenceville Elementary School in Lawrenceville, NJ cultivate their school garden from planting to harvest!

The garden co-cultivated by William H. Ross Elementary School and Eugene A. Tighe Middle School in Margate City, NJ came in first place. The schools’ Garden Gourmet tasting program allows students to sample the fresh fruits and vegetables harvested from the garden—and the garden opportunities don’t end at lunch! At Ross Elementary, students digitally photograph vegetable beds and write multiplication and division word problems based on the garden layout. These math word problems are then solved by fourth grade students.

Honorable mentions went to Lawrenceville Elementary School in Lawrenceville, NJ and St. Philip’s Academy in Newark, NJ. Both schools also found fun, exciting ways to incorporate their gardens into classroom curricula. Lawrenceville Elementary’s kindergarteners used leaves of all different shapes and sizes from the garden in their math lessons on measurement. The school’s second and third graders incorporated food into their lessons on world exploration by discussing the origins of today’s familiar foods.

Lessons at St. Philip’s Academy in Newark, NJ put an emphasis on fresh, healthy foods like those grown in their garden.

Third graders from St. Philip’s Academy used their garden for a “Garden Fresh Pasta” project. Science lessons taught students how to tell when crops are ready to harvest. Students then got to work using their writing, math, and cooking skills in designing and preparing a seasonal pasta recipe based on the garden’s offerings.

The contest, sponsored by Edible Jersey, Whole Foods Markets, and Applegate Farms, was open to any Pre K-12 New Jersey school with a school garden. Interested in learning more about school gardens and incorporating food literacy into the classroom? Read about USDA’s Farm to School effort and visit the Let’s Move! School Garden Checklist for a step-by-step guide on starting a garden at your school.

Join Let’s Move! Cities, Towns and Counties tomorrow, December 5th from 3:00 – 4:00 pm EST to learn more about a new website -- HealthyCommunitiesHealthyFuture.org -- and resources for local elected officials. This webinar will provide valuable information about how to use and get the most out of the exciting new online features created to help officials who have signed up for making their city, town or county a healthier place to live.

REGISTRATION: https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/2441786972750744576

Local elected officials from across the country joined First Lady Michelle Obama to announce public and private sector commitments to get our kids healthier as part of her Let’s Move! initiative to solve the problem of childhood obesity within a generation, in Philadelphia, Pa., July 18, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Chuck Kennedy)

Let's Move! Cities, Towns and Counties supports local elected officials who are working to build healthier communities. In July 2012, the First Lady announced private and public sector commitments to support this initiative with new tools, resources, and a framework to enhance the vital work happening at the local level.

"Every day, local officials like these are changing our children's lives and helping them learn and grow and fulfill every last bit of their potential. And thanks to the commitments we're announcing today, our cities, towns, and counties will be able to do every more," said First Lady Michelle Obama. "We still have a long way to go to solve this problem. But if leaders like these keep coming to the table and we all keep working together, then I am confident that we can give all our children the happy, healthy futures they so richly deserve."

Marissa Duswalt is the Associate Director for Let's Move!

Wouldn’t you love to know that with every healthy meal you buy, you’re also giving a meal to somebody else? Amazingly, Rutgers University alumnus Nicholas Kubian started an organization that does just that.

In 2011, Nicholas partnered with Dominic Rodriguez to start SouperVan, a bright yellow food truck that parks around Rutgers campuses and offers affordable, healthy meals to students. The menu is full of seasonal, local ingredients creatively put together in delicious dishes, like their signature Fiji BBQ Press—a whole wheat wrap filled with smoked tempeh, gouda, caramelized onions, and agave mustard.

Serving delicious food to college students was only half of the equation for these ambitious social entrepreneurs. They were also passionate about using the food truck as a way to help individuals in their community by providing nutritious meals and jobs. For every meal that a student buys, SouperVan donates money for a meal to the local soup kitchen. So far, they’ve helped provide over 6,000 meals at Elijah’s Promise, a nearby soup kitchen.

Additionally, SouperVan provides jobs to those in need by teaming up with the soup kitchen’s culinary training program and hiring its graduates. In return, the soup kitchen lets SouperVan use its commercial kitchen for food prep and storage.

Selling at the university was important to Dominic and Nicholas’ larger, broader goal: to inspire our country’s next young leaders. They hope that the food truck will prompt students to find new, creative ways to help one another and be the next person to innovate a social enterprise that benefits the community.

Looking for creative ideas like SouperVan to help others lead healthier lives? Follow the Partnership for a Healthier America’s End Childhood Obesity Innovation Challenge on Facebook, an online contest looking for unique ideas to help address childhood obesity. The winner will be announced in March and receives $10,000 as well as expert support to help make the idea a reality.