Uncategorized

UC San Francisco Launches Healthy Beverage Initiative

Published

10 years ago

October 22, 2015

UC San Francisco is launching a healthy beverage initiative in an effort to align campus food and drink sales with the growing science about the negative impact of excess sugar consumption on health.

Since July 1, UCSF has been phasing in a program to sell only zero-calorie beverages or non-sweetened drinks with nutritional value, such as milk and 100 percent juice, and will phase out the sale of sugar-sweetened beverages in its onsite cafeterias and food vendors, vending machines, campus catering and retail locations.

The program will begin at UCSF’s Mission Bay campus site, where UCSF Medical Center piloted the project when it opened its three new specialty hospitals in February. It will roll out across further campus sites throughout the summer, culminating at the Parnassus campus site in October.

UCSF and its affiliated hospitals are among more than 30 health systems nationwide that have begun to eliminate the sale of sugary beverages on campus in response to the growing evidence of their roles in metabolic and chronic disease, including obesity, diabetes, heart disease, liver disease and dental caries.

“The science behind the impact of excessive sugar on chronic disease, particularly in the form of sweetened beverages, is already strong and growing,” said UCSF Chancellor Sam Hawgood, MBBS. “As a health sciences university and leading medical center, we see it as our responsibility to do our part to help reduce this impact on our own community.”

Health leaders worldwide have begun to identify recommended limits of sugar consumption based on research implicating sugar in a growing number of diseases and conditions.

The American Heart Association (AHA) recommends that women consume no more than 6 teaspoons (25 g.) of added sugar per day and men no more than 9 teaspoons (38 g), due to its impact on cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization recommends a similar level of no more than 10 percent of daily calories from added sugar, with greater benefit from reducing it to 5 percent of calories, due to dental caries.

The U.S. departments of Agriculture and of Health and Human Services also are considering a 10 percent recommendation in the upcoming dietary guidelines.

SugarScience is an educational initiative and a comprehensive review of more than 8,000 scientific papers studying added sugar and its impact on health.

Americans currently consume an average of 19.5 teaspoons of added sugar per day, of which 36 percent is in the form of sodas, sports drinks and energy drinks, according to research assessed by the UCSF-led SugarScience project.

Over the past year, the SugarScience team reviewed more than 8,000 scientific papers on sugar’s impact on health. Studies show that one soda exceeds the AHA daily limit for added sugar and that drinking just one soda per day can increase the risk of dying from heart disease by nearly one-third and raise the risk of diabetes by 26 percent.

New research from UC Davis also has shown a dose-related connection between sugar and metabolic disease, with higher consumption linked to worse health impacts.

“The average American consumes nearly three times the recommended amount of added sugar every day,” said Laura Schmidt, PhD, a UCSF professor in the Philip R. Lee Institute for Health Policy and the lead investigator on SugarScience. “The most common single source is sugar-sweetened beverages.”

Sugar overconsumption is implicated in most forms of metabolic and chronic disease, with growing evidence of links to some forms of cancer, premature aging and cognitive decline. These diseases are significant topics of UCSF research and clinical care.

Research in behavioral economics and public health has shown that people tend to make food and drink choices based on convenience and accessibility. By making it easy to purchase healthy food and drinks, UCSF can support patients and employees who are trying to improve their health.

As of November, members of the UCSF community and visitors will be able to bring sodas or other sugary drinks with them to campus, but will only be able to purchase healthy beverages.

The average American consumes 45 gallons of sugary drinks per year.

While sugary soda consumption has begun to decline in recent years, annual U.S. consumption of sugary drinks rose by 38.5 gallons per person between 1950 and 2000. Sugar-sweetened beverages include sodas, fruit drinks with added sugar, energy drinks, sweetened teas, and sports drinks.

Oakland Post

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Uncategorized

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

7 months ago

June 17, 2025

Oakland Post

Special to The Post

The City of Oakland’s Housing and Community Development Department (Oakland HCD) announced its awardees for the 2024-2025 New Construction of Multifamily Affordable Housing Notice of Funding Availability (New Construction NOFA) today Five permanently affordable housing developments received awards out of 24 applications received by the Department, with award amounts ranging from $7 million to $28 million.

In a statement released on Jan. 16, Oakland’s HCD stated, “Five New Construction Multifamily Affordable Housing Development projects awarded a total of $80.5 million to develop 583 affordable rental homes throughout Oakland. Awardees will leverage the City’s investments to apply for funding from the state and private entities.”

In December, the office of Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 City Councilmember, worked with HCD to allocate an additional $10 Million from Measure U to the funding pool. The legislation also readopted various capital improvement projects including street paving and upgrades to public facilities.

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is the media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Activism

Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Awards $80.5 Million to Affordable Housing Developments

Published

12 months ago

January 30, 2025

Oakland Post

Rebecca Kaplan, interim District 2 city councilmember. File photo.

Special to The Post

The following Oakland affordable housing developments have been awarded in the current round:

Mandela Station Affordable

238 Affordable Units including 60 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $15 million + previously awarded $18 million
Developer: Mandela Station LP (Pacific West Communities, Inc. and Strategic Urban Development Alliance, LLC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 1451 7th St.

Liberation Park Residences

118 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $28 million
Developer: Eden Housing and Black Cultural Zone
City Council District: 6
Address: 7101 Foothill Blvd.

34th & San Pablo

59 Affordable Units including 30 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $7 million
Developer: 34SP Development LP (EBALDC)
City Council District: 3
Address: 3419-3431 San Pablo Ave.

The Eliza

96 Affordable Units, including 20 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $20 million
Developer: Mercy Housing California
City Council District: 3
Address: 2125 Telegraph Ave.

3135 San Pablo

72 Affordable Units including 36 dedicated for Homeless/Special Needs
Award: $10.5 million
Developer: SAHA and St. Mary’s Center
City Council District: 3
Address: 3515 San Pablo Ave.

The source of this story is media reltations office of District 2 City Councilmember Rebecca Kaplan.

Oakland Post

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Alameda County

Oakland Acquisition Company’s Acquisition of County’s Interest in Coliseum Property on the Verge of Completion

The Board of Supervisors is committed to closing the deal expeditiously, and County staff have worked tirelessly to move the deal forward on mutually agreeable terms. The parties are down to the final details and, with the cooperation of OAC and Coliseum Way Partners, LLC, the Board will take a public vote at an upcoming meeting to seal this transaction.

Published

1 year ago

January 11, 2025

Oakland Post

Alameda County Board of Supervisors Chairman David Haubert. Official photo.

Special to The Post

The County of Alameda announced this week that a deal allowing the Oakland Acquisition Company, LLC, (“OAC”) to acquire the County’s 50% undivided interest in the Oakland- Alameda County Coliseum complex is in the final stages of completion.

Oakland has already finalized a purchase and sale agreement with OAC for its interest in the property. OAC’s acquisition of the County’s property interest will achieve two longstanding goals of the County:

The Oakland-Alameda Coliseum complex will finally be under the control of a sole owner with capacity to make unilateral decisions regarding the property; and
The County will be out of the sports and entertainment business, free to focus and rededicate resources to its core safety net

In an October 2024 press release from the City of Oakland, the former Oakland mayor described the sale of its 50% interest in the property as an “historic achievement” stating that the transaction will “continue to pay dividends for generations to come.”

The Board of Supervisors is pleased to facilitate single-entity ownership of this property uniquely centered in a corridor of East Oakland that has amazing potential.

“The County is committed to bringing its negotiations with OAC to a close,” said Board President David Haubert.