Month: April 2023

Remember Whac-A-Mole? It’s that old-timey arcade game where you hold a mallet and smack a cartoonish mole that pops up out of a hole. Just like you, I have no idea why we were hitting fake animals for entertainment, but that’s not my point here. The enduring legacy of this game is that it became a colloquialism. No matter how good you were at whacking moles, you could rest assured that another one would pop back up, and so Whac-A-Mole became an expression for similar phenomena in real life. It’s commonly used when fixing computer programming bugs and when news outlets work to debunk misinformation. It’s also the analogy that I thought of when I read the latest news on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances.

The Health Concerns Associated with PFAS

No, I didn’t just type a random series of letters on my keyboard. Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, abbreviated to PFAS, are a classification of synthetic chemical types. I’ll dive into the details of them in just a moment, but first let me share the latest news with you. Last month, the US Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) proposed new drinking water regulations for six different types of PFAS. Those regulations are now going through a public commentary period, and the EPA anticipates finalizing them by the end of the year. Because of the toxicity of these chemicals to the human body, the EPA projects that regulating them will prevent thousands of deaths and tens of thousands of illnesses.

If you, like me, are an average citizen of the United States of America, you might respond to this news with a perfunctory, “Oh, good.” If, on the other hand, you are a public health expert who thinks long and hard about the pervasiveness of unregulated synthetic chemicals commonly used in commercial products, you might respond to this news with, “About dang time, and now what about the other PFAS?”

You see, PFAS go by another nickname – forever chemicals. From the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (“NIEHS”) information page on PFAS: “PFAS molecules have a chain of linked carbon and fluorine atoms. Because the carbon-fluorine bond is one of the strongest, these chemicals do not degrade easily in the environment.” By design, these chemicals are hardy. That said, though they don’t naturally break down, they can break apart into smaller and smaller chains of molecules. As a result, PFAS can make their way into our air, water, soil, and food. Once in our bodies, they have been found to bioaccumulate. Concerning, no?

Also from that NIEHS page: “The research conducted to date reveals possible links between human exposures to PFAS and adverse health outcomes. These health effects include altered metabolism, fertility, reduced fetal growth and increased risk of being overweight or obese, increased risk of some cancers, and reduced ability of the immune system to fight infections.” Even more concerning, no?

PFAS Are Everywhere

Now you might be wondering about the very thing I intentionally have not yet told you. Where can PFAS be found? It’s quite a list, and this isn’t exhaustive:

Microwave popcorn bagsPizza boxesGrease-resistant paperCandy wrappersNon-stick cookwareCleaning productsDental flossShampooMakeupNail polishPaintRain jacketsStain-resistant fabrics

Part of the reason that PFAS are so pervasive is because of how many of them there are. As a chemical class, PFAS include more than 9,000 different chemicals. They’ve been around for over 70 years now, and until only the last couple of years, there has been basically no effort to regulate them at the federal level. Now to be clear, the current state of research does not show that every type of PFAS molecule is toxic to human health. The best way to describe the current state of research is that we genuinely don’t yet know just how bad they all might be, because they are notoriously difficult to study. To me though, the cautionary principle would suggest we err on the side of over-regulating, not under-regulating, these forever chemicals until we know better how safe they are.

Traditional Environmental Regulations Aren’t Enough Here

Which brings me back to the EPA news and Whac-A-Mole. Let’s say, hypothetically, that this proposed rule by the EPA goes through and is successful in reducing the concentration of those six chemicals in our waterways. Maybe it even emboldens the EPA, and they go after other PFAS, perhaps a few at a time. What would stop polluters from just switching to different PFAS or inventing whole new ones that offer the same performance characteristics?

Nothing would. It would be Whac-A-Mole, with some new potentially dangerous chemicals coming in to replace the now-regulated potentially dangerous chemicals. Which is a problem, because we simply don’t know enough about how dangerous ALL of these chemicals might be.

Think about what has to happen before a drugmaker can bring a new medication or vaccine to the marketplace. They must go through a rigorous process to prove that the drug or vaccine is both effective and safe, and then they must ask permission from a regulatory body before making it broadly available. All a chemical manufacturer has to do is convince their customers to buy whatever new wonder chemical they synthesize. Why don’t we require the same safety measures for chemicals used in consumer goods, especially when we know that those chemicals will disperse into the environment and bioaccumulate in our bodies?

We should. I’m incredibly grateful to the hardworking people at the EPA, but if we put solving this problem on them, it’s no better than handing them a mallet and telling them to start whacking thousands upon thousands of moles. If it were up to me, I’d say that anyone who manufactures PFAS should have to conclusively prove their safety before we let them put any in the marketplace.

April 12, 2023 /3BL Media/ – Housing insecurity was a part of LaTanya Whitehead’s reality for decades. Since she was 18, she has been on her own, moving from one unstable situation to another. The idea of escaping this insecurity by owning her own home seemed little more than a dream to Whitehead. But the single mother of two had a determination that would not be deterred.

Today, Whitehead owns a two-bedroom, two-bath home in the Fishtown neighborhood of Philadelphia — an accomplishment she attributes to support from the Urban League of Philadelphia, or ULP, and the Wells Fargo WORTH program.

Funded by the Wells Fargo Foundation, WORTH, or Wealth Opportunities Realized Through Homeownership, is a $60 million national effort that aims to create an estimated 40,0000 new homeowners of color in eight U.S. markets by 2025.

“It’s a wonderful thing. I wake up and think: ‘Wow, this is mine,’” Whitehead said. “I did not give up because I matter.”

Closing the wealth and homeownership gaps

Two years before Whitehead found her home, she completed the ULP’s housing-counseling program. She learned she wasn’t yet ready to buy due to her credit and debt-to-income ratio.

But she acted on her counselor’s advice. “I did everything they said because I was passionate. I said, ‘I can do this! I’m not giving up. I’m not going to stay in this apartment for years to come and pay someone else’s mortgage. I want to invest in myself.’”

The dream of homeownership is one shared by many Americans — yet it’s a goal too often out of reach for people of color, said Otis Rolley, president of the Wells Fargo Foundation and head of Philanthropy and Community Impact.

“There’s a wealth gap and a homeownership gap within the United States between people of color and white Americans,” Rolley said. While roughly 73% of white households are homeowners, according to a recent National Association of Realtors® article, only 50% of Hispanic and 44% of Black households own their home.

Rolley said addressing this gap is work that Wells Fargo considers critical, and the company is designating the largest share of its $300 million in annual philanthropy toward WORTH and other efforts to increase access to affordable homes in communities that have historically been disenfranchised and underinvested.

Partnering with local charities to help first-time homebuyers

The reasons for the homeownership gap are many — including “historic redlining, challenges to accessing credit and capital, public policy, and the real estate industry intentionally steering people of color away from certain communities and neighborhoods,” Rolley said. “As intentional as people were in creating these racist practices, we have to be as intentional in tearing them down.”

Abraham Pardo, director of housing at the Urban League of Philadelphia, which received $7.5 million of the WORTH grant for the city, added predatory practices as a contributing issue.

“Early in their lives, Black and brown communities may be targeted for products with higher interest rates or products they don’t really understand when they’re young,” Pardo said. When they later try to buy a house, “we’re uncovering, in many cases, layers of issues that occurred many years before they decided that homeownership was one of their goals.”

Because financial literacy is an essential part of preparing first-time homeowners, Pardo appreciates that WORTH is enabling ULP to offer more robust homebuyer counseling and financial literacy services. The WORTH grant is also supporting grants to help homeowners like Whitehead cover down payments and closing costs, helping to address the lack of savings that locks many households of color out of homeownership.

Recognizing the breadth of housing inequities in Philadelphia, ULP formed a collaborative of community-based organizations with deep networks in majority Black and Hispanic neighborhoods to implement additional WORTH strategies over the next five years, including, HACE, Congreso De Latinos Unidos, New Kensington Community Development Corp, and the Urban Affairs Coalition.

Creating generational wealth through homeownership

Last summer, Whitehead got news that was music to her ears: her financial counselor said she was ready to get a realtor and find her home.

Then, in August, Whitehead and her 15-year-old daughter moved into a “cute, quaint, cozy” home within walking distance of her job and biking distance of downtown.

This house isn’t just for today; it’s an investment in her family.

“When I talk to my son or daughter, I say: ‘This is for you. I got this so that if anything goes on or whenever God calls me home, you guys have a place to go. You don’t have to worry about being homeless,’” Whitehead said.

Rolley said that beyond housing security, homeownership provides a family asset.

“It’s usually through real estate or small-business ownership that generational wealth is created,” Rolley said. “Now you have an asset. You have something to borrow against. It creates a very different reality for homeowners.”

Whitehead is incredibly grateful for the support in acquiring this asset for her family. Not getting support from the City of Philadelphia, Urban League, and Wells Fargo “would have depleted everything I have. You guys put me in a position that I am forever grateful for.”

LOS ANGELES, April 12, 2023 /3BL Media/ – With more than 828 million people around the world facing hunger daily, Herbalife, a global health and wellness company and community, and the Herbalife Nutrition Foundation (HNF), through their Nutrition for Zero Hunger initiative, have expanded their partnership with Feed the Children. With a $550,000 pledge from HNF over a two-year period, the leading anti-hunger organization will provide food, nutrition and education supplies to vulnerable children and families in the U.S., and now internationally across the Philippines, Honduras, Guatemala, and El Salvador. As part of this partnership, Herbalife has also committed to an in-kind donation of 10,000 units of its Formula 1 Healthy Meal Nutritional Shake Mix, for inclusion in U.S. food programs during the year.

“As we enter our fourth year of partnership with Feed the Children under our Nutrition for Zero Hunger initiative, we’re eager to help even more people around the world enhance their lives through good nutrition,” said Erin Richards-Kunkel, senior director of Strategic Partnership and CSR for Herbalife.

The new pledge will help supplement approximately 300,000 meals to people in need in the U.S. Internationally, the partnership will support Feed the Children’s “First 1,000-Day” campaign, which teaches pregnant mothers how to prepare meals that include essential vitamins and nutrients for themselves and their children, from conception through the first two years of their children’s lives — promoting the benefits of breastfeeding — as this is a critical period during which stunting malnutrition in children occurs.

“Children cannot thrive unless their basic needs are met,” said Travis Arnold, president and CEO of Feed the Children. “Widespread global issues like childhood hunger and malnutrition in mothers and children will only be solved when multiple sectors work together. Partners like Herbalife and the Herbalife Nutrition Foundation are vital to our mission of providing hope and resources for those without life’s essentials as we serve vulnerable communities across the United States and around the world.”

Launched in 2019, the Nutrition for Zero Hunger initiative aligns with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal 2 – Zero Hunger, and focuses on ending world hunger by supporting global nonprofit organizations with critical resources and expertise to ensure people in need have access to good nutrition. Its global partners, programs, and nutrition interventions foster continual improvement in food and nutrition access worldwide and challenges global hunger, while also focusing on creating pathways for sustainable nutrition.

For more information, visit www.IAmHerbalifeNutrition.com

About Herbalife Nutrition Ltd.

Herbalife Nutrition (NYSE: HLF) is a global company that has been changing people’s lives with great nutrition products and a business opportunity for its independent distributors since 1980. The Company offers science-backed products to consumers in 95 markets through entrepreneurial distributors who provide one-on-one coaching and a supportive community that inspires their customers to embrace a healthier, more active lifestyle. Through the Company’s commitment to nourish people, communities and planet, Herbalife Nutrition pledges to achieve 50 million positive impacts – tangible acts of good – by 2030, its 50th anniversary.

About the Herbalife Nutrition Foundation

Herbalife Nutrition Foundation (“HNF”) is devoted to improving lives and communities around the world. With a focus on making nutrition more accessible, eradicating hunger, and promoting economic opportunities, HNF works with leading local and global organizations, ensuring that we are nourishing people and the planet, because both together, lead to a healthier world. For more information about HNF and how you can support the Foundation’s important work, visit www.herbalifenutritionfoundation.org.

About Feed the Children

At Feed the Children, we feed hungry kids. We envision a world where no child goes to bed hungry. In the U.S. and internationally, we are dedicated to helping families and communities achieve stable lives and to reducing the need for help tomorrow, while providing food and resources to help them today. We distribute product donations from corporate donors to local community partners, we provide support for teachers and students, and we mobilize resources quickly to aid recovery efforts when natural disasters strike. Internationally, we manage child-focused community development programs in eight countries. We welcome partnerships because we know our work would not be possible without collaborative relationships.

About Nutrition for Zero Hunger

Through Nutrition for Zero Hunger, Herbalife Nutrition is helping tackle rising global hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition. As a leader in the nutrition industry, we are committed to addressing this need through combined efforts for access to healthy nutrition and nutrition education. Nutrition for Zero Hunger aligns with the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 2, which calls for bold action to end malnutrition in all its forms by 2030, as well as solutions to end global hunger and improve nutrition worldwide. The initiative addresses global hunger, food security and malnutrition through key commitments to ensure greater access, education and empowerment of healthy nutrition worldwide.

Annabel Heydorn
213-300-0410
annabelh@herbalife.com

Source: Herbalife Nutrition Ltd.

View original content here.