Healthy Food for Denver's Kids is about and how it

came to exist.

Healthy Food for Denver's Kids, or HFDK for short, it exists because no child should have to learn on an empty stomach or miss out on the nutrition they need to thrive.

It was created as a result of a resident-led ballot campaign that Denver voters approved in 2018.

I created a small fund about a penny on a $10 purchase from our sales tax that is providing healthy food access and hands-on food education for Denver's youth through grants to local nonprofits, public schools, and city agencies.

It's really about reducing hunger now while also building lifelong healthy habits for Denver's youth.

Since the program started, we've given out more than $100 million to over 120 organizations.

Since the program launched in 2019, what has it actually been able to deliver for the community?

So Lauren, tell us what Healthy Food for Denver's Kids is about and how it came to exist.

Healthy Food for Denver's Kids, or HFDK for short, it exists because no child should have to learn on an empty stomach or miss out on the nutrition they need to thrive.

It was created as a result of a resident-led ballot campaign that Denver voters approved in 2018.

It created a small fund, about a penny on a $10 purchase from our sales tax, that is providing healthy food access and hands-on food education for Denver's youth, uh, through grants to local nonprofits, public schools, and city agencies.

Um, it's really about reducing hunger now while also building lifelong healthy habits, uh, for Denver's youth.

Since the program started, we've given out more than $100 million, uh, to over 120 organizations.

And one more thing that's important to note is that when voters approved this initiative in 2018, it was for a 10-year term, so it is set to sunset in 2028.

Since the program launched in 2019, what has it actually been able to deliver for the community?

Yeah.

Yeah.

And one way I think that we are-- So two points here, so, um, that I just thought of while you're talking is Neighbors.

Um, so yeah, as part of the Neighbors' embodied carbon rating, you will, um, they're basically asking for the data should be from an EPD or I think now a PCF, which I'll cover in a second.

But, um, it has to be verified data.

If not, then you end up using the, um, industry average data, which in effect penalizes you as such.

Um, don't know if Carlos would be too happy with that, but [laughs] very happy for you to stay on.

[laughs]

She co-authored a group of studies in 2015 about rejection and self-definitionAnd she spoke to It's Been a Minute producer Liam McBain.

We found in one study, we kind of varied the, um, intensity of the relationship related to the rejection, right? Like, we were kind of curious if you're rejected by someone who's, like, kind of a stranger, you know, maybe someone who you meet on online dating who just ghosts you [laughs] um, stops texting you back, versus, um, you know, being broken up with of a long-term relationship, we thought that one of those was going to maybe have a stronger effect on people who were most at risk of being adversely affected by rejection.

Interestingly, though, we actually didn't find that in the research.

We found that even this, like, smaller kind of rejection was meaningful for people who tended to kind of carry the pain of rejection with them.

And so I think that, you know, even being rejected in this online context where it's like someone just stops talking to you can still be kind of like symbolic rejection that can be troubling for some people, where it's like, "Well, wait a second, like, this person barely knows me, and still they thought, like, I'm just not worth continuing to talk to." So I, I kind of question whether online dating actually helps those who are most scared [laughs] of rejection to avoid it, or whether it might actually exacerbate the problem that they're hoping to avoid in some way.

This also reminds me of something Lauren said.

I think there's a lot of interesting strategies therapists will use for helping people to cope with rejection.

Just to put yourself out there and get used to dealing with circumstances where you might worry about being rejected, to realize, like, actually, it's generally not that bad.