Vitalyst Spark

First and foremost everyone here at Vitalyst is thinking about every one of you. Wash up, mask up, maintain social distancing please, and keep a heads up for your fellow Arizonans. As COVID-19 cases are increasing significantly in our state, so are our temperatures – and, sadly, our wildfires. COVID-19 didn’t respond to increasing heat, but our natural resources, our built environments, and our health and well-being most certainly do. Heat is a major challenge for Arizona. We should continuously be talking, innovating, and iterating on it. Today we’re launching Part one of our first two-part dialogue on heat. In two weeks, we’ll be talking about actions being taking by cities and organizations focused on our most vulnerable populations. But first, today we’re talking with three experts about how we should more deeply understand the issues. After all, big challenges are best understood when we take them apart, understand their components, engage authentically with community members, and uncover root causes that affect health and well-being. 

So, with that simple but challenging agenda in mind, let’s get to it. It’s time to talk about coalitions, systems, governments, planning, airports, air conditioning, bus stops, communities and health as things heat up for Arizona in the summer of 2020.

Links:

Urban Land Institute "Scorched" Report: Summary Release, Report PDF

Arizona’s new case rate trend is significantly upward, putting our state in the national spotlight. The Governor issued a new Executive Order allowing local government action regarding face masks. An inexpensive steroid has emerged as a possible COVID-19 treatment. Heck, yesterday it was announced that the Apple Watch will soon give you an automatic 20-second hand washing countdown when it senses the combination of your hand motions and the water’s flow. In other words, it has been just another fairly intense two weeks of COVID time that sometimes felt like two years, and we’re here to help you process and analyze it all. Once again, Dr. Nick Vasquez was unable to join us due to his Emergency Room duties. And Dr. Amish Shah was just barely able to squeeze in a conversation, calling into the podcast while on a short break during his own emergency room shift.

Get more detail on the numbers, new municipal ordinances, and much more. It’s time to talk about healthcare, public health, policy, and community as we move past the longest day of the year and continue adapting to life with COVID-19.

Links:

1. ADHS COVID-19 dashboard

COVID-19’s effects on our communities are statewide, systemic, and extend far beyond healthcare or jobs. In fact, it is exposing and exacerbating the challenges our communities face when it comes to food. The running joke may have been about toilet paper early on the pandemic, but places like Ajo and the Navajo Nation literally faced empty store shelves and no food for days and weeks. It shouldn’t ever be this way, which is why the women you’re about to meet have been working for years to build stronger local food systems across Arizona – and why they’re working even harder at the moment. Our three guests today are passionate individuals who spend as much time on the land itself as they do pushing for policies, systems, and environmental changes that are crucial to ensuring equitable, local access to healthy, affordable foods. Last week, we promised you an important episode with plenty to chew on. Well, get ready, because we’ve got it right here.

Note: Two of our guests live in rural and tribal areas, connecting via Skype and cellphone with some sound quality issues. It's an example of how quality broadband internet availability is another form of inequity in Arizona that needs to be addressed. 

To learn more and support Arizona Food Systems: 

• Pinnacle Prevention and COVID-19 Food System Resources