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Murals to provide dietary details for those walking about

As David Landis of Landis Design Co. put the finishing touches on a mural at Atmore Florist on March 31, the picture came together.

Landis finished a project that was a part of an ALProHealth grant, which is an obesity prevention and reduction program that’s focused on increasing community health, according to the Alabama Extension Service’s website. The program is implemented through the Alabama Cooperative Extension System at Auburn University in 13 counties that have a high adult obesity prevalence. At present, funded county participants include Barbour, Bullock, Conecuh, Dallas, Escambia, Greene, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Monroe, Perry, Sumter and Wilcox counties.

The goal of the program is to increase access to healthier foods and opportunities for safe and affordable physical activity by empowering people to lead the charge in their communities, according to the ACES.

Escambia County Extension Coordinator Millie Murphree said this is the fifth year and second cycle of the grant that’s been done in Atmore.

“This is one of the pieces of art work we’re doing,” Murphree said of the mural. “Wes Hardin is supposed to be doing four (other) murals.”

Dale Ash, a member of the ALProHealth committee for Atmore, said in the past, they’ve put bicycle paths in and benches around town for those to rest while on a walk.

“The murals are for encouraging people to walk and take selfies and exercise,” Ash said. “We also had grant funding to pay for the planting of fruit trees in the American Legion pavilion space.”

The other murals by Hardin will be painted on the side of Atmore Farm Center, The Publican, Creek Clean and Addictive Fitness, officials said.

Additionally, QR codes will be posted by United Bank at each of the murals, and will include dietary and other helpful information.

“People can look forward to those murals pretty soon,” Murphree said.

On the mural at Atmore Florist, the colors and design reflect Main Street Atmore’s branding campaign.

ALProHealth is funded by the High Obesity Program (HOP) from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO). Funding for this program began in October 2014 and is currently projected to continue through September 2023.