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Five Utah cities earn Healthy Utah Community designation; three redesignated
Summary
At the Utah League of Cities and Towns meeting, five cities (Bountiful, Cedar City, Cottonwood Heights, Midway and Murray) were named Healthy Utah Community designees and three (Ephraim, Layton, North Salt Lake) were redesignated; speakers highlighted local programs and urged applications by March 1.
Speaker 1, Presenter, opened the Utah League of Cities and Towns session by recognizing city and town leaders and announcing the fall 2025 Healthy Utah Community designees: Bountiful, Cedar City, Cottonwood Heights, Midway and Murray. He framed the program around improving healthy food access and community well-being.
The speaker cited new research during the presentation, saying "our children are eating 70% of their food as ultra processed" and that "only 2% of kids and 8% of adults are eating enough vegetables," linking nutrition to both physical and mental health and explaining why cities should prioritize healthy eating programs.
The designees’ local initiatives were highlighted in short profiles. Speaker 5 described Bountiful’s citizen-led trail development and a voter-approved bond that funded trails, and said a local nonprofit named Gardens Growing Good is leading a city-supported community garden. Speaker 1 noted Cedar City’s low-cost recreation programs, crisis training for first responders and a school-focused theatre production, "Every Brilliant Thing," that addressed suicide and loneliness and was presented to students across the state. Speaker 2 said Cottonwood Heights runs seed-exchange and composting classes, a medication take-back day and a popular Thanksgiving 5K tied to community wellness. Speaker 4 summarized Midway’s stepped-up safety and workplace wellness measures — including a helmet requirement for electrified devices for people under 18 and a staff break-room board that tracks brief walks and step goals. Speaker 3 highlighted Murray’s volunteer-run food pantry and busy seasonal farmers market as examples of community-based food access.
Speaker 1 also announced three communities that were redesignated after sustaining and expanding coalition work: Ephraim, Layton and North Salt Lake. He reminded attendees that the Healthy Utah Community designation runs for three years and that the next application deadline is March 1.
Speakers framed the initiative as broadly nonpartisan. As one presenter put it, "This is probably the least political thing that we do. Everybody wants to be healthy." The session closed with an encouragement to jurisdictions to apply and continue local efforts to increase healthy food access and mental-health supports.
The program presentation was followed by a short video of designees’ local efforts and stage recognition of representatives from the named cities. No formal motions or votes were recorded in this session.
