projects
healthy living, healthy communities
2010 NYCCAH Hunger Survey reports "New Yorkers Barely Hang On". http://nyccah.org/2010annualhungersurvey
Studies confirm that people buy food that is readily available in their community, and that improving access to healthy food significantly increases consumption of fruits and vegetables. Despite this good data, the economic reality is that many New York City neighborhoods do not have access to enough affordable fresh produce. A widespread shortage of neighborhood grocery stores and supermarkets exists in lower-income neighborhoods with the greatest need, including Marble Hill, Kingsbridge, and Kingsbridge Heights. These underserved communities are also highest at risk for diet-related diseases.According to DOHMH Community Health Profiles, residents of the Bronx have higher rates of diabetes, obesity, and heart disease than is the average for New York City. Furthermore, lack of outlets means they participate in less regular physical exercise. A main factor contributing to poor diet is lack of access to affordable food retailers that sell decent quality, culturally appropriate, nutritious foods at affordable prices. As a consequence, many families in Bronx Community Board 8 [CB8] area are forced to make difficult choices about their food purchases. The end result in these neighborhoods is a food environment where the overwhelming majority of choices are foods high in fat, calories, and sugar.
Healthy Living, Healthy Communities employs a multi-faceted approach to tackling diet-related illness in Marble Hill and surrounding neighborhoods in CB8. Our successful approach to ensuring community food security has demonstrated results after two years of implementation and rapid growth. Program activities in collaboration with Bronx Community 8 and area partners include Youthmarket, Healthy Hikes and nutrition education; we have also been successful growing food for local emergency pantries so that they are better equipped to decrease illness and hunger by addressing root causes. We believe that diet-related illness stems from poverty. With this understanding, Healthy Living, Healthy Communities draws strength from many sources: the economy, education, public health, small business and entrepreneurship, and regional supply chain and food systems. We do this to advance change in New York City, in conjunction with other activities in CB8.
[1] ICMA, Community Health and Food Access: the Local Government Role (Washington DC: ICMA, 2006), available online at http://bookstore.icma.org/freedocs/E43398.pdf.
[2] NYCDCP, Going to Market: New York City’s Neighborhood Grocery Store and Supermarket Shortage (New York: NYCDCP, 2008), available online at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/supermarket_access/presentation_2008_10_29.pdf.
[3] Olson EC, Van Wye G, Kerker B, Thorpe L, Frieden TR. Take Care. Riverdale and Kingsbridge. NYC Community Health Profiles, Second Edition; 2006; 40(42):1-16. P I1 2
