Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/19
Outputs
Target Audience:Central Brooklyn comprises nearly 545,000 people across four neighborhoods: Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Brownsville, and East New York. Together these neighborhoods have some of the highest concentrations of poor and minority residents in New York City, with 94% of the population being people of color and poverty rates averaging more than 30%. Approximately 44.5% of families received some sort of income support (including TANF, SSI or Medicaid). Not surprisingly health statistics also demonstrate disparity. Of adults in Central Brooklyn, 35% are diagnosed with high blood pressure, compared with 26% citywide. Of adults, 15% are diagnosed with diabetes, compared with under 10% citywide. Finally, 19% of Central Brooklyn residents report eating no fruits or vegetables yesterday, compared to 11% citywide. Changes/Problems:Over the period of this grant there has been significant change and opportunity for Restoration and the Center for Healthy Neighborhoods, and also in the food system landscape of Central Brooklyn. Upon culminating our 50 year anniversary, Restoration completed a strategic plan with the mission of closing the racial gap in family and community wealth to ensure all families in Central Brooklyn are prosperous and healthy. Within this context, our food system work is promoting the creation of business and career opportunities to support economic mobility, and creating an environment that supports health for our low-income communities. During the first year of the grant, longstanding staff from the Center for Healthy Neighborhood transitioned to other organizations, and a new team of staff were hired. Led by Sarah Wolf, a registered dietitian, who previously worked at the NYC Health Department for 10 years, our capacity and expertise has deepened and expanded. Alexis Harrison who previously led Participatory Action Research work in Central Brooklyn joined the team as Partnerships Coordinator and we recently hired a Program Associate. Several factors are contributing to the changing food system landscape in Central Brooklyn. Restoration has been working for years toward the development of an expanded local food system in Central Brooklyn, to address racial disparities associated with health and economics. In large part because of our leadership and advocacy, there has been increased interest of late, particularly at the State level, to leverage and expand the local food system to simultaneously address health and economic inequality associated with race. NYS launched Vital Brooklyn, a model for community development and wellness aimed at breaking down the barriers to health and well-being in Central Brooklyn, which includes a significant food access component. Because of Restoration's leadership in this area, and with support from local and national experts such as NextShift and the Wallace Center, we have positioned ourselves well to play a central role as the lead community organization to push this work forward. As such, through Vital Brooklyn, we were selected to conduct the feasibility study for the Central Brooklyn Food Hub and we submitted the study to NYS in early September, 2019. We leveraged our networks built through the Partnership for a Healthier Brooklyn to inform the findings and to frame the recommendations for the study, and also leveraged technical assistance from the Wallace Center. We anticipate the study will lead to lead to major investments in a food hub and other local food system infrastructure in Central Brooklyn. In addition, efforts to reduce health utilization costs among the Medicaid population, again at the state level, are driving local hospital systems to address some of the upstream social determinants of health. Community Care of Brooklyn (CCB), a healthcare system that covers 600,000 lives in Brooklyn, is supporting Restoration to lead food system work to address both nutrition and economic drivers of health in this population using a food and economic justice model. Funds from CCB provided additional support to conduct a more comprehensive Food Hub Feasibility study, supplementing the funds received from NYS Ag and Markets In addition, as part of this work, Restoration is convening a cohort of hospitals as anchor institutions to set goals for incorporating farm to institution practices, programs and policies into their operations. Finally, Restoration is part of a project that received funding from Health and Hospitals, NYC's public hospital system as part of DSRIP, to place a food navigator at each of the four One City Health Hospitals in Brooklyn to assist patients with access to healthy foods and reduce food insecurity. Restoration will hire and supervise a food navigator who will be embedded at SUNY Downstate. We anticipate that this partnership will support our larger efforts to work with health care institutions to transition to local food for their patient meals and to provide local food programming such as farmers markets', farm shares and fruit and veggie prescription programs to their staff, patients and larger community. DSRIP expires in 2020, however, NYS is planning to submit a proposal to the federal government to renew funding through 2024, in part, to continue to explore how healthcare funds can be used to address upstream social determinants of health. If renewed, it is very likely that the work we are leading around the food system will continue to be supported. We are pleased that we have far exceeded several of our goals, particularly related to sales volume, in large part due to our successful relationship with TCM which has filled a major gap in capacity and supply in NYC. As such, some of the objectives we originally set out to achieve have have not taken immediate priority, including the partnership with SuperFoodTown to provide cold storage capacity and conducting plate waste studies. Our involvement in both Food Hub Study and CCB are serving as accelerants to engagement with and support of hyperlocal producers and distributors to create a network to connect to local markets. In light of both the barriers and high-potential assets in Central Brooklyn, we are making important strides to improving access to local foods to improve health and economic conditions for low income residents. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We established and cultivated a partnership with Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Teaching Kitchen, a two-day training for institutional food programs serving low-income clients to transition to a farm-to-institution food procurement and preparation model. We have leveraged grant resources to send 23 kitchen and administrative staff from 11 sites in our network to the Teaching Kitchen which has helped expand capacity for procurement and preparation of fresher, local and less processed food. Key partner institutions that have participated in the Teaching Kitchen include Bishop Sexton Headstart and Millennium Development which has 9 senior centers throughout Brooklyn. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Tracey Capers, Project Director, leads a seminar focusing on the food system, to undergraduate students in a Health Justice class at City College. The students undertake participatory action research projects, and in the last cohort engaged food serving institutions to explore opportunities for transitioning to sourcing local foods. We have attended regional meetings of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation where we have had the opportunity to share our experiences, lessons learned and best practices. We are also members in the National Farm to School Network and their Early Care Education working group, in addition to the Wallace Center's Food Systems Leadership Network . We have posted our publications on our website and circulated our progress and publications in our weekly newsletter reaching Restoration's broader audience through our distribution list of 23,000 recipients. Beyond our circulation, our co-authors have disseminated our publications through to their networks including through the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute. We are working with CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute to evaluate our engagement efforts, analyzing factors for success and barriers to sourcing. This includes creating case studies to highlight model institutions for best practices and factors for success and to shed light on the challenges associated with not being able to source. These case studies will help illuminate the facilitating factors and barriers for sourcing locally. Finally, our results have also been disseminated through our larger partner networks and through our work with New York State, and integrated into all of our reports to other funders. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?
Nothing Reported
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
IMPACT: This grant supported expansion of the local food system in Central Brooklyn. We worked to increase demand and supply for local foods, facilitating connections between local producers and the marketplace, and addressing weaknesses in the distribution system. We worked to increase reach, scale and impact of our Farm to Institution (FTI) initiative in low-income communities of color, cultivating a relationship with The Common Market (TCM), a values aligned non profit food hub, to serve Central Brooklyn, connecting them to early care centers and other food serving institutions. Through this work, 19 sites, serving 5,500 individuals sourced from TCM to serve local foods, increasing sales volume from ~$2K in the year prior to the grant, to $31K in Y1 and $82K in Y2. Our work has also paved the way for a major anticipated investment from New York State (NYS) to support the local food system, including support for a food hub and ancillary components with the goals of improving access to local food and providing economic opportunities for low income residents of color in Central Brooklyn. GOAL 1.Ensure sustainability and replicability of the Farm to Early Care Initiative, strengthening supportive programming, reducing plate waste by 20%, and increasing purchasing volume by 10% annually. We made significant strides toward sustainability and expansion of Farm to Early Care, increasing sales from ~$2K in the year prior to the grant to $31K in Y1 and $82K in Y2. OBJECTIVES: 1.1: Provide programming to staff, parents and children. We provided educational programming including food demonstrations to 178 staff, families and children to help make preparing eating healthier foods more accessible and appealing. 1.2: Conduct regular plate waste analysis to help identify the best interventions to reduce waste. We opted to dedicate resources to increasing volume of local food reaching institutions and did not conduct plate waste studies. 1.3 Fill delivery gaps to ensure continuity within local food purchasing programs. Through our partnership with TCM, we filled delivery gaps, ensuring year round continuity for local food procurement; 19 sites sourced from TCM for food service, 10 of which were childcare centers. We reached a total of 5,500 individuals, of whom 1304 were children. On average we reached 1183 individuals/ month. We also worked with sites to host farm shares, connecting Corbin Hill, a minority-led values- driven food aggregator and distributor, to 4 sites and TCM to 1 site, reaching a total of 67 families. Corbin Hill has since expanded their farm share to 3 additional Brooklyn sites. GOAL 2. Build capacity within the local food economy, connecting local producers to farmers markets, increasing sales by 20%. We connected local farmers to farmers markets, with sales reaching $26K in Y2, compared to $24K in Y1 and $20K the previous year. OBJECTIVES 2.1 Invest in partnership with independent food business incubator Brooklyn FoodWorks; PilotWorks, formerly Brooklyn FoodWorks, had 175 local food vendor members, over 70% of which were minority or women owned. Prior to PilotWorks' closing in 2018, Restoration's Business Center provided services to 12 members, assisting with accessing capital, and preparing financials and business plans. As part of the food hub study, we recommended an investment from NYS for a teaching kitchen to support low-income Brooklyn residents to start food businesses. 2.2 Build connections between regional and local farmers of color, local food entrepreneurs and farmers markets; We connected TCM to Riseboro, a non-profit, for their weekly farmers' market. $8K in sales was distributed through this market. We partnered with GrowNYC to staff and host a YouthMarket, a weekly youth run farmers' market, at Woodhull hospital. The market employed 6 youth of color, 4 of whom were public housing residents, and sold >$40K in local food to mostly low income residents, patients and staff. 2.3 Identify and deliver business management education needs among regional and local farmers of color, local food entrepreneurs and farmers markets; In addition to the services we provided to PilotWorks members, our Business Center provided services to 20 other food entrepreneurs. The anticipated investment from NYS will provide additional business education and support for local food related entrepreneurs and growers of color. 2.4. Develop shared promotional and consumer education strategies around local foods; We partnered with GrowNYC to promote the YouthMarket and with the Weeksville Heritage Center to offer educational program highlighting the relationship between culture, land, local food and urban farming. Also, we worked with a local marketing company to place advertisements on bus stops for 6 markets organized by black growers or operated by youth workers. GOAL 3 Improve distribution infrastructure for good food, reducing barriers to aggregation and economies of scale and increasing sales and delivery volume by 25% in each of two years. In Y2, sales increased to $108.5K from $55K in Y1, and from $22.5K the previous year. OBJECTIVES 3.1. Create/adapt a virtual aggregation system. We created a system to track track orders and purchasing patterns of partners, allowing us to aggregate the needs of purchasing customers and match with farmers and vendors, paving the way for next phase system to aggregates production of farmers. Recommendations for both a food hub and value chain coordination were submitted to NYS as part of our feasibility study. 3.2 Utilize excess cold storage space available at SuperFoodtown in Bedford Stuyvesant. Though we have not needed to utilize this resource, we maintain a strong relationship with SuperFoodtown in case this resource is needed in the future. In addition, a recommendation for investment in cold storage is included in the food hub study. 3.3 Examine the market for and feasibility of a community-owned food distribution business. Findings from our feasibility study support an investment in a worker owned food distribution business. GOAL 4.Build the Partnership for a Healthier Brooklyn's collective impact to affect policy and systemic change, reaching 10,000 community members. Our work with the Partnership laid the foundation for the food hub study which presents a framework for investment in the food system in Central Brooklyn. OBJECTIVES 4.1. Build the Partnership as an advocacy vehicle for diverse needs across the borough. We convened members of the Partnership to inform the food hub study which makes recommendations to address diverse needs throughout the borough, including a food hub, support for growers, and a teaching kitchen. 4.2. Build network to leverage and connect community-based organizations and deepen their collective impact. Some 100 stakeholders contributed to the food hub study, attending stakeholder meetings, participating in focus groups or in one-on-one interviews. We have also leveraged several Central Brooklyn based partner coalitions to build collective impact. 4.3. Develop and strengthen the Partnership's workgroup structure. Building on the work over the last several years and existing coalitions, an advisory committee for the food hub will be convened to inform the public investments 4.4. Develop and implement a shared policy agenda. Building on the Partnership's work, we participate in the NYC's Good Food Purchasing Program. We also worked with CUNY to conduct research and develop a policy brief with recommendations for governmental agencies that regulate food programs. 4.5. Document and share strategies and successes with regional and national stakeholders. We shared our strategies in several publications, as indicated in the publications section and have presented/have plans to present at several local/national regional conferences.
Publications
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Willingham, C., Flechsig C, Freudenberg N. A Guide to Growing Good Food Jobs in New York City. CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, 2018
- Type:
Other
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2019
Citation:
Ames M, Ilieva RT, Rauh L, Shapiro S, Wolf S, Willingham C, Capers T, Freudenberg N. Barriers and Facilitators to Local Food Procurement at Institutions Serving Children, Seniors, and Food Insecure Adults in Central Brooklyn. CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute and Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, 2019
- Type:
Conference Papers and Presentations
Status:
Accepted
Year Published:
2020
Citation:
A legacy community development corporations work to transform the food system in Central Brooklyn. Accepted for presentation at National Farm to Cafeteria Conference, 2020. Albuquerque, New Mexico
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Progress 09/01/17 to 08/31/18
Outputs
Target Audience:Central Brooklyn comprises nearly 545,000 people across four neighborhoods: Bedford Stuyvesant, Bushwick, Brownsville, and East New York. Together these neighborhoods have some of the highest concentrations of poor and minority residents in New York City, with 94% of the population being people of color and poverty rates averaging more than 30%. Approximately 44.5% of families received some sort of income support (including TANF, SSI or Medicaid). Health statistics also demonstrate disparity. 35% of adults in Central Brooklyn are diagnosed with high blood pressure, compared with 26% citywide. 15% of adults are diagnosed with diabetes, compared with under 10% citywide. And 19% of Central Brooklyn residents report eating no fruits or vegetables yesterday, compared to 11% citywide. We reached a subset of this population this year, including children and their families, adults, staff and seniors. Changes/Problems:This has been a year of significant change both for Restoration and the Center for Healthy Neighborhoods. Upon culminating our 50 year anniversary, Restoration completed a strategic plan with the mission of closing the racial gap in family and community wealth to ensure all families in Central Brooklyn are prosperous and healthy. Within this context, our food system work is promoting the creation of business and career opportunities to support economic mobility, and creating an environment that supports health for our low-income communities. Between Fall 2017 and Summer 2018, three longstanding staff of the The Center for Healthy Neighborhood transitioned to other organizations, leaving the progress on this grant in good standing. Sarah Wolf, a registered dietitian, who previously worked at the NYC Health Department for 10 years, has taken the helm of the Center for Healthy Neighborhoods and picks up the baton allowing for a smooth transition. We have recently brought on Partnerships Coordinator and are imminently bringing on two new full-time staff: a program coordinator to lead institution engagement and a program manager to assist with development of healthy career and business development pathways, including related to the food system. We are very pleased about several recent unexpected developments. Restoration has been working for years toward the development of an expanded local food system in Central Brooklyn, to address racial disparities associated with health and economics. In large part because of our leadership and advocacy, there has been increased interest of late, particularly at the State level, to leverage and expand the local food system to simultaneously address health and economic inequality associated with race. New York State launched Vital Brooklyn, a model for community development and wellness aimed at breaking down the barriers to health and well-being in Central Brooklyn, which includes a significant food access component. Because of Restoration's leadership in this area, and with support from local and national experts such as NextShift and the Wallace Center, we have positioned ourselves well to play a central role as the lead community organization to push this work forward. As such, through Vital Brooklyn, we were selected to conduct the feasibility study for the Central Brooklyn Food Hub. We are leveraging technical assistance from the Wallace Center to conduct this study which will ultimately lead to investments in a food hub in Central Brooklyn. In addition, efforts to reduce health utilization costs among the Medicaid population, again at the state level, are driving local hospital systems to address some of the upstream social determinants of health. Community Care of Brooklyn (CCB), a healthcare system that covers 600,000 lives in Brooklyn, is interested in using the food system to address both nutrition and economic drivers of health in this population using a food and economic justice model. Restoration was approached by CCB to lead Central Brooklyn food justice efforts with an eye on reducing upstream health costs among low-income communities, including expansion of the Partnership for a Healthier Brooklyn. We are pleased that we have exceeded several of our goals, particularly related to sales volume, in large part due to our successful relationship with TCM which has filled a major gap in capacity and supply in NYC. As such, some of the the objectives we originally set out to achieve have have not taken immediate priority, including the partnership with SuperFoodTown to provide cold storage capacity and the need to build capacity among local distribution businesses. That said, expanding hyperlocal capacity is a goal for year 2 of the grant and is in our plans for the next reporting period. Our involvement in the Vital Brooklyn Food Hub Study and the CCB will serve as accelerants to engagement with and support of hyperlocal producers and distributors to create a network to connect to local markets. In addition, our efforts to expand the Partnership for a Healthier Brooklyn will be further supported by these developments. We have been slow to draw down on grant funds because of delays in accessing the grant payment system. However, we have leveraged significant resources from in-kind staff and strong partners, facilitating our progress thus far. With new staff capacity and momentum in this area, we are excited about what we can achieve in the coming year. In light of both the barriers and high-potential assets in Central Brooklyn, we are making important strides to improving access to local foods to improve health and economic conditions for low income residents. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?We established and cultivated a partnership with Lenox Hill Neighborhood House Teaching Kitchen, a two-day training for institutional food programs serving low-income clients to transition to a farm-to-institution food procurement and preparation model. We have leveraged grant resources to send 21 kitchen and administrative staff from 10 sites in our network to the Teaching Kitchen which has helped expand capacity for procurement and preparation of fresher, local and less processed food. Key partner institutions that have participated in the Teaching Kitchen include Bay Ridge Senior Center and Bishop Sexton Headstart which are both now sourcing on a consistent basis. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?We collaborated with CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute to launch a FTI Learning Network, hosting an in-person meeting and a webinar to share lessons and best practices related to FTI with food serving institutions, providing opportunities for peer learning. Another goal of this Network is to gather insights and experiences from food serving institutions to inform Restoration's policy and system change efforts, including engaging of city and state regulatory agencies that have oversight of food programs. In addition, Tracey Capers, Project Director, is leading a two semester seminar, focusing on the food system, to undergraduate students in a Health Justice class at City College. The students are undertaking a participatory action research project and engaging food serving institutions to explore opportunities for transitioning to sourcing local foods. We have attended regional meetings of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation where we have had the opportunity to share our experiences, lessons learned and best practices. We are also members in the National Farm to School Network and their Early Care Education working group, in addition to the Wallace Center's Food Systems Leadership Network . We have posted our publications on our website and and circulated our progress and publications in our weekly newsletter reaching Restoration's broader audience through our distribution list of 23,000 recipients. Beyond our circulation, our co-authors have disseminated our publications through to their networks including through the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?We have met or exceeded most of our goals for year 1 of the grant and are on track to meet our goals and close out the grant in year 2. This past year, we commissioned NextShift Collaborative to conduct a comprehensive landscape analysis and inventory for FTI in Central Brooklyn, focusing on the needs, capacity and preferences for local institutions and distributors, to inform our scaling up of programming. The recommendations from this report were to a) continue deep and sustained engagement of institutions, prioritizing those with self-operating kitchens, b) create an FTI working group to scale up FTI in Central Brooklyn, c) engage in policy and advocacy to support a local food agenda, and d) address wealth generation in Central Brooklyn. We feel that our current goals and objectives are consistent with these recommendations and that we are on the right track to make significant strides in expanding the local food system in Central Brooklyn. Some of the key activities planned for the current grant year are described below. Goal 1.Ensure the sustainability and replicability of the Farm to Early Care Initiative by strengthening supportive programming, reducing plate waste by 20%, and increasing purchasing volume by 10% annually over two years. We will continue our successful partnership with TCM and our supportive programming of food serving institutions, including early care sites, to increase purchasing volume by a minimum of 10% in year 2 of the grant, but likely by much more given the growth over time of the reach of our partnership, including the the 1500% increase in sales volume this past year. We will also work to expand our partnership with Corbin Hill Food Project, engaging additional institutions to host recurring farm shares for staff, families and other community members. We will expand our engagement efforts, creating a comprehensive program that enhances the marketing and communication of the benefits associated with participation in the FTI initiative. We are considering opportunities for rewards and recognition that may include monetary and other incentives for participation. In addition, we will offer technical assistance in the form of menu review, assistance with menu creation, and review of food cost lists and ordering, to assist sites with limited capacity and time. We will continue to provide educational programming to staff, parents and children related to the food system including nutrition, cooking, gardening and farming. We will provide tailored support as needed to sites and we will continue to send key staff to the Teaching Kitchen to build capacity, and to partner with Brooklyn's Community Chef Cooperative to provide culturally competent culinary training and cooking demonstrations for staff and families. As needed, we will develop and/or identify additional training and education opportunities for staff and families. We are working with CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute to evaluate our engagement efforts, analyzing factors for success and barriers to sourcing. This includes creating case studies to highlight model institutions for best practices and factors for success and to shed light on the challenges associated with not being able to source. These case studies will help illuminate the facilitating factors and barriers for sourcing locally. We will partner with CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute or another academic institution to conduct plate waste studies, offering plate waste study report and results to the sites as an incentive for participating in the FTI program. Goal 2. Build capacity within the local food economy by training and connecting more local and urban farmers and producers to local farmers markets, increasing sales by 20%. Restoration was recently selected to conduct the Central Brooklyn Food Hub feasibility study for the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, conducting the background research to inform a set a of recommendations for the form, function and location of a food hub in Central Brooklyn. As part of the study, we will include recommendations for a food business incubator, learning from the failures of PilotWorks, and will seek to identify potential operators for such an enterprise. We will continue to build capacity of local food enterprises, providing Restoration's Business Center mentorship services. We will also continue our relationship with GrowNYC to support the Woodhull Youthmarket, building capacity of local youth to operate their own businesses, and also connecting local farmers to local markets. Goal 3.Improving the distribution infrastructure for good food, reducing barriers to aggregation and economies of scale and increasing sales and delivery volume by 25% in each of two years. As we continue to build our network of local producers, distributors and customers, we will explore the need for and feasibility of a virtual aggregation system as a way to support distribution infrastructure. In addition, as part of the feasibility study we are conducting with New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, we are exploring different food hub models for supporting a local food distribution network, including a virtual aggregation system. Similarly, as we further build demand, we will continue to support Brooklyn Packers, a local worker owned cooperative distribution, and potentially the Doe Fund, to address some of the last mile delivery challenges. Goal 4.Build the Partnership for a Healthier Brooklyn's collective impact to affect policy and systemic change, reaching 10,000 community members through engaged workgroups and sound communications and advocacy strategies. We are planning a relaunch and rebrand to reactivate key stakeholders in the Partnership for a Healthier Brooklyn, focusing on existing partners and also engaging new stakeholders that have been advancing work in this area. Additional key stakeholder groups include the office of the Brooklyn Borough President, Eric Adams, who is prioritizing equity in both health and wealth in his administration, in addition to Community Care of Brooklyn, a consortium of medical facilities that is contracting with Restoration to coordinate food justice work in Central Brooklyn. We are part of the NYC Good Food Purchasing Program campaign, which if successful, has the potential to greatly incentivize and/or require local purchasing for city funded institutions. We continue to be a part of the national conversation on farm to early care, participating in the National Farm to School Early Care Education group, and will explore involvement in the New York State FTI network. Finally, we will work with the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute to convene key city, and potentially state, regulating agencies to explore models for incentivizing and/or removing regulatory barriers for local sourcing.
Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals?
This grant provided support for Restoration to take the lead on expansion of the local food system in Central Brooklyn. We have worked to increase demand and supply for local foods, facilitating connections between local producers and the marketplace, and addressing weaknesses in the distribution system, including the need for local aggregation. We are working to increase reach, scale and impact of our Farm to Institution (FTI) initiative in low-income communities of color. In Year 1, we engaged minority-led food aggregator and distributor The Common Market (TCM) to serve Central Brooklyn and the entire NYC metro area, connecting them with early care centers and other food serving institutions such as senior centers, food pantries and healthcare facilities. Through this work, 11 sites, serving 1898 individuals sourced from TCM to serve local foods, increasing sales volume from ~$2,000 to >$31,000 this year. GOAL 1.Ensure the sustainability and replicability of the Farm to Early Care Initiative, strengthening supportive programming, reducing plate waste by 20%, and increasing purchasing volume by 10% annually. We made significant strides toward sustainability and expansion of Farm to Early Care in year 1, increasing sales volume to >$31,000 from ~$2,000 the previous year, a 1500% increase. OBJECTIVES: 1.1: Provide programming to staff, parents and children. We provided educational programming including food demonstrations to 178 staff, families and children to help make eating healthier foods more appealing, and to provide skills on how to prepare fresh foods. 1.2: Conduct regular plate waste analysis to help identify the best interventions to reduce waste. Our primary focus this year was connecting a local food distributor to a group of organizations to source regularly Now that we have a stable group of partners, we are in a better position for this study. 1.3 Fill delivery gaps to ensure continuity within local food purchasing programs. Through our partnership with TCM, we were able to fill delivery gaps, ensuring year round continuity for local food procurement and for farm shares; 11 sites sourced from TCM this year for food service, 6 of which were childcare centers. We reached a total of 1898 individuals this year, of whom 588 were children, and on average reached 589 individuals per month. We also worked with sites to host farm shares. We connected Corbin Hill Food Project, a minority-led values- driven food aggregator and distributor, to provide farm shares to 4 sites, with support from Restoration for a coordinator. TCM provided farm shares to 1 site. Farm shares reached a total of 67 families this year, and on average, 29 families per month.Corbin Hill has since expanded their farm share to 3 additional Brooklyn sites. GOAL 2. Build capacity within the local food economy, connecting local producers to farmers markets, increasing sales by 20%. We connected local farmers to farmers markets, with sales volume increasing to $23,767 from $20,592 the previous year, a 15% increase. OBJECTIVES 2.1 Invest in partnership with independent food business incubator Brooklyn FoodWorks; PilotWorks, formerly Brooklyn FoodWorks, had 175 independent local food vendor members, over 70% of which were minority or women owned. Restoration's Business Center provided mentorship services to 12 PilotWorks members, providing assistance with accessing capital, preparing financials and business plans, and providing guidance on corporate strategy. Unfortunately, PilotWorks halted operations in October 2018 due to financial insolvency. 2.2 Build connections between regional and local farmers of color, local food entrepreneurs and farmers markets; We connected TCM to Riseboro, a community organization serving primarily low income seniors, to provide items for their weekly farmers' market. We partnered with GrowNYC to staff and host a YouthMarket, a weekly youth run farmers' market. We are building the capacity of future farmers and business people by recruiting, hiring and training youth to operate the market. The Woodhull Youthmarket employed 4 youth of color this past season, two of whom are public housing residents. 2.3 Identify and deliver business management education needs among regional and local farmers of color, local food entrepreneurs and farmers markets; In addition to the services we provided to the 12 PilotWorks member, we provided business mentorship services to 12 other food entrepreneurs. 2.4. Develop shared promotional and consumer education strategies around local foods; We partnered with GrowNYC to promote the YouthMarket via community outreach and online and social media. We also partnered with the Weeksville Heritage Center to offer BlackFoodways, an educational program highlighting the relationship between culture, land, local food and urban farming. GOAL 3 Improving the distribution infrastructure for good food, reducing barriers to aggregation and economies of scale and increasing sales and delivery volume by 25% in each of two years. In year 1, sales and delivery volume increased to over $31,000 from ~$2,000 the previous year, a 1500% increase. OBJECTIVES 3.1. Create/adapt a virtual aggregation system. We are working to inventory local and urban farmers and will subsequently work toward creation/adaption of a virtual aggregation system. 3.2 Utilize excess cold storage space available at SuperFoodtown in Bedford Stuyvesant for cold storage space. We have not yet needed to utilize this resource. However, we maintain a strong working relationship with SuperFoodtown and expect that as we build demand for locally produced foods, this resource may need to be used in the near future. 3.3 Examine the market for and feasibility of a community-owned food distribution business. Community-owned local food distribution capacity is growing and is poised to meet growing need. Brooklyn Packers, a minority led worker owned cooperative is currently operational and sources, packs, aggregates and distributes. GOAL 4.Build the Partnership for a Healthier Brooklyn's collective impact to affect policy and systemic change, reaching 10,000 community members. We have taken steps to activate the Partnership for a Healthier Brooklyn, and are currently participating and leading local and citywide policy and systems change efforts. A part of this has been the activation of the FTI Learning Network in partnership with the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute. OBJECTIVES 4.1. Build the Partnership as an advocacy vehicle for diverse needs across the borough. We are reconvening members of the Partnership and will undertake a strategic planning process to create a collective agenda for strengthening and expanding the local food system as a tool for improving health and economic outcomes among Brooklyn's low-income residents. 4.2. Build network to leverage and connect community-based organizations and deepening their collective impact. Building on our existing network we are conducting a comprehensive inventory, geographic mapping and categorization to identify additional stakeholders that can further our collective impact. In addition, the FTI Learning Network is a vehicle for organizations to share best practices and lessons learned. 4.3. Develop and strengthen the Partnership's workgroup structure.We are joining forces with a local hospital as an anchor institution to develop and strengthen the Partnership's workgroup structure to implement work plans to achieve collectively agreed upon goals and strategies. 4.4. Develop and implement a shared policy agenda. Building on the Partnership's food system work, we are participating as a key stakeholder in the NYC's Good Food Purchasing Program. 4.5. Document and share strategies and successes with regional and national stakeholders. We documented our successes and strategies in several regional and national publications, as indicated in the publications section.
Publications
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2017
Citation:
Silver M, Bediako A, Capers T, Kirac A, Freudenberg N. Creating Integrated Strategies for Increasing Access to Healthy Affordable Food in Urban Communities: A Case Study of Intersecting Food Initiatives. J Urban Health. 2017;94(4):482-493.
- Type:
Journal Articles
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Capers T. Working Together to Improve Community-Level Health: The Evolution of the New York City Food & Fitness Partnership. Health Promot Pract. 2018;19(1_suppl):57S-62S.
- Type:
Other
Status:
Published
Year Published:
2018
Citation:
Ames M, Capers T, Willingham C, Wolf S, Freudenberg N. Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporations Farm to Child Care Program: A Foundation for Healthier, Stronger Families and Central Brooklyn Communities. A Policy Brief by the CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute and Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, 2018.
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