Bushwick, Cypress Hills Pgms. Benefit
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced FreshConnect grants to 34 projects around the state that will increase access to New York farm products for residents in low-income and underserved areas.
“This is really a win-win situation for farmers and for families across the state as we try to provide more access and easier access to locally grown, fresh farm products,” Cuomo said. “These FreshConnect grants will support creative solutions to get New York farm products to underserved areas of the state, creating new economic opportunities for our farmers while, at the same time, providing healthy options for more New Yorkers.”
The grant winners include:
– EcoStation: NY Inc., Brooklyn ($10,000)-a community outreach project in Bushwick which will entail regular visits to WIC, senior and community centers, workshops centered around food and nutrition and a new satellite market.
– God’s Battalion of Prayer Church, Brooklyn ($9,000)-a project that will distribute New York produce on a bi-monthly basis to food pantries and congregate feeding programs using two churches as “food hubs” and working with six to eight other churches in the area.
– GrowNYC, New York ($9,330)- The Cypress Hills Youthmarket is run by area children and provides job training and seasonal employment, as well as access to fresh farm produce through direct wholesaling.
– New York City Coalition Against Hunger, New York ($10,000)-a project to expand and institutionalize six existing community supported agriculture (CSA) projects and create a new CSA in a low-income food desert on Staten Island.
– United Community Centers Inc., Brooklyn ($10,000)-a project to reduce barriers and increase access to locally grown food by enhancing programming for children at the East New York Farms market; the activities will include a “Let’s Move” series, literature series, children cooking demonstrations and themed events.
Almost 1.5 million New Yorkers live in areas with limited supermarket access. Expanding access to fresh food in underserved communities has been shown to both improve nutrition and lower costs related to obesity and diet-related disease, while also fostering community and economic development.
Cuomo launched the FreshConnect program last year to create new farmers’ markets and support existing markets that provided fresh produce to high-need areas.
With this round of funding, the program will have helped a total of 48 projects throughout the state bring New York farm products to communities in need.
The governor expanded the FreshConnect Program this year to support not only farmers’ markets, but other creative solutions to improve access to fresh, locally produced food by low-income or underserved communities. As a result, the program received over 121 proposals and is providing funding to the top projects that exhibit local innovative solutions to connect communities in need with New York farm products.
Examples of funded projects include:
– farmers’ markets and youth-operated farm stands that will be created or expanded to better serve low-income residents in food deserts
– subsidized Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) shares or low-income CSA programs that will introduce over 100 new families to weekly deliveries of fresh fruits and vegetables
– the introduction of EBT (Electronic Benefits Transfer) services for the first time at 13 farmers’ markets to allow these farmers markets to accept Food Stamps, along with plans to increase Food Stamp purchases through promotion and incentives
– free transportation services to help increase traffic at existing markets and allow those with limited resources an opportunity to attend and shop at a farmers’ market
– improving distribution of locally grown, fresh food to food pantries and congregate feeding programs
Applicants received extra points in the competitive ranking process for including a food donation program in their proposed project. As a result, nearly all recipients of Fresh- Connect funding will be coordinating a local food donation program to connect food pantries or food banks with New York farm products, as part of their funded project.
All FreshConnect projects will accept Food Stamps, if applicable, and are encouraged to accept Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Fruit & Vegetable Checks, Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program coupons, and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition coupons, to ensure that all citizens have access to fresh fruits and vegetables, regardless of income.
The FreshConnect program will also again offer FreshConnect Checks, a nutrition incentive to encourage Food Stamp recipients to use their benefits at participating farmers’ markets by providing $2 rebate checks for every $5 in Food Stamps spent at participating markets.
State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel J. Aubertine said, “Like the crops we harvest, the FreshConnect projects Governor Cuomo is awarding today are born from the ground up and are a true reflection of the need and interest at the local level to help better connect fresh and healthy food from New York farmers with those in rural and urban areas that lack access.”
Rep. Nydia Velázquez added, “Making nutritious food available to underserved areas can help New Yorkers lead longer and healthier lives.”
The FreshConnect program is administered through a partnership between the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, Empire State Development, and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance.
