Project EATS

Through its Building Healthy Communities priority area, NYHealth has supported six communities across the State in implementing neighborhood-level approaches to increase access to healthy, affordable food and to improve the built environment to make physical activity easier.

In each neighborhood, community convener organizations have spearheaded and acted as the main coordinators for the work, assembling and mobilizing partner coalitions to achieve shared goals. As a result of these efforts, nearly half a million New Yorkers in these neighborhoods have better opportunities to lead healthier lives. As this initiative enters its final year of programming, it is vital that community convener grantees and their partners are prepared to grow and sustain their work at the end of the grant cycle. In 2021, NYHealth awarded a grant to Project EATS to continue to advance access to healthy and affordable food for residents of Brownsville, Brooklyn.

Under this grant, Project EATS will increase the impact of its urban community farming program that makes it easier for residents to afford and consume healthy food options. It will develop new fundraising and program management systems to build its organizational capacity and better meet the need and demand for fresh, healthy food in the community. Project EATS will launch workshops and trainings on farming, health, and food enterprise to strengthen resident engagement and learn more about consumer preferences to better serve the neighborhood. It will grow and deepen partnerships with residents, community-based health and service providers, local businesses, schools, housing organizations, and other stakeholders working toward community health and food sovereignty.