In New York City, patients whose nutritionists prescribe a diet rich in fresh vegetables and fruits will have no excuse not to follow these recommendations, since they will be accessible at the very door of the hospitals.
“I like these fairs. Vegetables have more color, are tasty and healthier,” said Salvadoran Hortensia Mejía.
Like Mejía who went to visit her mother at the Metropolitan Hospital, some patients, health workers and neighbors of the area, praised the concession stands, the initiative launched by NYC Health + Hospitals, which allows farmers markets to be hosted in public hospitals and community health centers throughout the city.
“It is a great idea that should be extended throughout the year. At the same time that it is an investment for the health of New Yorkers, it helps the economy,” said Jeff Fregone, a resident of the area.
The New Yorkers interviewed agree that the opening of the points of sale in hospitals, encourages consumers to buy local food.
“These programs enhance the many economic, educational and social benefits that farmers markets provide to their communities,” commented the social worker, Jane Miranda.
According to the organizers, the program will run until the end of November and in some locations, there will be culinary demonstrations on how to prepare some recipes using vegetables.
“Fruits and vegetables are essential for a healthy diet that promotes good health. These farmers markets will make it easier and more affordable for our patients, and communities, to eat healthy,” NYC Health + Hospitals Executive Director Dr. Mitchell Katz said during the program announcement.
Various non-profit organizations such as GrowNYC, Harvest Home, Uptown Grand Central and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets are involved in the implementation of these markets, emphasizing that the objective of the program is to facilitate that anyone in the community has access to fresh fruits and vegetables at a good price.
“Healthy food is medicine that all New Yorkers should have access to,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said at the time.
The Mayor encouraged residents to take advantage of farmers markets at NYC Health + Hospitals sites, as well as throughout the city.
As explained by NYC Health + Hospitals, apart from the fact that consumers can pay in cash, there are several options available to cover costs and help New Yorkers take advantage of these farmers’ fairs, including EBT/SNAP Supplemental Food Cards, FMNP Vouchers, and Women, Infants and Children Program Vouchers (WIC).
“In the case of the coupons that we receive as a form of payment, at the end of the month we submit the total to the government offices and they transfer the money to our accounts,” explained a farmer who dismissed be identified.
Of the s farms to patients
It was a little after eight o’clock on Friday morning and Bernardo Montes was accommodating at a great pace on a wide shelf, freshly harvested lettuce, onions, radishes and tomatoes. Previously, together with Joe Morgiewicz, they had set up a tent right at the entrance of the Metropolitan Hospital, in Manhattan.
As well as in the Metropolitan, in most of the city’s public hospitals, on specific days and with established schedule this innovative program started that seeks to promote that patients and the community in general adopt a healthy diet based on vegetables and fruits.
“It is a joint effort from which we will all benefit. If patients adopt a healthy plant-based eating style, we are going to have a healthy community,” said Morgiewicz, of 28 years, whose ancestors immigrated from Poland 100 years old and he is part of the fourth generation of his family dedicated to agriculture.
Montes is a Mexican day laborer who works on the Morgiewicz farm, located in Goshen, in Orange County, just over an hour from New York City.
“When people buy what these hands have planted, I feel good and much more when I know , who do it to improve their health,” commented Oaxacan Montes, from 30 years.
Others 34 Mexican countrymen work on that farm, which offers them agricultural work during the planting and harvesting season.
A similar story is that of Nevis Bekir, a Turkish immigrant who came to the United States with her husband more than 48 years.
“Every year we bring our products to the city, but offering them in hospitals and knowing that we are contributing to improving the quality of life for some New Yorkers gives more meaning to our work,” said Bekir, who today has more than 70 years and continues to work on his farm in Walden, also in Orange County.
On his farm, Bekir grows a wide variety of fruits such as strawberries, grapes, apples, pears and all type of legumes such as broccoli, carrots, beets, and corn.
The farmers have their own trucks and together with the workers they are in charge of the logistics of washing and packing the products to transport them in boxes to the markets, that is, the process does not have intermediaries, which allows consumers to buy at a better price, the farmers consulted agreed.
GrowNYC, as one of the main organizations that promotes farmers’ markets in hospitals, establishes that its mission is to empower farmers New Yorkers ensuring a clean and healthy environment for future generations.
To that end, GrowNYC also offers the Fresh Food Boxes program throughout the year in the NYC Health + Hospitals network. The boxes contain seasonal local products well below the market price through the collaborative purchasing system. People who wish to enroll in the program can enroll through the site: https://www.grownyc.org/foodbox/UGC
Study will focus on overweight children
More than 225 Queens families with children who are considered overweight or obese will be part of the “Food for Health” study, promoted by the city’s Health + Hospitals system.
The study will prescribe fruits and fresh vegetables and participants will be randomly selected from patients receiving pediatric care at NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens in Jamaica.
“About a quarter of the children cared for there are obese and still more are overweight. So this is an extremely high need population,” said Roopa Kalyanaraman Marcello, director of the program, describing the patients enrolled in the study.
Instead of similar programs that offer coupons for families to buy produce, the city will deliver fresh fruits and vegetables to study participants for six months.
Brooklyn-based company Farm to People is partnering with the city to provide farm-fresh food to families in the study. More of 150 farmers in the New York City area will contribute to food deliveries, said Farm to People CEO Michael Robinov.
Incentive for state farmers
According to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets, in the last decade, the number of farmers’ markets across the state has grown at a rapid rate.
Currently, throughout the state there are about 512 farmers markets, 300 farm stalls and 10 mobile markets that at the same time are supplied from more than 34.000 family farms.
The Department supports the statewide network of farmers’ markets through programs that expand sales, promote better nutrition, and help increase consumption of fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables.
Locations and Hours
The BRONX
NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi
700 Pelham Parkway South and Eastchester Road
Fridays: 8 am – 4 pm
Through 18 of November
NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln
Park Avenue and East 137th Street
Tuesday and Friday: 8 am – 3 pm
Until November 22
NYC Health + Hospitals/North Central Bronx
Mosholu Parkway North and Jerome Avenue
Wednesday: 8 am – 4 pm
Until November 23
BROOKLYN
NYC Health + Hospitals/Coney Island
Ocean Parkway between Avenue Z and Shore Parkway
Friday: 8 am – 4 pm
Until November 18
NYC Health + Hospitals/Kings County
250 Clarkson Avenue between East 37th and East 38th Streets
Wednesday: 8 am – 4 pm
Until November 24
MANHATTAN
NYC Health + Hospitals / Carter
Community Plaza, E ast 97th Street and Park Avenue
Wednesday: 3 pm – 7 pm
Open year round
NYC Health + Hospitals/Harlem
512 Lenox Avenue between 81th and 137th Streets
Friday: 8 am – 4 pm
Until November
Includes cooking demonstrations
NYC Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan
2nd Avenue between East 97th and East 99th Streets
Friday: 8 am – 4 pm
Until November 18
Includes Cooking Demonstrations
QUEENS
2834453
NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst
41st Avenue between 80th and 81st Streets
Tuesday: 8 am – 4 pm
2834453
Until November 07
NYC Health + Hospitals/Queens
75-68 164 Street ( between Goethals Avenue & Grand Central Parkway)
Thursday: 8 am – 5 pm
Until November 23
For more information about NYC Health + Hospitals Farmers Markets, visit: https://www.nychealthandhospitals.org/services/farmers-markets/.
2022