On June 21, NYC Health + Hospitals, the country’s largest municipal health care system in the country, announced it will be hosting farmers markets at public hospitals and community health centers around New York City in order to provide patients, staff, and communities with access to healthy food. Health + Hospitals has partnered with two local non-profit farmers market organizations, Harvest Home Farmers Markets and GrowNYC to host the markets.
The new program will include farmers markets at various Health + Hospitals locations throughout Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx, as well as fresh food box programs, which “enables under-served communities to purchase fresh, healthy…produce well below traditional retail prices.” Though the farmers markets are seasonal and will be open throughout the summer and fall, the fresh food box program is available year-round.
“Part of our work at Health + Hospitals is to understand the needs of the communities we serve to guarantee they have all of the tools necessary to live healthy lives,” said Dr. Michael Katz, President and CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals in a press release announcing the new program.
Throughout Brooklyn, Health + Hospitals will host three farmers markets through November, the closest one for Bushwick residents being at Health + Hospitals’ Woodhull location at the corner of Broadway and Flushing Avenues. That market will be hosted by GrowNYC and is open on Wednesdays between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. from July 10 to November 27.
Customers will be able to pay through a variety of options, including EBT/SNAP, Health Bucks and Greenmarket Bucks, Green Checks, Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMN) coupons, and Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) coupons.
Cover image of RiseBoro market, photo by Luciano Careras.
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