Health in the Hood
“OUR MISSION:
EQUAL FOOD ACCESS FOR ALL.”
— ASHA WALKER —
Today your zip code can affect your health more than your genetic code. This disparity stems from a broken food system that keeps over 23 million Americans disconnected from healthy food options because they live in food deserts. If you are food insecure you lack access to nutritious, fresh food, and your health and well-being subsequently suffer.
Food is the great equalizer and Health in the Hood is food justice.
Established in 2013, at Health in the Hood we build vegetable gardens in food desert neighborhoods, where access to fresh food is almost impossible. We distribute free produce from our farms, provide jobs, teach nutrition and wellness, and create sustainable local food ecosystems. We are closing the gap in the food system and connecting people to real food one farm at a time.
Our Programs
-
Urban Farming
Our urban farms produce free food for families living in a food desert – or more than one mile away from a grocery store. All of the produce grown in Health in the Hood gardens is distributed at no cost to local families struggling to access fresh food. With a year-round growing season in South Florida we grow everything from Swiss chard to strawberries, collard greens to cucumbers, tomatoes to potatoes, and just about everything in between! We have distributed over 50,000 pounds of free, fresh food since 2013.
-
Health Education
Our urban farms not only provide fresh food, but are also tangible teaching tools that provide simple yet powerful educational opportunities. Our health and wellness workshops include interactive nutrition games, healthy eating competitions, cooking demonstrations, ingredient label training, food journaling, exercise obstacles courses, yoga and aerobics classes, and more!
-
Food Distribution
In response COVID-19, we launched an emergency food relief initiative, the Filling Fridges program. Filling Fridges serves 1,000 families a week through our pull-up pantry and meal delivery programs.