WASHINGTON HEIGHTS — A newly formed organization is bringing the community-organizing model to nutrition education as a way to change how residents shop and prepare their food.
The Washington Heights and Inwood Food Council, sponsored by City Harvest and its Healthy Neighborhoods Initiative, launched in March with the mission of increasing healthy food access in the community, said Catarina Rivera, the group's manager for Northern Manhattan.
Healthy Neighborhoods provides nutrition-education programs and works with local bodegas and supermarkets to enhance produce offerings and food display.
“We take a community-organizing approach,” Rivera said. “The group belongs to the community and the members decide what the priorities, actions and structure will be. [It’s] for anyone who cares about healthy food access in Washington Heights and Inwood.”
The council has already hosted two successful food-shopping workshops, Rivera noted, with the first being a "munch and mingle" to bring local residents together. The second, held at the Inwood Library, featured a screening of the documentary series "The Weight of the Nation" and included "community building and discussion,” she added.
Rivera hopes to continue building on the momentum of these events by forming a "food board" and individual council committees at a visioning session planned for this week.
The goal is to develop a shared vision and then vote on the community’s top priorities, she explained.
“This is about solidarity and collaboration,” Rivera said. “Taking action together! We won't just talk; we will do.”
For members like Davia Prego, 77, who has been living in Inwood for more than two decades, the council is much needed in the community.
She has been volunteering with City Harvest for more than six years and attending the council's workshops since they launched last month.
“If you come to one of our meetings, it’s amazing how people respond,” Prego said. “It’s about teaching people how to get the best out of their money in the supermarket and how to demand, demand, demand.”
The WHIN Food Council's visioning session will be held Thursday, May 12, at Our Saviour's Atonement Lutheran Church, 178 Bennett Ave., off 189th Street, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.