Greater Newark Conservancy
Many residents of Newark live in what is considered a “food desert” – defined by the USDA as an urban area that is one mile from the nearest large grocery store, and where fresh and nutritious foods can be hard to obtain.
To ameliorate this situation, the Greater Newark Conservancy launched a program to improve access to healthy foods by creating sustainable farmers markets and food stands in Newark neighborhoods.
HFNJ supported this effort with a $50,000 grant in 2022 and a $50,000 renewal grant in 2023.
In the first year of the project, Greater Newark Conservancy formalized partnerships with 14 organizations within the community, spanning from hospitals to churches and mosques to senior housing complexes. 591 individuals from the targeted neighborhoods received fresh healthy foods through the project’s monthly farmers markets and food stands.
During the first year, the Conservancy also launched an online tool with convenient pick-up locations to allow regular market attendees to receive the food they had come to rely on regardless of the weather conditions. The app also included health and wellness information and recipes. The launch of this tool proved significant for the project. It unlocked greater participation among vendors – the number of local farms participating in the market grew from two to nine. Greater Newark Conservancy will be relying more on the app in the second year of the project and will be transitioning to a year-round, online-driven distribution model.