Good Health

 

The Building Blocks Project is based on the equation that Good Health is built from Good Food and Good Jobs. Healthy individuals, communities, and a healthy city have to be built on the solid foundation of these three building blocks.

Without places to purchase good food, people can't have good health. Today, diabetes and obesity are ravaging New York City's predominately working-class and minority communities. Supermarket development is an opportunity to increase the supply of the good food that is needed for good health. Supermarkets also create good jobs that are linked to economic health.

"Research suggests that access to food-including the availability, quality, and price of healthy foods and thepresence of supermarkets and advertising-affect the food choices of residents,many of whom shop close to home."
The New York City Department of Healthand Mental Hygiene -- Eating Well in Harlem: How Available is Healthy Food?

"The poorest New Yorkers have rates of diabetes more than three times higher than those making more than 52,000 a year."
Diabetes in New York City: Public Health Burden and Disparities

"If you are eating on a budget, the most rationale economic strategy is to eat badly - and get fat."
Michael Pollan "You Are What You Grow," April 22^nd 2007

NYC Map that shows rates of diabetes, number of stores and income.

Learn more: Find out about the health of yourneighborhood

Community Health profiles


Community Food Security Assessment Toolkit

Related websites:

USDA


NYC Department of Health and MentalHygiene

Related articles:

The Contextual Effect of the Local Food Environment on Residents' Diets: The Atherosclerosis Risk in CommunitiesStudy


Healthful Foods Not An Option For Many Poorer Areas Lack Access, ReportSays


Diabetes and Its Awful Toll Quietly Emerge as a Crisis


Confronting the Uncomfortable:Health Plans and Health Disparities: A Moral Dilemma in a Morally DrivenIndustry