Since 2016, the Washington Heights/Inwood (WHIN) Food Council has been organizing community members around food justice in Uptown Manhattan. We create a space for residents to come together to identify and determine community-oriented solutions to the food justice issues we see in our neighborhood. We aim to empower community members to make positive changes in WHIN around food and land. 

We launched three successful and still very active programs in 2021 as a response to the pandemic. We recognized that we quickly needed to re-strategize to address the growing food insecurity and social isolation our members were experiencing. We launched:

• Farm Share Distribution: We offer FREE fresh, locally grown, high quality groceries to food insecure families in Washington Heights and Inwood. In partnership with the Dominican Women’s Development Center and Grow NYC, we host a bi-weekly food distribution in a farmer’s market style for participating families to pick up their groceries. We offer a variety of ingredients in every distribution including vegetables, fruits, herbs, beans, eggs, grains, and flours for families to be able to prepare nutrient dense and calorie sufficient meals. Our program is unique compared to other pantries and emergency food sites because our priority is providing families the same fresh, high-quality ingredients you can find at your local farmer’s market. In 2021, we started with just 10 families and over the last 2.5 years have supported over 250 adults and children. Since we launched, we’ve distributed over 6,000 pounds of produce and food to our community ALL for free. 
• Grow from Home: We established a community of home food gardeners when our outdoor garden shut down due to quarantine! Over 75 families have participated in GFH during the last three years to work on their green thumbs by growing food right in their own kitchens. Families successfully grew mushrooms, a variety of herbs, and microgreens which they were able to eat, all while sharing their journey in a private community group we built online for this program. Through the group, our members could also connect with other participants and directly reach our garden coordinators for support, share pictures, and ask questions. Because of the overwhelming interest, we hope to expand this program into classrooms to work with teachers and reach even more young people. 
• Scholarships: We provide financial support to remove barriers for community members interested in pursuing training and education around growing food and healthy eating. We’ve supported 4 students over the last 3 years pursue training related to urban gardening, and 6 students to participate in Plant Powered Metro New York's 21-Day Jumpstart, a program to help individuals and their families transition into a plant-forward diet and learn how to heal or prevent chronic diseases using food as medicine. 

In addition, during the growing season we maintain several garden beds at the Riley Levin Children’s Garden in partnership with the New York Restoration Program. We grow and harvest a range of produce from cantaloupe, squashes, strawberries, tomato, cucumbers, peppers, potatoes, ginger, and so much more. Everything from the garden is given to community members for FREE. We host 4-5 Community Garden Day events to invite the neighborhood during the growing season to tour our garden space, support with planting and harvesting, and engage in fun health and wellness activities such as cooking demos, yoga, zumba, and arts and crafts to help build community and improve social cohesion. In the past, we’ve also hosted educational panels, fermentation workshops, documentary screenings, and community potlucks during the colder months.  

We strongly prioritize building partnerships with other local organizations and groups whose missions align with our goals and activities. We know we can not do this work alone. When you support our work, you’re supporting a grassroots, community-led initiative made up of volunteers who have committed to making a positive impact to the neighborhood. Every dollar matters! Thank YOU for fueling our food justice mission!