Fruit and Veg

Greening Central Harlem’s Food Deserts

Photo: iStockphoto

The Healthy Bodegas Initiative, a partnership of Grow NYC, Red Jacket Orchards, and the NYC Strategic Alliance for Health, wants Central Harlem to eat its five a day. In June, the alliance set up a program to bring produce refrigerators to bodegas in the hood, and now the plan is to start stocking these with fresh produce. The group’s first efforts, last year, boosted “refrigeration resources” (as a rep put it) in Bed-Stuy bodegas. Now six stores in central Harlem, from 110th to 145th Streets, are taking part in this latest effort. If you want to celebrate with Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and others, kickoff festivities are Monday at 2 p.m. at Lenox Finest Food Market, 110 Lenox Avenue. Between this and that Bon Jovi restaurant, it’s shaping up to be a great news day for vegetables.

Greening Central Harlem’s Food Deserts