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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Kimberly B. Morland, PhD¹, Laura Sanzel², Salima Jones-Daley², Jose Lopez³, Douglas Reich³, Kelli Scarr⁴, and Susan W. Filomena⁵. (1) Dept of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1057, New York, NY 10029, 212-241-7531, kimberly.morland@mssm.edu, (2) Local Development Corporation of East New York, 80 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207, (3) Wyckoff Heights Medical Center, 374 Stockholm St, Brooklyn, NY 11237, (4) La Marca Family Health Center, 179 Jamaica Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11207, (5) Department of Community and Preventive Medicine, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, One Gustave L. Levy Place, Box 1043, New York, NY 10029

‘Building Food Justice in East New York (ENY)' is concerned with racial and economic disparities in the kinds of nutrition that are available in local neighborhoods. Although nutrition has been studied almost exclusively as a matter of individual choice, and control of nutrition-related health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer has been considered a matter of health education, it is incontrovertible that what people eat depends on what is available given the US agricultural and food distribution systems, including pricing and advertising by retailers. The mission of the 'Building Food Justice in ENY' initiative is to enrich community building already taking place within the ENY community regarding issues of food justice and partner with community members who have decided that the solution to their restricted local food environment is to create a locally owned and operated food co-op. This initiative is the first to evaluate the association between a permanent year round modification of a food environment on residents' nutrition related behaviors and knowledge. Moreover, it is also the first to accomplish these goals as a community driven response to what local residents have identified as an environmental justice issue. Characterizing the extent of the inequitable healthy food access in ENY will be discussed as well as the status of community driven solutions (a sustainable food co-op, health education and screening programs). In addition, the evaluation of these interventions will also be discussed as well as their influence on ENY residents.

Learning Objectives: