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Food and water in New York City

April 15, 2023

In New York City, there is an extensive water supply system that supports several programs and infrastructure pertaining to the city's food supply. City officials, agencies, and organizations cooperate with rural farmers to grow food more locally, as well as protect waterways in the New York metropolitan area. The New York City Department of Education operates a school-time and summertime breakfast/lunch program. The city is also deprived of supermarkets in several neighborhoods, and the city government has addressed the problem by allowing extra street vendors to operate. To encourage food safety, the government also operates a restaurant-grading system that it introduced in 2010. The various food programs have made the city a model for food systems internationally.

A selection of produce outside a grocery store on the Upper West Side

Watershed protection and local food

 
The Catskill Mountains watershed, one of the major water sources for New York City
For details on the water system, see New York City water supply system.

Government officials, labor organizers, non-profits, community advocacy groups, and residents are greatly dependent on rural farmers who develop New York City's local foodshed. The process of linking agriculture with the city's urban markets has been largely built upon the fact that the city water supply comes from the protected watersheds in Upstate New York. The water supply system, the largest surface storage and supply complex in the world, yields over 1 billion US gallons (3,800,000 m3) of water daily, from upstate reservoirs. Two of the three supply systems (Catskill and Delaware) are unfiltered. These systems are protected by extensive watershed management programs that reduces nutrient pollution and pathogen contamination.[1] However, the implementation of such stringent regulations is costly to New York State farmers.[2] The Croton system, which supplies 10% of the city's water, has an engineered filtration system.[3] All three systems have chlorination treatment, as well as ultraviolet disinfection treatment to control microorganisms such as giardia and cryptosporidium which are resistant to chlorine treatment.[4]

Greenmarket

To protect the water supply from surface runoff and promote regional agriculture, rural and urban New Yorkers developed an alliance called the New York City Watershed Whole Farm Program, which promotes sustainable agriculture in New York State. With financial assistance from the city, upstate farmers implement nutrient management, pesticide management and related watershed management techniques to reduce runoff from their lands.[5][6] The city's urban population serves as a local market for upstate farmers, particularly through Greenmarket, a farmer's market founded in 1976 by the Council on the Environment of New York City. Upstate farmers sell their products at Greenmarket locations.[7]

Greenmarket provides regional small family farmers with opportunities to sell their fruits, vegetables and other farm products at open-air markets in the city. The program expanded to 45 markets in 2006—the largest expansion in its then-30-year history—but the resulting Greenmarket expansions were too small or too infrequently patronized to be profitable.[8] The most famous Greenmarket location is the Union Square Greenmarket, held four days a week throughout the year. In 2003, 250,000 customers a week purchased 1,000 varieties of fruits and vegetables at the market.[9]

School lunches

New York City provides over 40,000 meals a day to children through the SchoolFoods program. Most of the fruit served in public and charter schools operated by New York City Department of Education (NYCDOE) is local. A project to bring New York State apples to city school cafeterias has also increased fruit consumption among school children. As of 2007, policy work was focused on the task of bringing more local food to school lunches to give children healthy meals while supporting agriculture in the region.[10] However, there was no plan to expand the program as of 2015.[11]

The NYCDOE also has a summer-meals program operated by SchoolFoods, which offers free lunches to children under 18.[12] These summer lunches are distributed at over 1,100 parks, pools, libraries, schools, and shelters every year.[13] Over 7 million lunches were distributed in summer 2012.[12]

Supermarket crisis

 
Inside a supermarket in East Harlem

New York City faces a supermarket shortage in several neighborhoods that is closely linked to health epidemics. At the request of the Mayor's office, the Department of City Planning studied supermarket need in the city. As a result, in April 2008, the Department found a widespread shortage of supermarkets, identifying several "food deserts." It identified food deserts as a key factor in why over 700,000 people in New York City had diabetes, over 1.1 million New Yorkers were obese, and another 2 million were overweight.[14]: 1 

Health problems are especially prevalent in minority communities. For instance, supermarkets in predominantly-minority Harlem are 30 percent less common than on the predominantly-white Upper East Side; while 20 percent of Upper East Side bodegas carried leafy green vegetables, only 3 percent of those in Harlem did so.[15] Three million New Yorkers live in neighborhoods with high need for grocery stores and supermarkets, such as Harlem and Washington Heights in Manhattan; Bushwick, East New York, and Sunset Park in Brooklyn; Corona, Jamaica, and Far Rockaway in Queens; the South Bronx, Williamsbridge, Wakefield, and Pelham Parkway in the Bronx; and St. George and Stapleton in Staten Island show the greatest need for full-line supermarkets.[14]: 2 

In February 2008, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced the creation of a Statewide Supermarket Commission that would identify state and local policy solutions to expand supermarkets and keep them open. The Commission would be led by the Food Trust and the Food Bank for New York City, in partnership with the City's Food Policy Coordinator and the Food Industry Alliance.[15] Simultaneously, the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500, which represents grocery store workers, worked to create healthy food options for all New Yorkers through supermarkets, community-supported agriculture, urban agriculture, and farmers' markets.[16]

Green Cart program

As part of an ongoing effort to increase access to healthy foods, the city created 1,000 new "Green Cart" permits in 2008. These permits were meant for street vendors who exclusively sell fresh fruits and vegetables, which must be raw and whole.[17] These permits can be used only in neighborhoods where 15% or more of the population reported having consumed zero servings of fruits or vegetables in the previous 24 hours.[15] Local businesses initially opposed the initiative, but a reduction in the number of permits allowed the program to be signed into law.[18]: 12  After the program was approved, the city received funding and support from several partners to help further the program.[18]: 13–14 

A 2014 study by the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs showed that although there were only 166 Green Carts in operation, these green carts were instrumental in raising exposure to healthy foods in poorer neighborhoods in Manhattan, the Bronx, Queens, and Brooklyn.[18]: 27–38  The same study found that of these Green Carts, there were none on Staten Island.[18]: 21–26 [19]

Restaurant grading system

 
Big Daddy's Diner in Manhattan with an "A" grade displayed in the window

A grading system for New York City's 24,000 restaurants was launched in July 2010.[20][21] Restaurant inspectors show up unannounced to the restaurant to inspect its hygiene, then give a ranking of A, B, or C depending on how many code violations the restaurant has. An "A" grade is considered the best grade (with 0 to 13 violations), with the highest standard for cleanliness; a "B" grade indicates 14 to 27 violations; and a "C" grade, the worst grade, indicates at least 28 violations.[22] Restaurants then receive placards containing the restaurant's grades and post them in a prominent location. Each placard is embossed and tagged with a number as an anti-counterfeiting measure.[21] Restaurateurs who get a "B" or "C" could request a re-review of their restaurants, getting "Grade Pending" placards in the meantime.[22] As part of the launch, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene hired 23 inspectors, bringing the total number of inspectors to 180. It also raised the number of annual visits from 60,000 to 85,000.[21]

Michael Bloomberg, the then-mayor of New York City, stated that the practice was meant to reduce the number of foodborne illnesses and improve food safety.[23] However, some restaurants avoid being regulated by registering as supermarkets or warehouses.[24] Within 18 months of the grading system's implementation, salmonella infections dropped by 14%, but the total amount of the fines issued rose more than 145%, prompting large criticism.[25] In 2014, the grading system was restructured to reduce fines.[26] In 2016, ninety-three percent of restaurants got an "A" grade, the highest percentage in the history of the grading system.[27]

International model

Because of the way in which urban and rural New Yorkers have cooperated to create a protected ecosystem that brings healthy local food and clean water to a large urban population, New York City has become an international food systems model. The United Nations invited New York farmers, workers, retailers, and NGOs to act as representatives to the UN's Commission on Sustainable Development at its headquarters in New York City. The city hosted the UN's City and Farm Linkages Showcase in May 2008 to show New York State's urban–rural partnership to international leaders.[28]

References

  1. ^ Hu, Winnie (2018-01-18). "A Billion-Dollar Investment in New York's Water". The New York Times.
  2. ^ National Research Council; Committee to Review the New York City Watershed Management Strategy (2000-02-17). Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply: Assessing the New York City Strategy. Washington, D.C.: National Academies Press. ISBN 9780309172684.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  3. ^ Dunlap, David W. (May 8, 2015). "As a Plant Nears Completion, Croton Water Flows Again to New York City". The New York Times.
  4. ^ . New York City Department of Environmental Protection. Archived from the original on September 6, 2012.
  5. ^ "Planning". Walton, NY: Watershed Agricultural Council. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  6. ^ Muller, Mark. "The New York City Watershed Whole Farm Program; Catskill Region, New York, USA". Minneapolis, MN: Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy. Retrieved 2022-06-27.
  7. ^ . City Room. The New York Times. 2008-08-11. Archived from the original on 2021-01-28.
  8. ^ Severson, Kim (2006-07-19). "Greenmarket at 30, Searching for Itself". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Fishman, Steve (April 12, 2003). "Manhattan Gets Fresh". New York (magazine).
  10. ^ Severson, Kim (2007-10-17). "Local Carrots With a Side of Red Tape". The New York Times.
  11. ^ Saul, Michael Howard (2015-02-18). "New York's Free School-Lunch Program Hits Limits". Wall Street Journal.
  12. ^ a b "New York City to offer free summer meals for children 18 years and younger". ABC7 News. June 25, 2013.
  13. ^ "DOE Announces Start of Annual Free Summer Meals Program for All NYC Children and Youth - 2014-2015". New York City Department of Education. June 24, 2015.
  14. ^ a b "Socioeconomic & Housing - Going to Market: New York City's Neighborhood Grocery Store and Supermarket Shortage" (PDF). nyc.gov. New York City Department of City Planning. April 21, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2017.
  15. ^ a b c "COUNCIL VOTES TO CREATE NEW PERMITS FOR GREEN VENDORS, BRINGING MORE FRESH PRODUCE TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES". nyc.gov. The Council of the City of New York. February 27, 2008. from the original on 2008-05-02. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  16. ^ "Union Responds To New York City Study on Lack of Supermarkets". readmedia.com. April 22, 2008. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  17. ^ . nyc.gov. New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  18. ^ a b c d Fuchs, Ester R.; Holloway, Sarah M.; Bayer, Kimberly; Feathers, Alexandra (June 11, 2014). (PDF). columbia.edu. Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-07-25. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  19. ^ Goldberg, Dan (July 7, 2014). "Produce-cart program a modest success". Politico PRO. Retrieved 2017-03-21.
  20. ^ Douglas, Leah (July 2010). "A Guide to New York's New Restaurant Grading System". Serious Eats. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  21. ^ a b c Collins, Glenn (2010-07-27). "Letter Grading of Restaurants' Hygiene to Begin". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  22. ^ a b Wolfe, Jonathan (2017-05-17). "New York Today: What Do Restaurant Grades Mean?". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  23. ^ Saul, Michael Howard (2012-03-07). "Grading Eatery Grading". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  24. ^ Blau, Reuven; Weichselbaum, Simone (2012-01-09). "How eateries avoid Health Dept. letter grades". NY Daily News. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  25. ^ Collins, Glenn. "Restaurateurs Voice Anger Over Health Inspections". City Room. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  26. ^ Lemire, Jonathan (March 21, 2014). "NYC restaurant letter-grade system revamped by City Council". ABC7 New York. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  27. ^ D'Amato, Peter (2017-05-12). "More restaurants are passing their health exams". Crain's New York Business. Retrieved 2017-05-17.
  28. ^ "City and Farm Linkages Showcase / Showcase Learning Event" (PDF). United Nations. May 9–11, 2008. Retrieved March 20, 2017.

External links

  •   Media related to Food in New York City at Wikimedia Commons

April 15, 2023
food, water, york, city, york, city, there, extensive, water, supply, system, that, supports, several, programs, infrastructure, pertaining, city, food, supply, city, officials, agencies, organizations, cooperate, with, rural, farmers, grow, food, more, locall. In New York City there is an extensive water supply system that supports several programs and infrastructure pertaining to the city s food supply City officials agencies and organizations cooperate with rural farmers to grow food more locally as well as protect waterways in the New York metropolitan area The New York City Department of Education operates a school time and summertime breakfast lunch program The city is also deprived of supermarkets in several neighborhoods and the city government has addressed the problem by allowing extra street vendors to operate To encourage food safety the government also operates a restaurant grading system that it introduced in 2010 The various food programs have made the city a model for food systems internationally A selection of produce outside a grocery store on the Upper West Side Contents 1 Watershed protection and local food 1 1 Greenmarket 1 2 School lunches 2 Supermarket crisis 2 1 Green Cart program 3 Restaurant grading system 4 International model 5 References 6 External linksWatershed protection and local food Edit The Catskill Mountains watershed one of the major water sources for New York City For details on the water system see New York City water supply system Government officials labor organizers non profits community advocacy groups and residents are greatly dependent on rural farmers who develop New York City s local foodshed The process of linking agriculture with the city s urban markets has been largely built upon the fact that the city water supply comes from the protected watersheds in Upstate New York The water supply system the largest surface storage and supply complex in the world yields over 1 billion US gallons 3 800 000 m3 of water daily from upstate reservoirs Two of the three supply systems Catskill and Delaware are unfiltered These systems are protected by extensive watershed management programs that reduces nutrient pollution and pathogen contamination 1 However the implementation of such stringent regulations is costly to New York State farmers 2 The Croton system which supplies 10 of the city s water has an engineered filtration system 3 All three systems have chlorination treatment as well as ultraviolet disinfection treatment to control microorganisms such as giardia and cryptosporidium which are resistant to chlorine treatment 4 Greenmarket Edit The Union Square Greenmarket To protect the water supply from surface runoff and promote regional agriculture rural and urban New Yorkers developed an alliance called the New York City Watershed Whole Farm Program which promotes sustainable agriculture in New York State With financial assistance from the city upstate farmers implement nutrient management pesticide management and related watershed management techniques to reduce runoff from their lands 5 6 The city s urban population serves as a local market for upstate farmers particularly through Greenmarket a farmer s market founded in 1976 by the Council on the Environment of New York City Upstate farmers sell their products at Greenmarket locations 7 Greenmarket provides regional small family farmers with opportunities to sell their fruits vegetables and other farm products at open air markets in the city The program expanded to 45 markets in 2006 the largest expansion in its then 30 year history but the resulting Greenmarket expansions were too small or too infrequently patronized to be profitable 8 The most famous Greenmarket location is the Union Square Greenmarket held four days a week throughout the year In 2003 250 000 customers a week purchased 1 000 varieties of fruits and vegetables at the market 9 School lunches Edit New York City provides over 40 000 meals a day to children through the SchoolFoods program Most of the fruit served in public and charter schools operated by New York City Department of Education NYCDOE is local A project to bring New York State apples to city school cafeterias has also increased fruit consumption among school children As of 2007 update policy work was focused on the task of bringing more local food to school lunches to give children healthy meals while supporting agriculture in the region 10 However there was no plan to expand the program as of 2015 update 11 The NYCDOE also has a summer meals program operated by SchoolFoods which offers free lunches to children under 18 12 These summer lunches are distributed at over 1 100 parks pools libraries schools and shelters every year 13 Over 7 million lunches were distributed in summer 2012 12 Supermarket crisis Edit Inside a supermarket in East Harlem New York City faces a supermarket shortage in several neighborhoods that is closely linked to health epidemics At the request of the Mayor s office the Department of City Planning studied supermarket need in the city As a result in April 2008 the Department found a widespread shortage of supermarkets identifying several food deserts It identified food deserts as a key factor in why over 700 000 people in New York City had diabetes over 1 1 million New Yorkers were obese and another 2 million were overweight 14 1 Health problems are especially prevalent in minority communities For instance supermarkets in predominantly minority Harlem are 30 percent less common than on the predominantly white Upper East Side while 20 percent of Upper East Side bodegas carried leafy green vegetables only 3 percent of those in Harlem did so 15 Three million New Yorkers live in neighborhoods with high need for grocery stores and supermarkets such as Harlem and Washington Heights in Manhattan Bushwick East New York and Sunset Park in Brooklyn Corona Jamaica and Far Rockaway in Queens the South Bronx Williamsbridge Wakefield and Pelham Parkway in the Bronx and St George and Stapleton in Staten Island show the greatest need for full line supermarkets 14 2 In February 2008 City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced the creation of a Statewide Supermarket Commission that would identify state and local policy solutions to expand supermarkets and keep them open The Commission would be led by the Food Trust and the Food Bank for New York City in partnership with the City s Food Policy Coordinator and the Food Industry Alliance 15 Simultaneously the United Food and Commercial Workers Local 1500 which represents grocery store workers worked to create healthy food options for all New Yorkers through supermarkets community supported agriculture urban agriculture and farmers markets 16 Green Cart program Edit As part of an ongoing effort to increase access to healthy foods the city created 1 000 new Green Cart permits in 2008 These permits were meant for street vendors who exclusively sell fresh fruits and vegetables which must be raw and whole 17 These permits can be used only in neighborhoods where 15 or more of the population reported having consumed zero servings of fruits or vegetables in the previous 24 hours 15 Local businesses initially opposed the initiative but a reduction in the number of permits allowed the program to be signed into law 18 12 After the program was approved the city received funding and support from several partners to help further the program 18 13 14 A 2014 study by the Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs showed that although there were only 166 Green Carts in operation these green carts were instrumental in raising exposure to healthy foods in poorer neighborhoods in Manhattan the Bronx Queens and Brooklyn 18 27 38 The same study found that of these Green Carts there were none on Staten Island 18 21 26 19 Restaurant grading system Edit Big Daddy s Diner in Manhattan with an A grade displayed in the window A grading system for New York City s 24 000 restaurants was launched in July 2010 20 21 Restaurant inspectors show up unannounced to the restaurant to inspect its hygiene then give a ranking of A B or C depending on how many code violations the restaurant has An A grade is considered the best grade with 0 to 13 violations with the highest standard for cleanliness a B grade indicates 14 to 27 violations and a C grade the worst grade indicates at least 28 violations 22 Restaurants then receive placards containing the restaurant s grades and post them in a prominent location Each placard is embossed and tagged with a number as an anti counterfeiting measure 21 Restaurateurs who get a B or C could request a re review of their restaurants getting Grade Pending placards in the meantime 22 As part of the launch the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene hired 23 inspectors bringing the total number of inspectors to 180 It also raised the number of annual visits from 60 000 to 85 000 21 Michael Bloomberg the then mayor of New York City stated that the practice was meant to reduce the number of foodborne illnesses and improve food safety 23 However some restaurants avoid being regulated by registering as supermarkets or warehouses 24 Within 18 months of the grading system s implementation salmonella infections dropped by 14 but the total amount of the fines issued rose more than 145 prompting large criticism 25 In 2014 the grading system was restructured to reduce fines 26 In 2016 ninety three percent of restaurants got an A grade the highest percentage in the history of the grading system 27 International model EditBecause of the way in which urban and rural New Yorkers have cooperated to create a protected ecosystem that brings healthy local food and clean water to a large urban population New York City has become an international food systems model The United Nations invited New York farmers workers retailers and NGOs to act as representatives to the UN s Commission on Sustainable Development at its headquarters in New York City The city hosted the UN s City and Farm Linkages Showcase in May 2008 to show New York State s urban rural partnership to international leaders 28 References Edit Hu Winnie 2018 01 18 A Billion Dollar Investment in New York s Water The New York Times National Research Council Committee to Review the New York City Watershed Management Strategy 2000 02 17 Watershed Management for Potable Water Supply Assessing the New York City Strategy Washington D C National Academies Press ISBN 9780309172684 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a CS1 maint uses authors parameter link Dunlap David W May 8 2015 As a Plant Nears Completion Croton Water Flows Again to New York City The New York Times Catskill Delaware Water Ultraviolet Disinfection Facility New York City Department of Environmental Protection Archived from the original on September 6 2012 Planning Walton NY Watershed Agricultural Council Retrieved 2022 06 27 Muller Mark The New York City Watershed Whole Farm Program Catskill Region New York USA Minneapolis MN Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy Retrieved 2022 06 27 Ask About New York s Greenmarkets City Room The New York Times 2008 08 11 Archived from the original on 2021 01 28 Severson Kim 2006 07 19 Greenmarket at 30 Searching for Itself The New York Times Fishman Steve April 12 2003 Manhattan Gets Fresh New York magazine Severson Kim 2007 10 17 Local Carrots With a Side of Red Tape The New York Times Saul Michael Howard 2015 02 18 New York s Free School Lunch Program Hits Limits Wall Street Journal a b New York City to offer free summer meals for children 18 years and younger ABC7 News June 25 2013 DOE Announces Start of Annual Free Summer Meals Program for All NYC Children and Youth 2014 2015 New York City Department of Education June 24 2015 a b Socioeconomic amp Housing Going to Market New York City s Neighborhood Grocery Store and Supermarket Shortage PDF nyc gov New York City Department of City Planning April 21 2008 Retrieved March 20 2017 a b c COUNCIL VOTES TO CREATE NEW PERMITS FOR GREEN VENDORS BRINGING MORE FRESH PRODUCE TO UNDERSERVED COMMUNITIES nyc gov The Council of the City of New York February 27 2008 Archived from the original on 2008 05 02 Retrieved 2017 03 21 Union Responds To New York City Study on Lack of Supermarkets readmedia com April 22 2008 Retrieved 2017 03 21 NYC Green Carts nyc gov New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Archived from the original on 2008 04 30 Retrieved 2017 03 21 a b c d Fuchs Ester R Holloway Sarah M Bayer Kimberly Feathers Alexandra June 11 2014 Study NYC Green Carts Expand Access to Fresh Produce in Low Income Neighborhoods PDF columbia edu Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs Archived from the original PDF on 2014 07 25 Retrieved 2017 03 21 Goldberg Dan July 7 2014 Produce cart program a modest success Politico PRO Retrieved 2017 03 21 Douglas Leah July 2010 A Guide to New York s New Restaurant Grading System Serious Eats Retrieved 2017 05 17 a b c Collins Glenn 2010 07 27 Letter Grading of Restaurants Hygiene to Begin The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2017 05 17 a b Wolfe Jonathan 2017 05 17 New York Today What Do Restaurant Grades Mean The New York Times ISSN 0362 4331 Retrieved 2017 05 17 Saul Michael Howard 2012 03 07 Grading Eatery Grading Wall Street Journal ISSN 0099 9660 Retrieved 2017 05 17 Blau Reuven Weichselbaum Simone 2012 01 09 How eateries avoid Health Dept letter grades NY Daily News Retrieved 2017 05 17 Collins Glenn Restaurateurs Voice Anger Over Health Inspections City Room The New York Times Company Retrieved 2017 05 17 Lemire Jonathan March 21 2014 NYC restaurant letter grade system revamped by City Council ABC7 New York Retrieved 2017 05 17 D Amato Peter 2017 05 12 More restaurants are passing their health exams Crain s New York Business Retrieved 2017 05 17 City and Farm Linkages Showcase Showcase Learning Event PDF United Nations May 9 11 2008 Retrieved March 20 2017 External links Edit Media related to Food in New York City at Wikimedia Commons Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Food and water in New York City amp oldid 1107480612, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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