Expanding the Impact of Newark Community Food Systems
Principal Investigator: Jeana Wirtenberg, PhD
Community Partner: Newark Science & Sustainability, Inc.
Location: Newark
This project is a collaboration between Rutgers Institute for Corporate Social Innovation (RICSI) and Newark Science and Sustainability Inc., a 501(c)(3) organization and facilitator for the Newark Community Food System. The purpose of this project is to address the social determinants of health with emphasis on food access and food security in economically disadvantaged communities located in Newark, NJ. We aim to provide residents of Newark with healthy food access and nutrition education over a two-year period from 2024-2025.
Healthy food access will be provided by sponsoring 100 families currently residing in food deserts to receive 20 weeks (June to October) of fresh, locally grown produce packages that feed two to four people. Nutrition education will be provided by supporting 40 stakeholders in becoming ServSafe Manager certified, as well as introducing a new training with a Doula Network for families with expectant mothers or newborn babies. Community engagement events will also be provided in each of the two years to promote healthy food access, community green development, and pathways to green jobs, as well as a series of workshops and Farm to Table community meal events to encourage healthy eating, healthy living practices, and environmental education.
Our intention is not only to expand access to healthy food and nutrition education, but also to help educate and prepare the next generation of Rutgers Business School students to be leaders in Corporate Social Innovation and support corporations in addressing societal needs. We are committed to capturing the voice of the community through qualitative and quantitative evaluations in order to continuously improve our impact on health equity in Newark and beyond. The collaboration between our two organizations is long-standing and was first established in 2019 through a Newark-based student/community competition focused on addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The competition was hosted by RICSI at Rutgers Business School in Newark and supported by a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant.
