By: Pamela Honey
Teens for Food Justice is launching a first-of-its-kind partnership with the Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center and New York Common Pantry to expand access to healthy food for patients while enhancing health career pathways for NYC students.
Starting this summer, 25-30 cancer patients at Mount Sinai’s Ruttenberg Treatment Center in East Harlem will receive weekly bags of nutrient-dense leafy greens, salad greens, and herbs grown by students at DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx. Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center dietitians specifically selected the crops to meet the needs of people undergoing cancer treatment.
This three-month pilot project brings fresh produce directly to patients while exploring an innovative model connecting local farming, clinical nutrition, and long-term food security work.
What patients receive
Each week from July through September, patients will receive fresh, hydroponically-grown vegetables from TFFJ and pantry staples from New York Common Pantry. They will also receive recipes for the produce in their bag, food safety guidance for immunocompromised individuals, and nutrition advice tailored to cancer treatment.
Fresh food as clinical intervention
Cancer treatment and difficulty accessing healthy food create a dangerous cycle. A commentary published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported that between 17 and 55 percent of cancer patients experience food insecurity. Rising temperatures, extreme weather, and fragile supply chains make it harder for everyone to obtain fresh, nutritious food. For people undergoing cancer treatment, access to nutrient-dense food is essential. It affects treatment outcomes, recovery, and quality of life.
Hyper-local hydroponic farms offer a solution that traditional food systems cannot. TFFJ farms produce food year-round, regardless of weather or supply chain disruptions. They are embedded in the communities where students live and learn. And they are run by young people learning to build the food systems we need.
The Ruttenberg Treatment Center’s location in East Harlem, close to New York Common Pantry, makes this pilot project possible. A model that works here can scale across other hospital systems that have patients facing the same challenges.
A collaborative approach to food as medicine
This pilot project brings together three organizations working on different parts of the same challenge. The Mount Sinai Tisch Cancer Center knows cancer patients’ needs. New York Common Pantry knows how to distribute food with dignity. TFFJ knows how to grow hyper-local produce and train the next generation of food justice leaders. Starting from the simple premise that healthy food is medicine, this pilot project is built on the idea that a more just food system can mean better access to nutrition for every cancer patient. ❦
Pamela Honey is the Communications & Content Coordinator at Teens for Food Justice.
