Wednesday marked the third annual Health Food Day of Action, and Brooklyn students took the opportunity to rally outside of City Hall and demand funding to fight food insecurity in low-income neighborhoods.  

Students from Brooklyn’s P.S 139 stood with signs and even dressed in fruit costumes as they rallied for food justice. They are asking the City Council and Mayor Eric Adams to fund their ‘Seeds in the Middle’ program – a charity that works to tackle food deserts by putting farm stands in neighborhoods that need them.  

Organizers of the rally say their goal is to build a network of fresh food markets that will tackle food insecurity, and say that it first starts with secure funding from the city.  

A study from the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene shows that hypertension is 1.4 times higher among adults in high-poverty neighborhoods compared to those living in low poverty neighborhoods.  

As students continue to fight those health disparities, they delivered a letter to Council member Rita Joseph, asking to allocate funding for this initiative in the fiscal year 2024 budget.  

Organizers hope to secure $250,000 in funding before July 1, when the new fiscal year begins.