A school in Ocean Hill hopes to increase the amount of fresh produce
in the community through a farmers
market -- with the help of its
students.
According to nonprofit Neighbors Together, Ocean Hill, Brownsville and Bed-Stuy are three of the top areas in New York City considered a food desert.
News 12 is told the farmers market has helped teach the children about healthy living
and fresh produce.
"We never saw them come in with a banana or an orange,
or an apple and when we asked them they said, ‘Well Miss Priscilla, my mom said
she can't get it where we live at,
they don't sell it. Or she can't afford to buy it for what the supermarket is
charging her for,'” recalls a teacher at the Ocean Hill school.
The program started by nonprofit
Seeds in the Middle is working hard to eradicate this
problem by first teaching the students.
"I thought that it wouldn't really be fun, but then as soon as I started
doing it, it actually taught me
that you can always help plants and it helps you survive and other people in
the community,” says a Seeds in the Middle representative.
Many of the students also penned letters to Mayor Bill de Blasio with the hope of obtaining more funding for
the program.
Students would also like to raise awareness of the limited access
of fresh produce in the area.