Food Change

The mission of FoodChange is to improve lives through nutrition, education and financial empowerment.
Founded in 1980, FoodChange provides emergency meals to New York City’s hungry children and adults. Through education and direct service, we increase low-income people’s knowledge of nutrition and healthy foods and try to make wholesome eating a daily reality for all New Yorkers . And, to enhance people’s ability to afford healthy foods, we help them identify, capture and maximize all the government benefits to which they are entitled. FoodChange has a variety of programs and services geared to the general population, we will in this post focus on FoodChange for seniors.
The Senior Food Programs-the only meal programs held in public school cafeterias-serve on average 225 early dinners each weekday to senior citizens in the dining facilities of two public schools, P.S. 154 in Harlem and P.S. 134 on the Lower East Side. In addition, the programs provide educational, cultural and recreational activities, such as exercise classes, nutrition workshops, dance lessons, site visits, trips and movies, as well as information sessions on social and financial benefits for seniors. Approximately 2,000 seniors are registered; one must be at least 60 years old to qualify. The Senior Food Programs are offered between 3:30 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. each weekday that the two public schools are in session, as well as during the summer.
The Harlem program includes interaction with young people, bringing seniors together with about 50 youngsters. Seniors have an opportunity to mentor and advise the younger generation while the teenagers get to assist aging people and gain hands-on social work experience. Joint activities include tutoring children between the ages of 5 and 13 and participating in exercise, music, arts and crafts, other cultural activities and homework assistance.
CookShop® for Seniors is FoodChange’s innovative nutrition education program for seniors who participate in senior congregate meal programs in East and Central Harlem and the Lower Eastside. Through this program, seniors increase their self efficacy to purchase, prepare and consume fresh/frozen vegetables as well as to prevent/manage specific nutrition related diseases by participating in nutrition education workshops, hands-on cooking workshops and field trips. For more information about FoodChange innovative programs go to www.foodchange.org