The Central Brooklyn Food Hub Advisory Committee is proud to release the feasibility study for a Central Brooklyn Food Hub — highlighting the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Central Brooklyn’s local food systems and outlining recommendations from the Central Brooklyn Food Hub to support current community needs and ongoing food justice efforts.

Restoration was contracted by the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets in 2018 to complete the feasibility study as part of NY Governor Cuomo’s Vital Brooklyn initiative. Since submitting the study in 2019, the pandemic’s impact on New York City has reaffirmed the work community groups, including the Central Brooklyn Food Coop, Isabahlia Ladies of Elegance Foundation, Brooklyn Packers, and countless other food justice organizations have been working on for decades. This study presents a framework for community-owned infrastructure that will localize the distribution of healthy foods in Central Brooklyn neighborhoods that experience food apartheid including Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and East New York. 

Working with the Advisory Committee on a year-long community engagement and research process where they presented to the community the potential benefits of a food hub, hosted community meetings, focus groups, stakeholder interviews, and solicited feedback throughout the process and involving more than 100 partners, the study presents six recommendations for a community-owned food system that point to the urgent need to invest in community assets for a locally-controlled food system. The Food Hub Advisory Committee, which includes City Harvest, Brownsville Community Culinary Center, and the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets, has continued to meet weekly to strategize the next phase for implementing the recommendations in the study which will include a pilot version of the food hub recommendations this summer. This pilot is supported by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation. 

For more on the feasibility study, read the summary document and full study on our website. 

View Central Brooklyn Food Hub Study Summary

About Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation is the nation’s first community development corporation. Created in 1967 through grassroots activism and the bipartisan support of Senators Robert F. Kennedy and Jacob Javits, Restoration serves 50,000 annually as an advocate, coalition-builder, and direct service provider with a focus on the predominantly minority and low-income communities of Central Brooklyn. Restoration’s mission is to relentlessly pursue strategies to close gaps in family and community wealth to ensure all families in Central Brooklyn are prosperous and healthy.