Newark Beth Israel Medical Center - The Beth Garden
What is it?
Newark Beth Israel Medical Center (NBIMC) has partnered with Garden State Urban Farms to bring nutrition/wellness education and access to healthy foods to the area. What began as an indoor farmers market has grown into an earth box garden and farm in an empty lot owned by NBIMC. The working farm produces organic vegetables, fruits, and herbs.
Who is it for?
Inner-city communities of the South Ward and greater Newark area.
Why do they do it?
Newark is an urban "food desert," where residents typically must travel twice as far to reach the closest supermarket or other mainstream grocer as people in better-appointed neighborhoods.
Impact
More than 1,500 children have been educated on healthy nutrition and farming, and more than 200 women weekly who visit the WIC clinic have access to healthy food. The Beth Garden also provides opportunities for work and volunteering.
Contact: Barbara Mintz, MS, RD
Assistant Vice President, Wellness
Telephone: 973-926-2663
E-mail: bmintz@barnabashealth.org