The Norwood News, WFUV, BronxNet TV complete their five-part series profiling food insecurity across the Bronx.

Johlany Tejada is a first grader at an afterschool program operated by BronxWorks, a social services non-profit. Johlany has attended the program for two years and says that one of her favorite parts of the day is sitting down to eat. But her favorite snack isn’t what one would consider typical elementary school fare. It’s the Bronx Salad. “When I tried it, it tasted like it came straight from the trees and they just put water on it and it tasted very healthy,” Johlany said.

The Bronx is known as a food desert, which means residents have limited access to healthy foods. The Bronx Salad was first developed in an effort to combat this. Bronx Health REACH and SoBro, both Bronx-based non-profit groups, are responsible for the conception of this salad. While the salad is available to everyone, it’s primarily targeted at kids. One of the main goals of the Bronx Salad is to change local perceptions around healthy eating.

The culinary mind behind the Bronx Salad is Chef King Phojanakong. Phojanakong is the owner of the Kuma Inn in Manhattan and also created the Bronx Greenmarket Hot Sauce. Phojanakong said that when Bronx Health Reach and SoBro reached out to him about creating a salad, he wanted to make sure he was representing the diversity of the Bronx with the ingredients. “I wanted to use ingredients that were familiar to the community and accessible in restaurants,” Phojanakong said. “With Latino ingredients like beans, corn, mango, avocado, plantains, cilantro, peppers and onions, and Italian flavors with olives, olive oil and tomatoes.”

Bronx Health Reach created a Bronx Salad tool kit, so that anyone can replicate Phojanakong’s recipe.

“I have high hopes for the Bronx Salad,” Phojanakong said. He added that the most important aspect of the Bronx Salad isn’t how many salads are sold, but the prospect of changing the community’s overall health.

The Bronx Salad is part of the #Not62 initiative, a response to the Robert Wood Foundation’s 2016 study that ranked the Bronx the unhealthiest county in New York.

A Growing Food Desert
Dr. Sean Lucan, an associate professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, has conducted several research projects about the food environment in the Bronx. Lucan said there is a stark contrast in the availability of healthy foods in the Bronx compared to other boroughs like Manhattan.

“You can find calories in the forms of things to eat and drink almost anywhere you go, but the percentage of those items that are healthful or good choices vary,” Lucan said. “These are oftentimes the only things that are available.”

Lucan said that food options often have a direct effect on health outcomes. During his 15 years practicing medicine in the Bronx, Lucan observed extremely high levels of obesity lead to illnesses like diabetes. “Obesity rates are going up, and the rates of diet-related diseases that are linked to obesity are also on the increase,” Lucan said.

A 2014 study conducted by the Food Bank of New York City found that 250,000 residents in the Bronx are food insecure, meaning they don’t have reliable access to enough affordable, nutritious food.

BronxWorks is working to change that.  It partners with three community centers to bring healthy choices to elementary and middle school students in afterschool programs. Rachel Gill, a kitchen manager at BronxWorks, said a big part of creating initiatives like the Bronx Salad is to improve the community’s overall health by offering “a recognizable healthy choice that also [represents] the flavor of the community.”

Healthy Food Exposure
Gill said exposing kids to healthy food at a young age will increase the chances of them making healthy food choices as adults. She said kids are more impressionable than adults, so it’s easier to change bad eating habits early.

Right now, the Bronx Salad is sold in a dozen bodegas and eateries. The salad is also served at a number of community centers with the help of non-profit organizations like BronxWorks. Gill said another challenge is ensuring that healthy foods like the Bronx Salad are more readily available to the community. “This stuff isn’t available everywhere,” she said, “so part of what BronxWorks does is advocate and put on lots of programming to increase access to healthy choices like the Bronx Salad.”

Gill said getting adults to choose to buy the Bronx Salad is another issue. For some people, it’s about not having enough time or money to eat better. The Bronx Salad is offered for free at several community centers and dozens of school cafeterias. The Mott Haven Bar and Grill sells the Bronx Salad for $13.95.

Gill said the best hope for the Bronx to change their rank on the Robert Wood Foundation’s study is to invest community efforts in developing initiatives focused on the next generation.

Kehlani Muhammad, a fifth grade student, is enrolled in one of BronxWorks afterschool programs. She said that she eats the Bronx Salad almost every day. Kehlani said that after learning all about the salad and making it herself, she would gladly choose the Bronx Salad over a bag of chips. “It’s very healthy for you, and it’s also that it could help you grow stronger,” Kehlani said.