Craigardan Inc.

Through its Building Healthy Communities priority area, NYHealth has supported neighborhood-level approaches to improve access to healthy, affordable food and to activate spaces to encourage more physical activity.

To sustain the progress that has been made in these communities, it is important that neighborhood grantees have the tools and capacity they need to maintain and expand their initiatives and goals. Grantees have expressed a particular need for support in advocating for local policy change and solutions and effectively communicating their wins, goals, needs, and value. Strengthening these efforts will help ensure the long-term sustainability of the achievements and place-based work in each neighborhood. In 2021, NYHealth awarded Craigardan a grant to promote and inform innovative ideas for healthier food access in the North Country.

Under this grant, Craigardan coordinated a virtual, two-day summit on ways to advance a stronger, more equitable food system in the Adirondack region. Topics included improving food access during and after the COVID-19 pandemic; confronting racial inequities in northern New York; increasing food sovereignty in under-resourced communities; and supporting sustainable systems for farmers, food producers, small businesses, and other organizations. The summit brought together community leaders, business owners, farmers, consumers, health care professionals, and other stakeholders to identify obstacles, recognize successful initiatives, and create collaborative networks to move the region toward a fairer, sustainable food system.