Lantern’s Fresh Food Box program provides our clients with an assortment of seasonal fruits, vegetables, eggs and grains sourced from regional farmers. Fresh Food Box introduces clients to new foods, the pleasure of cooking, and shares knowledge of how to stretch food budgets to include nutritious food.
Our partner GrowNYC sources fresh fruit and vegetables from New York farms and delivers them to our buildings each week. Lantern’s Health & Wellness Coordinators and volunteers set the produce out in attractive baskets in the buildings’ common area for clients to select. Staff and volunteers encourage residents to select a variety of vegetables, and set up cooking demonstrations to create a simple, tasty and nutritious meal for residents. The meal typically features a less familiar vegetable from that week’s produce selection. Residents receive food samples, and copies of the recipe to help them cook the new vegetable themselves.
In this relaxed environment, residents also talk with each other and share nutrition ideas. As well as fostering healthy eating, the program promotes social interaction, combating social isolation among residents and encouraging behavior change through positive peer influences.
Volunteer with the Fresh Food Box program!
Lantern’s Fresh Food Box program is generously supported by City Council Members Helen Rosenthal, Mark Levine, and former Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverto