NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business Publishes Pilot Projects To Support Food Security in New York, Funded by Mother Cabrini Health Foundation 

A new landscape analysis of food systems in NYS informed the creation of ready-to-launch market solutions ripe for investment

The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB), today published FoodMap NY: Leveraging Private Sector Innovation for Food Security. The research findings and project reports assess the current food system operations in New York and highlight specific opportunities for public-private partnerships to support stronger food security across the state. The executive summary of research and projects can be found here.

With over 2.2 million New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity, FoodMap NY sought to understand how impact investors and philanthropic organizations can build new markets and expand access to healthy food in the region. The initiative was funded by $2.3M in grants from Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to support CSB as a think tank in researching the food system in New York State, and as an incubator to design pilot programs that engage the private sector across the food supply chain to create greater access to healthy, affordable food.

Following a landscape analysis that detailed New York’s current food system, CSB partnered with community-based organizations, government, academia, and businesses to create project proposals designed to bring private investment to public needs, creating market solutions that fill the gaps in production and distribution. Pending investment, the following projects are equipped with operating partners and plans ready to implement:

• Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA): A public-private business model for innovative greenhouse operations in upstate New York that addresses food insecurity, while producing year-round, fresh products at near price-parity with out-of-state field produce. 
• Food and Nutrition Assistance: A coalition of stakeholders created a comprehensive project plan for the NYS EBT Healthy Incentive Program (HIP) Pilot, reducing barriers to uptake in nutrition incentive programs that supplement SNAP benefits by fully integrating benefits with EBT cards.
• Food as Medicine: An evaluation of the private insurance business case for healthy food as medicine for patients at risk of chronic diseases from poor nutrition. One of the largest, NYS private insurers (Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield) and privately insured, lower income healthcare employees at a Buffalo hospital (Kaleida Health) are ready to engage in identifying measurable healthcare savings and improved patient outcomes. 
• Food Finance: Mobilizing flexible, low-cost capital to meet the needs of farms and food enterprises that help make healthy, affordable food accessible to all New Yorkers, by educating key stakeholders and supporting increased collaboration among philanthropies, investors, government, and NGOs/community organizations.
• Healthy Food in Urban and Rural Retail Environments: 
  • Urban: A multi-bodega purchasing cooperative and last mile delivery network pilot in the Hunts Point neighborhood of the Bronx to increase access to healthy, affordable food. 
  • Rural: A pilot to introduce a “ready to heat” or “ready to cook” product line at budget convenience stores in Upstate New York, capitalizing on growing demand for healthy, affordable food options from lower-income shoppers.
• Supply Chain & Infrastructure: A preliminary business plan with Seneca Grain & Bean and Headwater Food Hub identifying the modest investment needs of NYS growers and processors to expand the production and market for dried beans and minimally processed produce.

“This initiative helps demonstrate that the private sector has a vital role in responding to the entrenched and growing problem of food insecurity. Private partners can often act more quickly, be more innovative, and more easily bring capital to enterprises than government alone, while still realizing financial returns,” said Marianna Koval, Director of the Invest NYC SDG Initiative at the NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business. “We applaud Mother Cabrini for being a leader in catalyzing private sector collaboration and investment to address food insecurity in New York State, and we invite philanthropy and impact investors to heed their example and bring essential capital to these projects so they can create impact and return,” Koval added.

“Access to nutritious food is essential to both individual well-being and community health. Supporting the development of the FoodMap NY report aligns with our mission to address critical social determinants of health,” said Senior Program Officer, Barbara J. Zappia, Ed.D. “By providing a clearer picture of food insecurity across New York, we hope this initiative will guide impactful solutions and foster collaboration among stakeholders to ensure that residents across the state have access to the resources they need to thrive.” 

Project management was ably provided by the Center for Governmental Research (CGR), based in Rochester, New York.

About NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business

The NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business (CSB) was founded with the vision of a better world through better business. CSB empowers leaders to shape the new sustainable business paradigm, unleashing the transformative potential of business to solve societal challenges at speed and scale. Through practical research, innovation in education, and corporate engagement, CSB works across the business ecosystem to embed sustainability core to strategy, achieving breakthroughs in financial performance while creating positive environmental and social impacts. Learn more at www.stern.nyu.edu/sustainability and follow on LinkedIn @NYU Stern Center for Sustainable Business.

About Mother Cabrini Foundation

The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation is a private, nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve the health and wellbeing of New Yorkers, bolster the health outcomes of vulnerable communities, eliminate barriers to care, and bridge gaps in health services. Named after a tireless advocate for immigrants, children, and the poor, the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation funds programs and initiatives across New York State that either provide direct healthcare services or address the social determinants of health. For more information, visit https://www.cabrinihealth.org/