For many years, community advocates, researchers and nonprofit groups have studied and written about East Harlem. To make some of this information more readily available to those working to improve East Harlem, the New York City Food Policy Center conducted a search of needs assessments and food studies done in East Harlem over the period 2003 to 2013.
East Harlem is a diverse and vibrant community with specific health and social needs. Assessing the needs of the community can help better inform the design of policies, programs and services for East Harlem residents. The New York City Food Policy Center conducted a search of needs assessments and food studies done in East Harlem over the period 2003-2013. We found a total of 19 assessments and food studies conducted by different groups, organizations and academics. The assessments covers over an 11-year span and encompass four main topics: Food Needs, Health Care Access, Opportunities for Physical Activity and Historic Preservation. We recommend that future projects to improve life in East Harlem consider findings of these previous assessments of East Harlem and ensure that any future needs assessment contribute new knowledge on what needs to be done rather than simply repeat studies that have already been done.
If you know about health or food needs assessment studies conducted in East Harlem that are not included here, please send the study or a reference to [email protected].