Just in case that Bodega Diet hasn't been working out for you, nonprofit GrowNYC, which runs the city's Greenmarkets, announced the launch of their new "Fresh Bodegas Project," which hopes to replace those canned hotdogs and dusty 40s you're used to seeing with locally-grown vegetables and fresh juices instead.
Building off of the Health Department's Healthy Bodegas Initiative, the plan is to take four bodegas in Bed-Stuy and pump them full of local fruit and juice from upstate's Red Jacket Orchards and produce from the Wholesale Greenmarket in the Bronx. “Everybody loves a fresh, juicy apple, but in many parts of the city, convenient access to farm fresh produce is inconvenient or simply does not exist,” said Marcel Van Ooyen, GrowNYC’s Executive Director. (Well, unless you live near the all-organic Williamsburg bodega.) The program hopes to serve as a win-win-win for shoppers, bodega owners and farmers.
Here's a look a video the organization put together to explain the program:
The four bodegas participating this summer are: Bedford Express Deli at 1043 Bedford Ave, 5J Deli Grocery Corp at 925 Marcy Ave, Greene Ave Supermarket at 664 Greene Ave, and Si Grocery at 1082 DeKalb Ave.
