Presenters:

1. Healthy Lifestyle in Manhattan 2009 Presenters: Mentors: Brandon Burton, Scott Group 2 part of Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle project

2. History past to present • Manhattan rises from historic homes to everything you could ever imagine. Manhattan was the first part of the city that was ever settled by Europeans, which they loved very much because New York Harbor made it very easy for them to keep up with trades. New Amsterdam was the first name New York ever gotten until the British took charge in 1664. • The presence of Europeans within the island of Manhattan began during the year 1624. They started to colonize the new world and began controversies with Native Americans. • . Manhattan has always been a place of segregation, of unequal rights, and of racial violence, but now people are communicating more with other people and are learning to accept each other.

3. History Past to Present • Before the change of decade, Manhattan was devoted to industries, trades, and fishing, but as the 20th and 21st century progress, Manhattan became liberal, throwing away all the old traditions and welcoming the new way of life. It is home to Chinatown, Little Italy, Soho, Chelsea, Yorkville, and Harlem. Many of these places have their own special traditions especially Chinatown. Manhattan has become one of the complex places in New York and has become one of the most fun places in the universe to live in.

4. Basic information about population • According to the 2000 census bureau, the total population of Manhattan is 1,537,195 and if you were to compare this population to any one of the other boroughs, we would not find anyone of them with more people than that of Manhattan. In 2008, the population increased by 97,600 people, keeping the borough the most populated of the five. • . Talk about being crowded! Based on a New York Times article, Manhattan has the lowest death rate than other county in New York! But why is the increase so dramatic in Manhattan? Demographers believe that many people now choose to live downtown because of the affordable rents, more constructions for housing and opportunities, and a rise of immigrants.

5. Data for new residential living

6. A VISUALIZATION OF THE RACIAL DISTRIBUTION IN THE UPPER PART OF MANHATTAN AND THE BRONX

7. Our purpose of the research: Our purpose was to find out socioeconomic conditions that affect a local population's ability to buy healthy or organic foods. This includes the location of certain healthy food places, price of the food, and many other factors that might prevent someone from eating healthy.

8. American Lifestyle • Our research has shown that the upper classes would often shop at healthier and more expensive supermarkets like Whole Foods and the farmers market. If we were to go to a lower middle class neighborhood, there would not be any Whole Foods supermarket or farmers market. They have common grocery stores with familiar, and surprisingly not as healthy brands that contain twice as much sugar or fat as the food sold at Whole Foods. • Today in schools, the effort is made to ensure students with not just healthy food, but with effective physical education and activity. • Because of the vast increase of immigrants, many cultural foods are available all around the city. Americans love to try new food day to day, ranging from Italian, to Chinese, and then to Hispanic.

9. Site visit in Washington Heights • The farmers market had a large variety of herbs that you wouldn’t find in other markets. All the locations from which the food is obtained are within 200 miles of New York City. Knowing where the sellers got the product and how it is grown or made is very important because it shows that the sellers know their stuff. This gives the customer a confident feeling in the products that they may wish to buy. • Moving on to a corner store, we found out that it was under construction, provided that dust were flying on the foods sold. The location was not in a busy street compared to the farmer’s market. Some aisles were blocked and products were not accessible because of the construction. • The supermarket had their AC on high and kept their customers cooled while shopping. Much of the products were in packages in the food inside the package didn’t seem fresh at all.

10. Washington Heights Summary • The farmer’s market devotes their service to helping Americans eat healthy and staying fit by offering fresh produces, low price, and excellent costumer service. • The Corner store sells mainly package food and does not provide their shoppers with produce choices. i.e. There are no apples or oranges on site, but bananas, plantains, and canned vegetables. • The supermarket charges customer extra for the Air conditioner, huge rent, and the number of employers. Things are mostly all packaged and does not look fresh. • The Healthy Alternative: Try to shop at Farmer’s Markets of Whole Foods Market first before going to other places.

11. Site Visit in 125thst. • 125th St. Farmer’s Market: The foods are imported from Clarontondale, New York but there aren’t as many variety as the other farmer’s market. The presentation was fair enough and the food was pretty cheap. Some of the food looked almost rotten and of low quality. The clerk selling the food did not pay attention to the customers but were texting. • Alex’s Farmer’s Market: The foods are imported from Carlisle, New York. They have good-quality and the products were clean and looks fresh. The food was stacked nicely and very organized. They sold a healthy variety of food from berries to onions, and to tomatoes. The prices were reasonable for their fresh produce but was pretty expensive. • Migorelli’s Farmer’s Market: The foods are imported from Tiovoli, New York and they sold many variety of vegetables but not much fruits. The price were reasonable and not too expensive. The tents covered the products so the heat wouldn’t ruin the appearance. The people were also very friendly.

12. Site Visit in 125thst. • Corona’s Grocery Store: Roaches were crawling around in the store, and most of the food sold were junk foods. There were bare shelves visible to the customers. The windows were dusty and most of the drinks were alcoholic. The prices are very cheap. • C-Town: C-Town is all over the city and the overall presentation of the place is acceptable. The store was small and there were not too many organic foods available. They sold original products there are high in fat and sugar.

13. Summary of 125th site visit • The area was very urban there was some traffic. There are many transportation available. Most of the people in the area were African Americans . There was a small percentage of Caucasians and Hispanics. The streets were not so clean. Although the residents seems to be unable to purchase expensive products, the grocery store should not be a choice. I would strongly suggest the farmer’s market but if it is troublesome, C-town will be the place but they should be conscience of what they purchase.

14. 96th street site visit • Farmer’s Market: Sold many variations of foods like sun fed beef, fresh bread and pastries, and fish. The fishes are caught from the Atlantic Ocean. Homemade drinks were also sold in the Market but was more of a jam. There was a stand that was set up to educate customers about foods tamps that could have been used at farmer’s market. The sellers were very eager to talk to the customers. • Supermarket: The food is a lot cheaper but the poultry was not fresh at all. The milk didn’t seem to be very fresh because the expiration date was very close. Although some things don’t look fresh, the vegetables were fresh and cheap. They had organic food but the employees weren’t friendly.

15. 96th street site visit • Deli: The deli was small and cramped. They sold a lot of junk food and there were no produce in sight. Most of the drinks were alcohol and sodas. • 99 cent store: They sold stale bread and a lot of junk food. The foods are very inexpensive. Concluding Statement: Why waste money on things that are going to kill you in the long run when you could be investing on a healthier life.

16. 66th street site visit • Farmer’sMarket: Many Varieties of berries are sold that you can’t find in other supermarkets. The clerks are always willing to answer your questions and really knows about the things they are selling. The prices were a bit high for many produces but they offer fresh and healthy product. • Corner Store: the junk foods were really expensive. You could expect 2 packaged chocolate chip cookies for $2.00. They had a lot of international foods but in containers and cans. The overall setting was clean and organized and sold regular products. • Pharmacy/Supermarket: There was no flash photography available and refrigerated food was charged more than half the cost of non-refrigerated food. We also realized that many of the unhealthy products were in kids’ reach. They placed many of the products in a convincing setting.

17. Summary of site visit at 66th street • It was apparent that the farmer’s market provide fresher products than any one of the other markets. But the price at the farmer’s market were pretty expensive and our group observed that the majority of the shoppers were white. We don’t exactly know if the price is stopping minorities from shopping here or if the location was too far.

18. Site Visit in Union Square • Whole Food: This place gives shoppers many choices on what to buy. There are always more than one choice for drinks, grapes, apples, pears, eggs, etc. Regular chips are replaced with veggie chips. Most of the foods are organic and there are all displayed in a well respected manner. You could find anything you could imagine in here. Everything is so fresh and organized. Prices can be expensive. • Farmer’s market: In this farmer’s market, you could find many varieties of beans. The products are actually more expensive than whole foods. This was more than a farmers market; it was like a food paradise. • The first corner store: The setting of the store was very original. The poultry was all packaged and the cheese was sitting in the corner like it has already expired months ago. The environment was very unpleasant and was very crowed in the aisles. • Second corner store: It was smaller than the first and literally had nothing at all except for their populated deli.

19. Summary of site visit in Union Sq. • In this situation where you have a farmer’s market and a Whole Foods Market, Whole Foods Market is more preferable because it has everyday products, all healthy, and all are fresh. The price is also cheaper except some drinks that both market sold.

20. Illegal photo from Whole Foods Market

21. Small part of the Farmer’s market

22. Site Visit in City Hall • Farmer’s market: The farmer’s market is very organized and the people the clerks were all really friendly. You would expect all products sold there to be fresh everyday. Benefit cards are not being accepted there because not a lot of people uses it there but they said that they are getting it fixed. • The supermarket: The Supermarket does contain a wide variety of good from all departments, including produce, canned goods, drinks, and baked goods. The prices were of course much more affordable than that of the farmer’s market. They had a wide variety of wines that were conveniently placed across the fruits and vegetables. The meat products that were sold, came in small quantities, and were almost a week away from expiration. • .Corner Store: It was no surprise that there is not a lot of variety, the store was cluttered with junk food and with almost nothing people would consider to be healthy. In addition to this, the store it’s self was extremely small and barely had space to walk through.

23. Summary of City Hall Site Visit • City Hall, area of downtown Manhattan is a diverse and crowded area populated by office buildings and political headquarters. The residents there are believed to be in the upper class. The farmer’s market clearly have healthier and fresher products while supermarket have fresh and ready made food. The farmer’s market is obvious the best choice to shop at but the supermarket here is an exceptional choice, depending on what you purchase.

24. Overall Health of Manhattan Residents • In such a diverse part of the world, Manhattan, there are big differences in household income ranging from different families. High income Families have a smaller chance of getting obesity or diabetes because they can afford healthy foods. If we walk around we can find easily that in a high income area there is more organic and fresh food than the low-income areas, but the prices are a lot higher for fresh and organic food. The high income people have less risk to get diabetes or obesity. They don’t go around buying fat food in a daily bases, like hot dogs, junk foods, or fast foods. Americans like to work up in fitness areas and jog in the parks, they are slowly getting rid of their lazy habits.

25. Better Alternatives for a healthier lifestyle • Shop at places that you can trust • Always ask the sales clerk if you have questions • Check the ingredients (If something sounds weird, don’t eat it!) • Try to shop at places with organic and fresh food • Just because it is name brand, it does not always mean it’s the best brand.

26. Conclusion • There are inadequate healthy options in low income areas and higher percentages of minorities. Many lower income neighborhoods do not even have a farmer’s market. This means that these people would have to travel further from home, and probably do not have the budget to buy these goods on a regular basis because of the higher prices. This leads to many of the minorities eating what is available, such as junk food, fast food, and packaged food depriving them of better food choices, and leaving them prone to unhealthy lifestyles.

27. Citations: • Greenmarket Farmer’s Markets: http:/www.cenyc.org/greenmarket • Census Bureau: http://www.census.gov/ • NY Department of Health: http://www.health.state.ny.us • NY Farmers Market: http://www.nyfarmersmarket.com • New York Times Article: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/03/20/manhattan-population-is-still-growing/ • Lehman College data: http://www.lehman.edu/deannss/bronxdatactr/discover/trypng3.png • Census data: http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/census/popcur.shtml • History past to present: http://www.hellomanhattan.com/History.Cfm • Site visit summaries from fellow members of the Nutrition Group

28. Acknowledgements • Brandon Burton • Scott • The vendors who provided free samples • The NYPL (New York Public Library) • Harlem Children Society • Dr. Sat Bhattacharya • All of the audience