We’re using advocacy to change the food system.

A problem we can solve

Too often, race and socioeconomic status impact who does and does not have access to healthy food. Two key factors contribute to a lack of healthy food access in a community, and we’re working to address both of them.

Availability: Almost 1.5 million New Yorkers live in areas with limited supermarket access. Accessing healthy food is especially challenging for those living in lower-income neighborhoods and communities of color, and traveling long distances can be prohibitive without a car.

Affordability: Even if low-income individuals have physical access to healthy food, they often can’t afford it. Disparities in social determinants such as wealth, poverty, and low socioeconomic status exist across racial and ethnic lines and can contribute to poor health outcomes. In 2024, the average income for Black households was about $56,020, while the average income for White households was about $92,530. Studies have shown that convenience stores like bodegas found in large numbers in cities across New York typically charge 11 percent more than larger supermarkets for the same product. And on average, a day’s worth of the most healthy diet patterns (for example, diets rich in fruits, vegetables, fish, and nuts) costs a person about $550 more per year than less healthy ones.

Our response

We use our collective voice to address these challenges.

We work to influence significant policy and program decisions and be a voice for food equity, beacuse our government representatives can decide where and how to direct resources, incentivize and support programs, write new policies, or change policies — but they can’t know what’s best for our communities without our input.

We work to affect vital funding decisions, because our representatives make decisions each year about how to divide budgets to best serve the needs of their communities — but they can’t have our partners’ and their communities’ needs in mind unless we have a seat at the table.

We work to create a more inclusive and diverse policy-making process, beacuse community-based organizations and businesses in the food sectors are experts at what they do — but they won’t be adequately represented and included without the education and training, policy skills, and food system expertise that Equity Advocates provides.

Ultimately, we support our partners to be civically engaged and advance their missions through policy change.