Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer's Fresh Food For Seniors Program First Delivery Comes To Roosevelt Island Last Wednesday - Place Your Order Today And Tomorrow At Seniors Center For Delivery November 4

Reported September 24 that Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer's Fresh Food For Seniors program was coming to Roosevelt Island.

A spokesperson for Manhattan Borough President Brewer reports that on Wednesday, October 21:

Fresh Food for Seniors program made its first delivery to Roosevelt Island, dropping off more than 60 bags of fresh, locally-sourced produce for Roosevelt Island seniors.

The program, newly expanded to Roosevelt Island, makes pre-packed bags of produce available to seniors every two weeks in the West Village, Chelsea, Clinton, the Upper West Side, Upper Yorkville, East Harlem, and northern Manhattan for just $8 per bag on a pay-as-you-go basis.

“It’s amazing what we’ve been able to do with this program in just three short years,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer, who started the Fresh Food for Seniors program on the Upper West Side in 2012, when she served as that neighborhood’s councilmember. “For just $8 a bag, this program pays for itself while delivering healthy, fresh produce to seniors right in their own neighborhoods at a tremendous value.”

The Roosevelt Island Senior Association has partnered with the Borough President’s office to collect and distribute food bag orders at the Roosevelt Island Senior Center, located at 546 Main Street. The Roosevelt Island program has two more pairs of order and pickup dates in Fall 2015:

Place orders Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 26-27, 1pm-3pm
Pick-up Wednesday, Nov. 4, 3pm-6pm

Place orders Monday-Tuesday, Nov. 9-10, 1pm-3pm
Pick-up Wednesday, Nov. 18, 3pm-6pm

The produce for the Roosevelt Island program is purchased through Greenmarket Co., the wholesale division of GrowNYC, and is packed by volunteers at the Fulton Senior Center in Chelsea, before being transported to the Roosevelt Island Senior Center.

Image Of Information Sheet Attached To Fresh Food For Seniors Bag

Roosevelt Island resident Ron Davidson adds:

The Roosevelt Island Senior Center has a success.

The first bags of Fresh Food for Seniors were distributed October 21.

Nearly 70 households took advantage of this opportunity. The fruit and vegetables they took home included:

• 2 large white potatoes,
• 6 Cipollini red onions,
• 1 bunch kale,
• 1 bunch Italian parsley,
• 3 Macoun apples,
• 2 Shizuka apples,
• 1 Delicata quash.

Value. The $8 purchase price of each bag delivered to our Senior Center contained approximately $13 in value comparable to Fresh Direct.

Quality. I was impressed by the lush color, texture and size of the flat parsley and kale leaves.

Selection. Fancy Cipollini onions are only sometimes on sale at Whole Foods and Fairway -- never at Gristides; and Shizuka apples are a fancy variety which is not widely available.

Success. Can we all agree that the hard work of Wendy Hersh and others brought a success to our Senior Center?

Almost 70 bags of food were taken to 70 island homes; and there were also some who had to be turned away because they had not "invested" $8 last week.

It seems reasonable to predict that a similar number of island households are likely to participate next time. This is a good beginning.

You can place your Fresh Food For Seniors order today and tomorrow at the Seniors Center (546 Main Street) for pick up on November 4.