SoBRO: South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation

SoBRO held a moderated panel discussion today addressing the Bronx’s lack of access to fresh food and outlining various financing programs available to operators and developers of fresh food retail stores in underserved communities. The Fresh Food Retail Attraction Seminar was moderated by SoBRO’s Executive Vice President, Gerard Weinbrecht, and included representatives from prominent City agencies, development corporations, and the food industry. Panelists Patricia Brodhagen from the Food Industry Alliance of New York State Inc., Phillip Morrow from SoBRO, Barry Dinerstein from the New York City Department of City Planning, Katie Scallon and Andrea Wong from the New York City Economic Development Corporation, Hannah Blitzer from the Low Income Investment Fund, Caroline Harries from The Food Trust, Allison Leighton from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, and community representative Manuela Perez all leant their perspectives to the discussion.

A 2008 study by the Mayor’s Food Policy Taskforce revealed what many community members have been aware of for some time: low-income neighborhoods across the city, and particularly in the South Bronx, are underserved by neighborhood grocery stores. The resulting scarcity of nutritious, fresh food—what is also known as a “food desert”—has been linked to numerous health problems such as diabetes, heart disease, and obesity. Experts explain that in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods, hunger and obesity go hand in hand in what has been called the “Bronx Paradox.”

Phillip Morrow, SoBRO’s CEO/President, contended during the discussion that the lack of fresh food is not a symptom of community apathy but a result of inadequate access. He recalled his childhood growing up on a farm and helping his father bring produce to urban areas, and described how city residents were anxious to buy produce. “People in this neighborhood are dying for the opportunity to have fresh food,” he said.

To combat this problem, the City has established the Food Retail Expansion to Support Health, or FRESH program as part of Mayor Bloomberg’s Five-Borough Economic Opportunity Plan. The FRESH program promotes the establishment and retention of grocery stores in disadvantaged communities by offering zoning and financial incentives. Zoning incentives, administered by the Department of City Planning, include increased square footage allowances and reduction in required parking. Financial incentives are overseen by the New York City Industrial Development Agency and consist of real estate tax reductions, sales tax exemptions, and mortgage recording tax deferrals.

The panelists also discussed other development initiatives, such as the New Market Tax Credit program and a loan project administered by the Low Income Investment Fund, as ways to promote the establishment of neighborhood grocery stores. With a concerted effort to attract grocery store operators and developers, SoBRO believes it can bring fresh food back to the Bronx.

For more information about the FRESH program, visit www.nyc.gov/fresh.
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