This teacher is dishing out more than just food for thought.
Baruch College assistant professor Regina Bernard has teamed with her students to launch a program that brings organic fruits and vegetables to Corona, where they say healthy meals are hardly on the menu.
“It’s not hard to tell there’s a real food gap in this part of Queens,” said Bernard, 37, who teaches black and Latino studies.
“We’re being swallowed by big fast food,” said the Corona resident, who grew up in Hell’s Kitchen. “There are no supermarkets with organic produce.”
The pilot program, launched in June, builds on a popular economic farming model called “community-supported agriculture,” which takes grocery stores out of the equation by connecting city residents directly to nearby farms through weekly deliveries of seasonal produce.
Generally, CSA subscriptions can cost up to $600 for a season’s worth of vegetables.
But Bernard and her CUNY undergraduates raised hundreds of dollars through raffles and bake sales to help make the program more affordable.
The professor sells the produce she buys from an upstate farm in Norwich out of her garage, for a weekly fee of $20. And the goods are free to those who can’t afford them.
“If you live in a low-income community, it’s a struggle to eat well and to find better food options,” said Bernard, who gives lectures on food access in low-income communities.
The pilot was a hit this summer with about 20 local subscriptions, said Bernard, who plans to grow the program this fall by selling meat and eggs.
“We’re building a membership base now,” she said.
Residents gave the program a green-thumbs up.
“It’s less prohibitive,” said Marilyn Rogers, who picked up lettuce, eggplant, tomato, beets and eggs at Bernard’s garage Monday.
“In Corona, there’s very little available. This really makes a big difference.”
