“I learned a lot from the beginning when they gave us the feeding classes, then they took us on some walks to buy healthy food,” Huerta said. “It’s very helpful for us and I like it a lot because it does not have chemicals.”
But learning is not the only necessary point to eat healthy. The pocket is also an important factor when deciding between cooking or buying fast food. That’s why this Friday Councilman Ritchie Torres announced a measure that residents like Mrs. Huerta celebrate.

The announcement was made at Fordham Plaza in the Bronx , where Torres, along with nutritionists, healthy food advocates and representatives of the NYC food pantries, delivered a check for $ 89,000 that will go directly to the food pantries in the Central Bronx. . The money includes $ 15,000 in funds for the HealthBucks program , which offers coupons that food buyers can use to redeem healthy foods at farmers’ markets.

“We are in the poorest county in the entire state of New York and we are going through a hunger crisis,” said Torres. “As officers and political leaders we must wake up and do something immediately.”
The councilor took the opportunity to greet the community and share with them a food class, in which coupons of HealthBucks were delivered, a program facilitated by the City Health Department to improve access to healthy foods and offering coupons for $ 2 for fruits and vegetables redeemable at farmers markets throughout the Bronx.

Denise Nuñez, pediatrician and co-founder of the Niño de la Caridad Foundation, of which Mrs. Huerta is a part, celebrated the councilor’s announcement and reaffirmed the need to continue providing healthy food options to the communities in the Bronx, which she assured, has been rated the most unhealthy county in New York State.

“What we also do is help these families to resume a healthier diet,” Nuñez said. “This has a lot to do with our Hispanic culture, because because we are here, we sometimes forget and that Americanization ends up causing us to eat too much fast food that has increased the levels of obesity and diabetes in our children.”
For the members of this foundation, the momentum of the Health Bucks program has allowed more families to receive food education benefits because they use this money appropriately. “We have been able to help more people to understand their diet better so that they stay healthy. They can not do it alone and this is a great benefit, “said Ana Nuñez, a member of Niño de la Caridad.