Health Care Partnerships

Although New York City is widely recognized as one of the food capitals of the world, nearly half of all city residents live in neighborhoods with serious rates of diet-related illness and significant barriers to access healthy foods. While Greenmarket aims to serve all New Yorkers, special projects and partnerships with city government and community-based organizations ensure that we are reaching our most vulnerable residents who cope with food insecurity and diet-related illness.

Health Insurance Companies Provide Over-the-Counter (OTC) Options for Healthy Foods 

Healthfirst OTC Plus insurance members enrolled in select plans (listed below) can use their over-the-counter (OTC) dollars to purchase items at GrowNYC Greenmarkets and Farmstands.

Simply bring your OTC card to the site coordinator at any of our food retail sites. If you are at a Greenmarket, the manager will swipe your card for any amount in $2 increments, and you will be provided with Greenmarket Bucks (worth $2 each) in exchange. The Greenmarket Bucks can be spent on any edible food item (fruits, vegetables, fish, meat, cheese, bread, baked goods etc.) throughout the market. All farmers selling these edible food items accept Greenmarket Bucks. If you’re visiting a GrowNYC Farmstand, simply use your OTC card to pay directly for the items you’ve selected.


       

OTC member plans accepted at GrowNYC Greenmarket and Farmstand locations:

 Insurance Company   Member Plan 
 Healthfirst   Life Improvement Plan (LIP) D-SNP HMO
 Healthfirst  CompleteCare D-SNP HMO
 Healthfirst   Increased Benefits Plan (IBP) HMO  
 *Only for members with Low Income Subsidy (LIS)*

Fruit & Vegetable Rx

The Fruit and Vegetable Prescription program is a collaboration between the New York Presbyterian Ambulatory Care Network’s Nutrition Department, the Choosing Healthy and Active Lifestyles for Kids program (CHALK), and GrowNYC. Registered dieticians at select outpatient clinics at New York Presbyterian Hospital provide patients with a prescription good for $20 in Greenmarket Bucks to be used for the purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables at participating Greenmarket locations. The program operates between June and November. Fruit and Vegetable Prescriptions can be redeemed at the following Greenmarket locations in the Bronx and Manhattan: .

Farmstands

Greenmarket

Learn more about Fruit & Vegetable Rx and other CHALK programs.

Every year, GrowNYC holds our Annual Spring Plant Sale in order to provide community groups with affordable perennial and annual flowering plants, herbs, ground covers, and vegetables grown by Greenmarket farmers and sold in wholesale quantities.