Building Access to Food Through Systems and Solidarity (BASIS): a Subsidized and Culturally-adapted Produce Box Program for Immigrant Communities of Brooklyn, NY

What this Trial Is About

Researchers are evaluating a community-based program called BASIS that aims to improve diet and social and built environments for English-, Chinese-, Spanish-, and Bangla-speaking communities in Brooklyn. The program focuses on immigrant groups and uses a culturally adapted, whole-community approach. It is a multi-year, mixed methods evaluation involving both intervention and comparison groups from different neighborhoods in New York City. The intervention provides weekly culturally appropriate produce boxes for 20 weeks each year to participants in Sunset Park and surrounding areas. Brooklyn Grange supplies Chinese-specific produce, while Angel Family Farm supplies Mexican-specific produce. Produce box fees use a sliding scale based on income, and participants receiving SNAP benefits can use their EBT cards to help cover costs. Nutrition education, cooking tutorials, and farming information are also offered. Comparison communities in the Bronx, Chinatown, and Queens participate in evaluation activities but do not receive produce boxes. Participants will complete baseline and follow-up surveys and have skin carotenoid levels assessed to measure fruit and vegetable intake. The study also measures changes in neighborhood social cohesion, sense of belonging, ethnic pride, and cross-cultural understanding at baseline and after 20 weeks. The program will be evaluated over five years, with ongoing data collection to assess its impact on dietary habits and community connections.

Building Access to Food Through Systems and Solidarity