Boston Community

Boston Food & Fitness Collaborative Vision

Ten years from now we envision Boston as a place where:

• Demand for healthy local food will exceed the dollar threshold required to develop regional food-supply-chain economies of scale.
• Affordable, healthy, local food is easily accessible to residents in all neighborhoods and of all incomes.
• All children and youth have safe and appropriate play spaces.
• Many more residents integrate physical activity into their daily lives thanks to accessible, safe biking and walking routes linking residential and commercial sections within and between neighborhoods.
• Youth are civically engaged and their thinking integrates the relationships among eating healthy food, a physically active lifestyle and good health.

About Boston

Populated by an abundance of colleges, universities and healthcare institutions, Boston is the largest city and unofficial economic and cultural capital of New England. The city's nearly 600,000 residents reside in 16 densely populated neighborhoods, each of which maintains a strong individual identity and separate network of neighborhood associations and nonprofit organizations. With a developed park system, community gardens, ball fields and playgrounds, in addition to a string of harbor island beaches and waterfront parks, Boston has many opportunities for recreation. With its dense land use and an extensive public transportation system, Boston is among the most walkable cities in the nation.

Despite its significant assets, there is a notable disparity in the services and resources available to Boston's racially, ethnically and socioeconomically diverse communities. Unequal distribution of fitness opportunities and increasing crime rates make physical activity challenging for many communities. Moreover, in many historically underserved communities, local, fresh and healthy foods are frequently not available and, if available, often have a price point that is not affordable for most residents. Such inequities have fostered health-related disparities in terms of diabetes, asthma and obesity rates. Although Boston's diversity and distinct neighborhoods contribute to the city's greatness, it creates challenges in finding a common language to coordinate efforts.

The Boston Collaborative for Food & Fitness is poised to address these challenges and their underlying systemic roots through community involvement, youth leadership and institutional support. From linking residential and commercial sections with safe biking and walking routes to making healthy, locally produced and culturally diverse foods available and affordable to residents of all incomes, the Boston Collaborative is working to engage and address the needs of individuals and organizations from all sectors of the community.