Our Mission and Vision

Mission Statement

1. To promote constructive and person-centered conversations in the mental health community and beyond regarding mindful eating and gardening as viable and important tools for behavioral health recovery.
2 . To promote and create indoor and outdoor green spaces for mental health peers to utilize for healing and wellness.
3. To empower peers to grow their own food for themselves and their community.
4. To advocate for policy changes that affect food access for mental health peers and other marginalized communities.
5. To advocate, promote, and support research projects trying better to understand the connection between food and mental health.

Vision Statement

Brain Food Garden Project, will build urban green spaces which will provide those with lived mental health experience and their communities with opportunities to connect, garden, and grow while creating conversations around Mindful Eating. Our vision is to develop a network of NYC community gardens managed by people with mental health lived expertise that serves the following purposes:

Creates safe spaces for people with lived experience to grow food for themselves and their communities.
Promotes gardening as a healing tool for recovery.
Encourages community dialogue around mental health, stigma, and trauma.
Creates a first-of-its-kind CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) geared to those living with mental health concerns.
Provides access to fresh fruits and vegetables to communities navigating through food apartheid.
Provides employment and leadership opportunities for NYS Certified Peer Advocates.