What We Do

Our Programs

Capital Roots works to reduce the impact of poor nutrition on public health in New York’s Capital Region by organizing community gardens, providing healthy food access, offering nutritional and horticultural education for all ages and coordinating urban greening programs in Albany, Rensselaer, Schenectady and southern Saratoga Counties.

Our Community Garden program makes garden plots available to anyone interested in growing their own produce. Gardeners receive nutritional, recreational, social and physical benefits from tending plots.

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Veggie Mobile® is a traveling market that delivers fresh produce (often locally grown) to thousands of residents in urban neighborhoods without access to healthy food. Operating Monday through Saturday, the Veggie Mobile® makes more than 30 stops per week along with its companion mobile market, the Sprout.

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Produce Project employs students from Troy High School to operate a year-round urban farm and to sell their harvest at markets. In addition to learning life, job and entrepreneurial skills, each student earns school credit, a stipend and a share of the farm’s bounty to share with their families.

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Healthy Stores makes produce available in custom designed, refrigerated display units at urban convenience stores where families shop every day.

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Taste Good Series educates inner-city students, in pre-kindergarten through second grade, about nutrition. Capital Roots’ Educator uses music and games to make the lessons fun and to encourage students to help prepare and taste the produce.

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Squash Hunger uses convenient drop off locations and a network of volunteers to deliver excess produce from gardeners, farmers, and market shoppers to food pantries, shelters and soup kitchens throughout the region. Each year we collect tons of produce that benefits thousands of low-income residents.

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Urban Greening uses public landscaping and street tree planting projects to add aesthetic appeal, increase property values, reduce energy consumption and improve the overall quality of life in participating communities.

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Healthy Streets makes Capital Region roadways accessible to all residents regardless of their preferred method of travel. With increased opportunities for walking and biking in urban settings, Capital Region residents are offered a safe space to recreate, commute or move within their neighborhoods and the larger community.

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Farm-to-School, connects local farm-fresh products with Capital Region schools. Local food in school cafeterias benefits students, teachers, parents, farmers and school districts by connecting community, improving student diets, and building the local economy.

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We’ve partnered with Whitney M. Young Health to help patients who may be most in need of access to fresh food have it. Patients who have chronic health issues, such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity are able to meet with Whitney M. Young nutritionists and be connected to the Veggie Rx program.

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Through Smart Vending, Capital Roots works with locally-owned family vending companies to provide businesses and organizations with carefully-selected healthier snack options. We bring marketing materials and educational information to these locations to help inform employees and residents making vending purchases.

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Our Virtual Veggie Mobile® is an online marketplace where local farmers list their produce, dairy, meat and value added products so that daycare centers, schools, group homes, food pantries, hospitals, restaurants, convenience stores and other organizational customers can purchase fresh, nutritious food that was grown by their friends and neighbors. Capital Roots is also piloting an individual customer program, providing low-income families an alternative opportunity to purchase fresh affordable food.

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