For Judith Desire, founder and CEO of the Uptown & Boogie Healthy Project, a non-profit organization serving underserved communities in Harlem and the Bronx through farmers’ markets, Community Supported Agriculture programs, youth training and education, and sustainability initiatives, she has seen food insecurity all around her. But her journey to starting the organization came from an unlikely place.
In 2021, Desire noticed that there wasn’t much bicycle infrastructure in Manhattan and the Bronx, and cyclists who couldn’t cover more than five miles, and didn’t have enough stamina.
While figuring out why it was happening, Desire thought about how important eating was for her when she was bike touring, and she noticed that many people weren’t eating properly.
“They [the bike riders] didn’t know what to eat. I guess they were eating like a pedestrian,” said Desire. “They didn’t realize how much exertion they would have while biking, and then we led bike rides starting at farmers’ markets. We mainly were at Down to Earth Markets, and we worked with the
health department and the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene to access health bucks. The health bucks were $2 coupons towards fruits and vegetables.”
Desire started seeing a difference in the ridership after starting the bike rides at farmers’ markets and distributing health bucks. She saw how people were riding, communicating, and sharing food. After three rides, Desire asked the people if this was helpful, and they told her they didn’t have access to healthy food.
“They have never been to a farmer’s market or the markets that were in their area at the time that they worked,” Desire stated. “And I was like, ‘Oh, all I needed was some fruits and vegetables?’ And I started hearing, you know, they weren’t seeing a lot of farmers’ markets representing themselves in Manhattan and the Bronx, and I thought that was interesting.”
Desire also added that at the same time, she was taking care of her mother, who had Alzheimer’s and Dementia. Her mother lived in Mitchell-Lama subsidized housing near JFK Airport. There were no farmers’ markets nearby, just two supermarkets. The content that Desire read talked about reducing stress and eating food correctly, and she had to figure out where she could get access to healthy food.
“I would go to Lower Manhattan to access food. It was pretty expensive, but I could see the difference,” said Desire.
Desire saw the problems that were rising. From difficulty accessing food for her mother to cyclists asking for more coupons to get fresh food to eat at home and on the ride, Desire knew there was a problem. She also pointed out that there is plenty of food in Harlem, but it isn’t healthy. That’s when she realized that food insecurity was not only access to food, but also the timing of the food.
“So, what time can someone access these foods? Because, yeah, grocery stores are open from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., but if nothing is in there that’s nutritious for you, it really doesn’t matter that it’s convenient,” Desire said. “And then talking about health, especially with seniors, I started seeing a reduction of just, like, seniors eating healthier produce, or you had a lot of seniors who could taste that the food did not taste good.”
Due to the increase in food insecurity around Desire, she knew that the one thing she could do to contribute to the community was to bring in fresh food. She brought in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program, which started in 2021 in the Bronx.
The CSA Program is for those who want to receive fresh produce. What makes Desire’s CSA Program different from the rest is that she brings in what she feels the members need. For example, Desire explained how she likes Okra, and most of the members had never seen, looked at, or known about Okra.
“And so now, they just ask for Okra every week, and they’ll tell me stories about what they do with their Okra, and they’re just like, fascinated about it,” said Desire. “We just try to mix it up with different food, and everyone says that they finish their food by the end of the week because they enjoy it. And this year, we included cooking demos and recipes.”
Desire noticed how people started to get involved, and have conversations about what they’re making and how the food tastes, and even seeing palates changing.
Making food more sufficient – and available
In a time when inflation is skyrocketing, so is the food insufficiency rate in New York State. As of April 2025, the New York Health Foundation reported that the food insufficiency rate in New York State is 10.4% higher than during the early days of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 (10.2%), and food insufficiency disproportionately affects Black and Brown New Yorkers, as they are more than twice as likely to experience food insufficiency compared to white New Yorkers. That is why Desire chose to start Uptown & Boogie, and she has her work cut out for her.
For Desire, a typical day of running a farmer’s market is what she describes as a “one-woman show.” She buys the food, ensures that the farmer she’s working with is set up, frequently seeks out vendors who want to participate in the market, and uses social media marketing.
“I bring in the fruit, set up the market, and greet people,” said Desire. “If we have interns, I manage the interns for the season.”
The internship program at Uptown & Boogie Healthy Project is mainly for the spring and summer. The non-profit had 23 students as interns this past summer. What Desire did differently for this internship was that she gave everyone tasks that she usually does and broke them down into different groups.
“We have the STEM group that works with the garden. The garden interns worked on maintaining the garden, the business aspect of the garden, like adding events, doing volunteer days,” Desire stated. “We had two interns, one intern focused on events, volunteers, and projects in the garden to help make the garden more efficient, and the second intern, who had a tech background, worked on the greenhouse and The Greenhouse Initiative.”
Desire explained that they had three projects in the greenhouse that used agricultural technology. Desire did the electrical work inside the greenhouse, and the intern implemented how an automated irrigation system would look.
She also had a marketing group in different segments, with a team that did the farmers’ market marketing. They called the vendors, created newsletters, and managed the social media. A marketing person for the garden was also brought in, promoting events that happened in the garden and the CSA Program.
There was also a tech team. They created a dashboard where the CSA Program members log in to make payments and get communication updates. A kids’ team was also included, and the interns managed the Farmers’ Market Kids’ Club.
Lastly, a graphics team worked with the tech team to ensure that the interface was correct and what the CSA Program members wanted.
“We just want to make sure that the agriculture world knows these people exist, and they should be invited in,” said Desire. “And then the kids, you know, the youth or people outside looking for a career change, can also look into agriculture, but we need to be able to bring them together.”
Desire’s proudest but saddest moments about Uptown & Boogie are when she sees her vendors, interns, and children participating in the kid activities grow and flourish. However, it makes Desire sad, especially with her vendors, when they leave. Despite this, it gives Desire confidence because her “tiny but mighty” market is helping the vendors gain the confidence to expand their product into other avenues.
Desire stated that people can help their community’s health and food access by volunteering, attending community board meetings, contacting their council members, and voting for people who care about their health and farmers’ markets.
“A lot of politicians use pantries as a photo op. Like, no, these are people who need food,” Desire stated. “We need to make leaders take it seriously that we’re not a photo op. Food struggles and food concerns are not a photo op. It is something that you should address in your campaign and budgets.”
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