Recipe Contest Features Bridge Urban Farm Produce

From now until September 30th we will be conducting a recipe contest featuring the ingredients we are growing in our two Urban Farms!  Our client-cultivated Urban Farms are brimming with produce, and to help continue our healthy eating education efforts, we welcome you all to submit a recipe for this contest. The winner will receive a $100 gift card to The Central Park Boathouse restaurant. Creatively using the crops that can be found in our gardens (see below), recipe submissions should be an original or family recipe, delicious, healthy and fun. Renowned celebrity chef Hiroko Shimbo will choose the winner and 2 runner-ups who will get their recipes published on our blog. Chef Shimbo is an expert in Asian and many other cuisines, and has authored The Japanese Kitchen and The Sushi Experience. Please email us your recipe submissions to Contest@thebridgeny.org or post them here to our blog (in the comments), Facebook page or LinkedIn group walls. Judging will take place in early September and the winners will be contacted directly.

CROPS WE ARE GROWING RIGHT NOW-

LEAFY GREENS:

• Collards & Arugula                          
• Lettuce & Cabbage                              
• Spinach                               
• Kale & Kohlrabi                                                   
• Mustard Greens & Swiss Chard                      

VEGGIES:

• Cucumbers & Pickling Cucumbers              
• Radishes & Turnips
• Sugar Snap, Snow Peas & Black Eyed Peas                 
• Yellow Wax & Green Beans                      
• Sugar Baby Watermelon & Cantaloupe                         
• Mini & Large Pumpkins
• Spaghetti, Yellow & Butternut Squash
• Zucchini & Purple Eggplant
• Carrots
• Blue & Sweet Corn
• Orange Bell & Sweet Green Peppers
• Cherry & Heirloom Tomatoes

GRAINS:

• Quinoa & Amaranth

HERBS:

• Basil & Thai Basil
• Rosemary & Italian Parsley
• Chamomile & English Thyme
• Marigold & Nasturtium
• Dill & Lavender
• Pineapple Sage & Spearmint
• Oregano & Cilantro
• Chives & Nutmeg

Easy Cold Herbed Pasta Salad Recipe

As part of The Bridge's healthy eating initiative, fantastic recipes are made available to clients, often ones that include ingredients that can be found growing in our Urban Farms. Cooking classes for clients are held three times a week by Natalie Brickajlik, Horticulture Program Coordinator/Employment Specialist, in our headquarters as part of the PROS program. The Bridge also has horticulture "workshops" twice a week in various residences, which involve a variety of activities like cooking with veggies from our 2 urban gardens in the Bronx and the Upper East Side of Manhattan, making birdfeeders, or taking lessons in organic pest control.

Here is a simple recipe for a cold pasta salad flavored with fresh herbs, and inspired by the traditional Italian flavors of garlic, basil and Parmesan that The Bridge clients made in a recent cooking class. You can add your own favorite veggies such as olives, sweet peppers or tomatoes. It's also delicious as is, as the fresh herbs really shine in this easy and simple pasta salad. If you are trying to avoid salt and cholesterol, omit the Parmesan cheese and add a bit more lemon juice.

Ingredients:

•     10 oz. whole wheat corkscrew (rotini) or bow-tie (farfalle) pasta

•     ¼ cup good quality olive oil

•     3 cloves garlic, minced

•     ¼ cup chopped fresh basil

•     ¼ cup fresh chopped parsley

•     ½ cup fresh vegetables

•     ¼ cup pinenuts

•     ¼ cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese

•     1 Tbsp lemon juice

•     Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Prepare pasta according to package instructions. Drain well and allow to cool. Heat half the olive oil and add the garlic. Cook for just a minute or two, then reduce heat to low and add chopped fresh basil and parsley. Add any remaining veggies. Cook for just one minute, until heated through. Remove from heat and allow to cool. In a large bowl, combine pasta with remaining ingredients, including cooked garlic and herbs, the remainder of the olive oil, lemon juice, pine nuts and Parmesan cheese. Season carefully with salt and pepper. Toss well and serve cold.

Healthy Communal Dining

Healthy communal dining is essential for our clients to lead productive and healthful lives. Good nutrition assists in fighting all kinds of medical conditions that can cause dangerous health complications and lead to poor quality of life.

Here at The Bridge, we have begun to roll out the standardization of the menus at all residence kitchens for an enhanced communal dining experience. The brainchild of Sydell Bryant, our Food Services Director, this standardization will streamline the menus of each kitchen to include the same weekly meal plans, and make sure certain healthy food groups are available. Sydell has also started to tour around to each kitchen teaching new healthy recipes and the benefits of this initiative.

The Bridge has always provided a variety of healthy food to clients, and this standardization is the next phase in the continued growth of our integrated approach to mental health.

William F. Ryan Health Center at The Bridge

We have made healthcare a priority with the William F. Ryan Health Center at The Bridge. Because the mental health system does not pay for medical services, we’ve had quite an adventure providing medical services to our clients.

More than 25 years ago, in recognition that it was simply inadequate to be treating just our clients’ mental health conditions while ignoring their medical needs, The Bridge conducted its first foray into healthcare. A friendly primary care doctor agreed to give ten randomly selected clients a full physical exam. The results were that more than 60 medical conditions were found in the ten clients.

For the past decade, we have had a remarkable partnership with the William F. Ryan Community Health Center, a Federally-Qualified Health Center, which operates an on-site medical clinic at The Bridge headquarters building. The clinic provides routine physicals, follow-up and monitoring of clients’ chronic health conditions and emergency walk-in services. The Ryan operation is funded by Medicaid and a Federal grant; The Bridge provides free space for the clinic. The partnership entails close cooperation between Bridge and Ryan staff to provide truly integrated health services.

Hundreds of Bridge clients use the Ryan Center clinic each year, avoiding emergency rooms and fragmented hospital-based care, and benefiting from a collaboration that provides accessible, high quality health care that is integrated with our own mental health and substance abuse services. The Bridge/Ryan partnership addresses a critical need of our clients in a way that is both creative and cost-effective. 

The Bridge Horticulture Program

The Bridge Horticulture Program just took a huge step forward. Dr. Peter Beitchman, Executive Director of The Bridge, recently announced that George Ball, Chairman of the Board of the Burpee Foundation, has awarded a generous $25,000 grant for The Bridge Urban Farm Horticultural Program. The goals of the Urban Farms are to teach clients about the benefits of eating vegetables and fruit, provide free and easy access to vegetables in order to increase their intake in order to improve their health; to reduce reliance on food banks and other food resources, and to teach them about good nutrition.  The farms also provide our clients with work training opportunities in horticulture and paid jobs.

As reported in the New York Non Profit Press, Dr. Beitchman said, “We are delighted that The Burpee Foundation has donated this generous grant to our Urban Farm Horticultural Program. George Ball and The Burpee Foundation were pioneer supporters of The Bridge’s Horticultural program when it began in 2005.”

The Bridge Horticulture Program, in collaboration with The Horticultural Society of NY, began on the garden roof deck of the Manhattan headquarters of The Bridge (where a plaque commemorates the Burpee Foundation support), and has expanded to include two urban farms, one in the Bronx and one in East Harlem. The Urban Farm Program has grown dramatically as it impacts several neighborhoods throughout the city.

For the clients of The Bridge, eating and growing their own vegetables and fruits, coupled with working and being outdoors triggers both illness prevention and healing responses. Clients have started and maintain a blog of their experiences called My Urban Farm where they outline their accomplishments and illustrate their enthusiasm and involvement.

New Years Resolution to Quit Smoking

Make it your New Years resolution to quit smoking this coming year. According to the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the smoking rate in the city has decline almost 20% since 2002. But it is still a battle every day to quit smoking. Smoking is dangerous to everyone’s health, especially when it can complicate other conditions.

Most Bridge clients have identified Life Role Goals for themselves. Some of the time, smoking is one of the obstacles they have to overcome in order to achieve their goals. For the past 3 years, as a partner in the Urban Institute for Behavioral Health, The Bridge has been participating in a smoking cessation program specifically designed for persons with serious mental illness. There are regular Smoke Stop groups with a structured curriculum. 

Our medical staff is participating in the initiative by prescribing nicotine patches. While the outcomes are promising, and many Bridge clients have made serious quit attempts, we certainly understand how difficult it is for many to stop smoking altogether. 

Stopping smoking is at the center of Bridge Wellness; we'll continue to develop this initiative to make it as effective as possible. Making it your New Years Resolution to quit smoking could give you just the motivation you need to change your habits and reach your goals.

Cardiometabolic Risk

With the Holiday season in full swing, it might be hard to think about how cardiometabolic risk (CMR) could affect you. Cardiometabolic risk refers to your chances of having diabetes, heart disease or stroke. People with mental illness are at higher risk for developing these conditions.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in people with mental illness. Diabetes is also an especially prevalent disease that can lead to many other health problems. It is important to know what your level of risk and how to decrease that risk for a longer and healthier life. Lowering your cardiometabolic risk can help prevent more serious health problems down the road.

Studies have shown that people who have serious mental illness died on average 25 years younger than the general population. We have a multi-pronged approach to addressing this problem. The William F. Ryan Health Center, a federally qualified health center, operates a primary care clinic at The Bridge. Through this partnership at The Bridge, we carefully monitor cardiometabolic risk factors among our clients. We also promote good health and health prevention through our Wellness Self-Management, Diabetes Management and Smoke Stop Programs and through our exercise and nutrition programs. These programs have made a significant difference at The Bridge where our clients enjoy much better health outcomes than the general population of persons with mental illness.


Healthy lifestyle changes can make a difference in lowering your cardiometabolic risk. Quitting smoking, eating healthier, and exercising can help. It can be hard to rely on will power alone to help make these lifestyle changes. Incorporating healthy practices into your life gradually, and making them automatic habits like brushing your teeth, can improve your chances of keeping them up for the long run.