Jean Lewis-Laldee and Janiele Lewis, two community chefs trained through the Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation program.

Kizzy Cox

Jean Lewis-Laldee and Janiele Lewis, two health coaches trained through the Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation program.

Sometimes the push to eat healthier can feel like a foreign force that dismisses customs and dispatches beloved dishes. That’s especially true in gentrifying neighborhoods, where favorite restaurants and affordable grocery stores sometimes disappear even before affordable apartments do.

But one Brooklyn program trains Bed-Stuy residents to teach their neighbors not just what to change, but also which food traditions and customs are worth keeping. Northeast Brooklyn Housing Development Corporation’s Communities for Healthy Food Bed-Stuy wants students to draw upon their own experiences and culture around food as it trains them to become community chefs.

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City Limits’ coverage of food policy issues is supported by the Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund.