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By Courtney Carter, Janet Lawrence and María Eugenia Miranda 

Going to the soup kitchen The Nourishing Kitchen has been a transformative experience for Carlos Murcia.

They teach us how to eat healthy, said the disabled East Harlem resident who suffers from diabetes.
Tucked away on Pleasant Avenue between East 116th and 115th Streets, the nonprofit is changing the way people think about food in the neighborhood with the highest rate of diabetes in New York City. About 25 percent of The Nourishing Kitchens clients have diabetes, according to the nonprofits donor summary.
Its not just the food, said Carlos Murcia, munching on a Cinco de Mayo-inspired meal at The Nourishing Kitchen last Wednesday.

On Mondays, the 55-year-old stops in with his mother to pick up groceries from the organizations food pantry and take a cooking class. He used to work as a cook at a restaurant, but he never learned about the importance of cooking with local, seasonal ingredients and how to make meals healthier.
Chef Gina Puzzanghera opened The Nourishing Kitchen in 2024 with a comprehensive approach in mind. Through its junior and senior chefs programs, and nutrition and yoga classes and new weekly fresh produce giveaways, Puzzanghera hopes to change peoples lifestyles and not just fill bellies.
So we try to make them understand how important their choices are, and how being green can really be simple and easy, said Puzzanghera. It doesnt necessarily mean you have to redo your whole house or your whole life.

While there are many other environmentally-conscious soup kitchens in the country like the Cathedral Kitchen in Camden, N.J., which is considered the most green soup kitchen nationwide, Puzzanghera is doing more than buying locally and seasonally for the kitchens hot meals.

If a participant buys one local vegetable a week, thats a step in the right direction, she said. In their cooking classes they inform adults about green markets that accept food stamps and teach them the economics of food. In East Harlem, about 33 percent of families live below the federal poverty line, according to a 2024 study.

I buy whats local because its cheaper, said Puzzanghera. So we try to make them understand how important their choices are, and how being green can really be simple and easy.

The Nourishing Kitchen has expanded to doing more than serving meals. Puzzanghera and many of the organizations volunteers advocate for public health policies like the citys green cart initiative to bring more corner produce stands to the area and participate in environmental events.

As the only soup kitchen in the country certified by the Green Restaurant Association, The Nourishing Kitchen is working toward getting more of its vegetables from local sources. Its Growing Up Green program works to teach area youth about being environmentally conscience.

With the help of various youth groups like the Harlem Hard H.A.T.S, The Nourishing Kitchen initiated its first full gardening season last weekend.

This will be nice because we will be able to really give people like top-of-the-line, locally grown just I mean Im assuming and hoping its just going to be -beautiful produce, said Ari Briski, special projects coordinator.

All of this stuff is a response to the constant criticism that there just isnt enough fresh produce in East Harlem, said Briski. Its really hard to be healthy here because they just dont have enough produce; the produce in the supermarkets is bad.

Puzzanghera said fresh fruits and vegetables are also more expensive in East Harlem and harder to come by. Just three percent of East and Central Harlem bodegas offer leafy green vegetables while 20 percent of those do in the wealthier Upper East Side, according to a report by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Lisa Kramer, a volunteer who is managing many of the organizations green programs this summer, said for now they rely on donations from restaurants and pantries for their giveaway but they hope to have all their giveaway bags come from East Harlem. Its about moving a whole population away from processed and chemical foods, she added.

Its really sort of an introduction into a different way of eating, said Kramer.