The Arrow Project
A Food Depot to Health Nutrition Equity Zone Initiative
The Arrow Project is a Food Depot to Health-led community initiative designed to strengthen nutrition equity, food education, urban agriculture, and family wellness across Cleveland’s east side.
With support from the CWRU Swetland Center for Environmental Health Nutrition Equity Zone Planning Grant, Food Depot to Health worked with community partners to plan and implement a neighborhood-based approach to food access, health education, and community engagement. The Arrow Project focused on communities across Cleveland Wards 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10, with a special emphasis on connecting families, schools, growers, educators, and community organizations.
The heart of the project is simple: healthy food is not just about access. It is also about education, trust, culture, prevention, and community power. Families need more than information. They need practical tools, supportive relationships, hands-on learning, and community spaces where healthier choices become realistic and sustainable.
Through The Arrow Project, Food Depot to Health brought together urban farmers, homesteaders, educators, youth programs, schools, and wellness advocates to explore how food can become a pathway to stronger families and healthier neighborhoods. The project included planning and engagement around food-is-medicine education, agriculture and horticulture learning, youth and family programming, cooking demonstrations, community wellness, and sustainable local food production.
The Arrow Project was designed to serve as a community engagement hub where residents and partners could help shape a Nutrition Equity Zone rooted in local assets and lived experience. Rather than bringing in a one-size-fits-all program, the work centered on listening, partnership, practical education, and community-based solutions.
Key areas of focus included:
- Food-is-medicine education for families, schools, and community groups
- Hands-on youth and family learning connected to agriculture, horticulture, cooking, and wellness
- Support for urban farming, homesteading, and sustainable food production
- Community conversations around nutrition equity and neighborhood health
- Stronger partnerships between growers, educators, families, and community organizations
- Planning for a long-term Nutrition Equity Zone model in Cleveland
During the grant period, Food Depot to Health and Arrow Project partners worked to engage residents, strengthen partnerships, identify community priorities, and create a foundation for continued food access and wellness programming.
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