ReNEWING Communities

Every product you develop and every idea you generate should better the lives of the people who help produce it, improve the environment where it is grown and contribute to a thriving community with those who consume it.
—Henry Obispo

  • Founder, Henry Obispo

    For the last ten years, I have worked as a community organizer, food justice activist and social entrepreneur. Creating initiatives such as a cooperative, social enterprises in addition to other roles. All of my work is focused on food insecurity, making access to nutritionally dense foods, self determination / empowerment within an individual’s and family’s health and wellness. I have also been in both the leadership and / or founder roles in many food justice initiatives in The Bronx and beyond.

    ↓ Our journey

  • The United Business Cooperative

    An immigrant-led restaurant cooperative where I created a model for collective purchasing of products and produce to alleviate the economic burden of food on local mom and pop small businesses, leveraging access to nutritionally dense foods to be offered to patrons/general population affordably.

  • BORN Juice

    A social enterprise that focuses on zero waste engagement with hyper-local food. A model for education and food access for schools and institutions, engaging in education and local capacity building for hydroponics and agrotech-based food production.

  • The Bronx Salad Initiative

    A four year CDC-funded healthy nutrition initiative focused on the South Bronx, in partnership with 70+ local organizations including mom and pop restaurants, cultural institutions, hospitals and schools The program supported healthy eating by way of building local gardens and by the salads being served in the school.

  • The Bronx Green Menu

    A zero waste initiative for food businesses that focused on offering upcycled plant based dishes to the local population at an affordable price to gain new social habits, mitigate waste and eradicate health disparities.

  • ReBORN Food Initiative

    In partnership with NYRP and local community refrigerators, this initiative focused on food security, growing food in local gardens during COVID for those without access to fresh food in the community as well as the rest of the population that used the community fridges.

  • ReBORN Farms

    Launched in 2022, ReBORN FARMS is a decentralized hyper-local food system, focused on democratizing food by tackling food insecurity, building capacity with our workforce development component that focus on agricultural technology in urban spaces, allowing for innovative ways of distribution, retail and marketplace to positively impact the local population that consume it.