2011-2012 “Food for Health” Business Plan Competition

Are you an aspiring entrepreneur interested in developing a business at the intersection of food and culinary innovation, social enterprise, community engagement, and public health? Here’s an opportunity that can help you do just that!

The Communities IMPACT Diabetes Center at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine kicks off it first annual
The Food for Health Business Plan competition offers MBA students an opportunity to develop innovative ways to transform how healthy foods are marketed, distributed, and sold in communities where the need and demand are the greatest. Now more than ever, we must tap into the social enterprise skills, business savvy, and ingenuity of the business community to tackle one of our most pressing public health problems: access to healthy and affordable food.

Fresh Routes Delivers Winning Presentation at “Food for Health”
Business Plan Competition at Mount Sinai School of Medicine:
Four Social Entrepreneurs Win $25,000 and Mentorship to
Operate a Healthy Mobile Market Serving Up Healthy Meal
Packages in Harlem

The final round of the “Food for Health” Business Plan Competition took place on April 12, 2012 at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in Manhattan. Five finalists, representing a cross-section of business schools, presented their food enterprise proposals to a panel of five experts in business, entrepreneurship, public health, community development and sustainable food enterprises. The winning proposal, Fresh Routes, is a for-profit mobile food market committed to supplying communities with fresh produce and empowering customers to eat healthier by offering cooking instruction that makes meal preparation more compelling and achievable.

To read more, click here.

To view photos from Finals Competition, click here.


The winning enterprise will receive: 
• Start-up funding – $25,000 and growing

AND

• A suite of strategic management, marketing and other consulting services from leading business and food systems experts to further develop their business plan.

 
Teams of up to five individuals, including at least one currently registered student in an MBA program located in Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, or Pennsylanvia, will submit proposals aimed at increasing availability of healthy, affordable food in communities with limited access to healthy food options, while promoting positive economic activities through the development of a viable food business. Business plans must:

• Demonstrate an understanding of that community’s local assets and challenges.

• Incorporate local community input from individuals and/or organizations in planning and implementation.

• Include a Letter of Support from at least one community-based organization.

Teams will be evaluated by a distinguished panel of social entrepreneurs and professionals from the fields of business, public health, and public policy.  Finalists present their presentations in April 2012 in New York City before a panel of judges.


 
To download the official Competition rules and/or receive periodic updates, please click on the link below:
   
To learn more about the Competition, click on the links below:





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Only by working together can we truly make an IMPACT! Good Luck!

IMPACT Partners
 
     
     

Our "Food for Health" Sponsors
Communities IMPACT Diabetes Center is grateful for the generous sponsorship and in-kind support from the following organizations:

James Beard Foundation
Wallace Center's Healthy Urban Food Enterprise Development Center
Whole Foods Market
CRT/Tanaka

 

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