The Dallas-based American Heart Association (AHA) defines the term “foodscape” as “all the places and spaces where food is grown, manufactured, marketed, acquired, prepared, consumed, talked about or given meaning.”

On Oct. 15, the AHA will announce the winners of its Foodscape Innovation Awards. 

Eligible companies in the running for the awards are any new organization operating in the U.S. from all sectors of the food and beverage industry that work to increase health and equity in the food system. A panel of judges chose three finalists from 26 innovations submitted.

From there, the winner will be determined on Oct. 15 based on the public’s votes. 

This year’s three finalists are Dallas-based nonprofit Restorative Farms, along with healthy meal delivery service Pack Health and urban hydroponic farm Moonflower Farms.

Dallas has one of the largest food deserts in the country and is also one of the most-at-risk cities for food supply disruption, according to Southern Methodist University.

Restorative Farms is run by Dallasites, for Dallasites, and creates agri-systems in nearby underserved communities, like Dallas’ Hatcher Station. It addresses the city’s issues through the implementation of professionally run, small-scale, local, urban farms that are in aggregate self-sustaining, with a seedling farm at the core. 

Restorative also provides certified vocational training, local jobs, and affordable financing, while producing healthy food in a sustainable manner. The nonprofit pools resources and builds agricultural expertise and a supply chain to promote long-term economic viability and nutrition security for Southern Dallas communities. 

Earlier this year, Restorative Farms decided to begin offering deliveries of self-contained gardening boxes called Victory GroBoxes to North Texans. The Victory GroBox comes with locally sourced seedlings of customizable herbs and vegetables and the tools customers need to reap what they’ve sowed. 

Restorative Farms was started in 2017, but it is based on years of research on food deserts, food swamps, and urban agri-systems. For those who would like to vote for the American Heart Association’s Foodscape Innovation Awards, go here.

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