With support from the Campbell Soup Company, staff worked with many Camden stakeholders to develop Cultivating Camden: The City’s Food Economy Strategy. This has both deepened and broadened healthy communities planning work in Camden. Staff have sought to understand what it means to be healthy in Camden, explored solutions to transportation gaps to healthy destinations, worked with the City to promote health as a priority for Camden’s future growth and development, and evaluated the status of many of the original recommendations from Cultivating Camden.
Camden Health Element
The Camden Health Element provides a high-level vision and concrete strategies to promote health as a priority for Camden’s future growth and development. Staff convened stakeholders and engaged the community to collaboratively develop a vision for a healthy Camden, identify areas of concern, and generate recommendations for improving public health through policy and planning-based tools. The Camden Planning Board adopted the Camden Health Element as an Element of the City's Master Plan in April 2021.
Cultivating Camden
Cultivating Camden: The City’s Food Economy Strategy builds off Camden's existing assets by identifying opportunities to increase food access and economic opportunities within the city. It analyzes the city's current food system and food economy, acknowledging the challenges that residents face in accessing healthy food. The report makes recommendations to grow food as an economic sector, increase opportunities for food entrepreneurs, engage Camden's institutions, and support organizations already working to increase access to healthy food, healthcare, and job opportunities.
Cultivating Camden: A Status Report assesses Camden’s food system five years after the release of the original report, Cultivating Camden. The report highlights updated demographic and economic data and shares some of the progress that has been made towards, as well as the barriers to, implementing the recommendations in Cultivating Camden.
The Road to Health Workshop
DVRPC convened The Road to Health Workshop on Thursday, August 2, 2018 at the Rutgers University-Camden Campus Center. The workshop brought together local leaders in government, transportation, public health, open space, community development, and philanthropy to explore the intersection between transportation and health in Camden.
Community Conversations
In the spring of 2017, DVRPC convened three Community Conversations in Camden where we invited residents and stakeholders to share their thoughts on what it means to live a healthy life and how transportation can help everyone reach important locations. We also connected with community members at two local festivals: Camden Night Gardens and Camden Jam.