BY JASON COHEN
As COVID-19 Food Czar,
Kathryn Garcia helped provide
more than 130 million
meals in 2020 and has done
her best to keep stomachs full
throughout the pandemic.
However, the former sanitation
commissioner and mayoral
candidate has noticed
that while Hunts Point serves
as the distribution hub for
the rest of the city’s food, the
Bronx continues to suffer the
most from food insecurity.
In her role as Food Czar,
Garcia worked with Hunger
Free America to set up an offi
ce in the south Bronx.
She recently laid out a plan
that will help those struggling
with food insecurities,
especially those in the south
Bronx.
Key points include:
Fund fresh and culturally
relevant food—not just canned
goods. Garcia will expand the
emergency food (EFAP) program
to provide fresh food
for the most vulnerable New
Yorkers.
will incentivize donating unsold
25%OFF
Fight food waste. Garcia
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, F 6 EB. 26-MAR. 4, 2021
2173 White Plains Road OPEN
718-931-4335
Just South of Pelham Pkwy.
7 DAYS
SALE
WE CARRY A WIDE VARIETY OF ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������
Organic Foods, Herbs, Homeopathic Products & More
SALE ENDS 2/28/2021
WE CARRY A FULL
SELECTION OF
CBD
PRODUCTS
SINCE 1978
SOLORAY
HERITAGE
NATURAL FACTORS
COUNTRY LIFE
NORDIC NATURAL
WILD HARVEST
food—and levy fi nes for
non-compliant businesses.
Support and grow urban
agriculture. From rooftop gardens
and hydroponic systems
to schoolyard green spaces
and production farms, New
York City will need a resilient
urban agriculture system that
provides opportunities for
green infrastructure, green
jobs, stewardship and education.
Construct the GrowNYC
Regional Food Hub to provide
much-needed modern and energy
effi cient cold storage to
serve local food distribution.
Encourage the adoption
of the Good Food Purchasing
program across the region
and fund the New York State
Farm to School Purchasing
Incentive.
“Fundamentally, food insecurity
is about income inequality,”
Garcia said. “Choosing
the food that you want to
eat is the freedom everyone
needs to have. The Bronx is
the hub of our food supply
chain; however, the borough
suffers from the highest rates
of food insecurity per capita.
This is unacceptable. Even if
we produce enough food, we
need better jobs with higher
wages to ensure workers don’t
go to bed hungry. We will double
down on job growth and
economic mobility to address
the root of the problem.”
She told the Bronx Times
that even before the coronavirus
countless people in the
south Bronx waited on long
lines at food pantries, lacked
Wi-Fi and were unemployed.
The pandemic has only exacerbated
the problem.
During the past year, Garcia
has seen fi rsthand how
diffi cult it is to survive in
the south Bronx and access
food. With the highest diabetes
rates in the city and very
few quality supermarkets,
she knows things must
change.
Garcia explained that
not only needs to be more
food pantries and farmers
markets, but better employment
opportunities.
“Why can’t you afford
to buy the food you need
to buy?” she said. “It’s because
you don’t have the
income to support that.”
According to Garcia, revitalizing
the south Bronx
and solving their food insecurity
will not happen
overnight and will take
outside of the box thinking.
The mayoral candidate
understands this is a digital
age and people should
be learning how to do jobs
on computers such as programming
and coding. Every
public school should
have access to laptops or
Chromebooks every year,
not just due to the pandemic,
she said.
“We can’t be the wealthiest
city in the country and
allow this (high food insecurity)
to be true,” she
stressed. “How do we fi x it
and make it so people aren’t
waiting on long lines. How
do we make it so they can
get access to food?”
COVID-19 Food Czar, Kathryn Garcia and
mayoral candidate discusses plans to
fi x food insecurities in the south Bronx.
Courtesy of Kathryn Garcia
Mayoral candidate Kathryn
Garcia discusses food insecurity
in the south Bronx