Sadly, hunger in New York City is not a new problem
By Corey Johnson, Vanessa
L. Gibson & Mark Treyger
Sky high rent prices, stubbornly
low wages, and the high
cost of living in one of the richest
cities in the world means
that many New Yorkers have to
sacrifice on food to pay for rent
and other basic necessities.
At the beginning of this
Council’s session in 2018, 40
percent of providers said they
didn’t have enough food to
meet demand. This was well
before COVID and at a time
of economic prosperity in our
city.
The problems back then were
two-fold. The nonprofits that
operated these programs needed
money to serve those in
need, but also stable funding.
The federal government
wasn’t helping.
Cuts to the Supplemental
Nutrition Assistance Program,
formerly known as
food stamps, exacerbated the
need for food pantries and left
the more than 1.5 million New
Yorkers who relied on the program
out in the cold.
The Council stepped up.
We increased funding for
emergency food and for senior
meals and created new programs
to address food insecurity
at the City University of New
York to stop college students
from going hungry, a prevalent
but little-known problem
in our city.
Over the past four budget
cycles, we’ve increased funding
for food programs by $55
million. Our most significant
achievements was changing
how we funded the Emergency
Food Assistance Program.
In fiscal year 2019, we fought
to baseline $20.2 million for
this program, meaning the
money was automatically added
A man wearing a protective face mask receives groceries, at a food distribution for people in need, outside the West
Harlem Group Assistance in Manhattan during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York city, New
York, U.S., May 12, 2020. REUTERS / Mike Segar
to the budget every year. In the
past this funding was never
guaranteed, leaving providers
in limbo annually.
This allowed food providers
to better plan on how to feed
vulnerable New Yorkers and
have the money to do so.
Then COVID-19 hit.
Virtually overnight, the
number of food insecure New
Yorkers went from 1.2 million
Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King,
Vinette K. Pryce, Bert Wilkinson
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Caribbean L 10 ife, Sept. 4-10, 2020
to 2 million and nearly
one-third of food pantries shut
down during the early days of
the crisis.
Many pantries managed
to stay open because of our
years of investment in food programs,
but we knew more was
needed to meet this unprecedented
challenge.
We aggressively and successfully
pushed both the de
Blasio administration
and the state government
to each designate $25
million in emergency funds for
food programs in April.
These funds will help hundreds
of organizations including
food pantries, soup kitchens
and charities that deliver
meals or groceries to those in
need. Nearly 80 percent of that
$25 million will reach local
food pantries, as we know pantry
visits continue to increase
each week.
With the City’s $25 million,
the Council focused on highneed,
low-income, food-insecure
areas, and recommended
organizations operating in
these communities. Additionally,
the Council identified providers
which serve immigrant
communities across the five
boroughs.
In the meantime, the State’s
$25 million under the Nourish
New York initiative, provides
emergency funds for food
banks and providers which
serve the populations that need
it the most.
Aiming to increase food
access, the funds not only help
families in need across the City
and the State, they also tackle
existing disparities.
We are also proud that our
recently passed budget for 2021
contains no cuts to Councilfunded
food programs despite a
$9 billion budget deficit.
All of this work contributes
to our ultimate goal of addressing
inequity in all forms in
New York City, including food
inequity. Every New Yorker
deserves access to healthy
affordable food.
It’s governments’ job to make
sure residents get the resources
they need, especially during a
public health and financial crisis
when so many of them are
sick or out of work.
Those in need should call
3-1-1 and say “Get Food” or visit
the City’s COVID-19 emergency
food site at nyc.gov/getfood.
Corey Johnson is speaker of
the City Council; Vanessa Gibson
chairs the Council’s Subcommittee
on Capital Budget;
Mark Treyger chairs the Council’s
Education Committee.
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