According to Laurie Gordon, President of the Food Bank For New York, food assistance demand now matches pandemic levels, exacerbated by inflation and cost of living. One in four NYC children face food insecurity. Local food pantries report reduced options due to funding cuts and uncertainty ahead. Gordon notes recovery for low-income areas post-crisis can take up to a decade. The interconnected food assistance system relies on various government grants, donations, and programs. Continuous funding cuts could have severe repercussions for thousands dependent on food support, threatening access to fresh food.
"What we see is that it takes sometimes as much as 10 years, believe it or not, for low-income communities, often the hardest hit, to recover from a crisis like [the COVID-19 pandemic]," said Gordon.
"We don't know yet what the impact is," Gordon said. It could destabilize the entire food assistance safety net.
"As these types of cuts continue across all levels of government, thousands of New Yorkers will lose access to fresh food - not just the individuals we serve directly, but also the emergency feed programs we rely on."
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