By Amanda Li, Junior Policy Associate
Over 2.6 million New Yorkers are food insecure and depend on the Emergency Food Assistance Program for their food. Unfortunately, the number of food insecure people in New York and across the country is only increasing. In April 2016, hundreds of thousands of unemployed people lost their SNAP benefits when states brought back pre-recession work requirements. This rapidly growing population of people only makes the need for food banks to have sufficient and sustainable quantities of healthy food more urgent. Commenting on this need, Assemblyman Francisco Moya said: “By putting fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables on the tables of New York’s families in need, we are helping ensure that falling on bad times does not mean falling into bad health.” A lack of high quality, nutritious food can lead to greater risks of diet-related illnesses like obesity, hypertension, and diabetes. To stop falling on bad times also meaning falling into bad health, we need to provide a sustainable supply of freshly grown produce to our food banks.
Millions of pounds of fresh, perfectly edible New York farm produce are left unharvested and eventually become food waste. Why? Because aesthetic imperfections in fruits and vegetables make them unsellable to consumers. With food banks struggling to provide a sustainable source of healthy food to over 2.6 million New Yorkers, there is clearly a connection to be made here. Why don’t we get farmers to donate their unused and unharvested produce to the food banks?
The major challenge is the high cost of harvesting, handling, and transporting these crops. New York farmers often find it financially prohibitive to donate their unharvested crops to food banks. This is why the New York State legislature passed a bill that provides New York State farmers with a tax credit for donating to emergency food programs. This bill will not only help lower the tax burden on farmers, but it would provide food banks and the communities they serve with a much-needed source of fresh, healthy, locally-grown produce. It’s a win-win!
DASH-NY strongly supports policies that will help make healthier foods more available to everyone. In fact, one of our policy priorities for 2017 is to adopt food policies that require food and beverages purchased with government funds to meet certain nutrition standards. The Advancing Prevention Project will be promoting policies and food procurement practices that support a health promoting emergency food system by hosting a learning collaborative that engages food banks and pantries who want to provide fresh foods.
We are looking forward to seeing the mutual benefits for New York farmers and food banks if Gov. Cuomo signs the bill into law.