Ample Table for Everyone (ATE) has been focused on promoting food justice and fighting hunger in the five boroughs for over six years. We’ve learned a lot but don’t want to lose sight of the factors, issues and complexities affecting nearly one in five New Yorkers today.
Following is a review and fresher in case you’re just catching up.
What food insecurity looks like in 2019
Often when we hear about hunger in America, we associate it with extreme poverty and low (or no) employment. We presume it’s happening in rural towns, where jobs may be scarce, or among the homeless and unemployed in inner cities.
In fact, many who struggle with food insecurity:
- have jobs and homes but simply don’t earn enough to make ends meet
- have recently lost a job
- are pursuing college degrees and the tuition is leaving them without money for the basics
- are aging and battling health issues and can’t get out from under their medical bills
- are veterans or military families unable to live on the salaries or veterans’ benefits.
Twenty (20) percent of children in NYC are food insecure.
Food insecurity is defined as the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. It is a complex issue that involves government, industry, education and economics. There are many parts to the solution including SNAP and WIC, food pantries and soup kitchens, free school lunch and breakfast, legislative advocacy, and nutrition-on-a-budget educational programs.
1. What are SNAP and WIC? Are they effective?
The USDA operates several food assistance programs aimed at alleviating food insecurity and moving households towards self sufficiency. The 2018 Farm Bill (formally called “The Agriculture Improvement Act 2018”) was signed last December and is administered through 2023, when it will be reviewed again. Its two most recognized food assistance programs are Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) (formerly called food stamps) and the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). While federally funded, these programs are administered in New York State through the Office of Temporary And Disability Assistance (OTDA) and the Department of Health WIC Program. So who are the families receiving SNAP and WIC?
The answer may surprise you. Click here to see a profile of SNAP recipients by New York’s 12th Congressional District and here for national summaries. The programs are developed to incentivize families to work, so SNAP gradually phases out as earnings improve. At present, the average length of time a household in NYC spends on food stamps is 8-10 months. And, the average benefit amount is based on household size as indicated by this table.
2. What about Pantries and Soup Kitchens? Are they effective?
Food pantries and soup kitchens are important parts of the food security community. As the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center states, “As established institutions in the City’s anti-hunger work, food pantries are uniquely positioned to implement innovative methods of combating food insecurity and addressing the problem that is its root cause.” The Center offers a list of particularly effective food pantries that are serving the needs and well-being of New Yorkers.
Sounds promising. Hooray!
Not so fast. There’s the dreaded “fourth week.” Studies show that a family receiving both SNAP and Pantry assistance can still only expect to cover 3 out of 4 weeks per month. ATE and other organizations have been working to educate and empower families to feed their households the remaining 25% of the time.
Some innovative approaches include Health Bucks wherein doctors prescribe fruits and vegetables (pharmacy to farm prescriptions) for patients needing to add them to their diets (as in the case of high blood pressure and diabetes diagnoses). ATE is currently funding such a program that is being studied at the NYU School of Medicine as to its efficacy for pregnant women and the development of their unborn and young children. Also, in recent years, SNAP has been expanded to include many green markets where recipients are incentivized to spend more healthfully—$5 of SNAP spent on an EBT card for locally-grown fruits and vegetables yields an incremental $2 in Health Bucks to spend at Farmers markets.
3. What do advocates do? Are they effective?
Advocates (advocacy groups) work at all levels of government to help legislators understand the ramifications of proposed legislation. In the world of hunger, there has been a lot of activity over the past years, for example:
- Ensuring the 2018 Farm Bill was passed
- ATE was proud to join other advocates who worked tirelessly to get universal free school lunch passed in New York City two years ago. Studies showed that the children who received subsidized lunches were embarrassed to show their ”poor cards” (their words, not ours) and therefore would forgo eating. Now that lunch is free for everyone, many more children are eating it. Free school breakfast and lunch means that children can count on at least 10 meals a week
- Along these lines summer presents a unique challenge for public school-age kids. Advocates worked with City officials and the Department of Education to ensure that Summer meals are available to every child under 18 at schools, city pools, parks, libraries and, even, food trucks. While this effort served over 7.3 million meals in the summer of 2018 and already more in 2019, advocates are considering, with NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson, how to make the program even more effective and reach more families.
- Because the work is never done, there is talk in Washington of new SNAP rules that would remove 3.1 million people from the program.
4. Nutrition-on-a-budget curricula. Effective or not?
Over the years, ATE has funded a variety of nutrition-on-a-budget curricula. We have decided that working with our partners, in particular NYU’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research and PS 84, we will make three of these curricula available on a free and open-sourced basis to organizations wishing to use them. ATE’s goal has always been to assist as many families as possible to reduce their food insecurity in a healthful, sustainable manner. We believe that by helping people understand how to eat healthy and stretch their resources, we can reach that goal.
Stay tuned for more news on ATE’s curricula project. In the meantime, to stay connected or learn about ways to join our fight for food justice in NYC, please follow us on Facebook and Twitter.