Turning the Page

When we started Ample Table for Everyone six years ago, we wanted to help food insecure families in New York City. At the time, we didn’t know the full extent of the problem or how we would approach the task. We did agree, however, to learn as much as we could about food insecurity and food justice.

Since that time, we learned that there are many facets to the problem: social, economic, environmental, cultural, political. It’s not just about not having enough food, because believe it or not, the world produces enough food to feed us all! It’s about accessing quality food, understanding food sourcing and preparation–and mostly, prioritizing food choices. When people have limited access (or understanding) of food, they are more likely to make limiting choices.

A Look Back

Stories about food are shared abundantly today—from finding new markets (aka upcycling) for food waste (think: coffee husks and spent beer grains), to hospitals and medical research finally connecting the dots between healthy food and disease prevention, to chef-driven social impact initiatives. Some areas we are keeping tabs on in 2019 include:

• The Farm Bill, which passed Congress, and includes: 1) billions of dollars in subsidies for American farmers, 2) aid for farmers’ markets and 3) maintaining and strengthening the SNAP program. However, President Trump has directed the USDA to add work provisions for certain SNAP recipients (“Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents” aka ABAWD), overriding Congressional approval, and limiting state waivers based on regional or local job conditions. This move significantly impacts millions of Americans’ (including NYC residents’) ability to feed themselves in the case of job scarcity, an important issue to watch.
• The Free School Lunch Program in NYC enables 1.1 million students to consume two proper meals per day, breakfast (already free) and now lunch. Even more, there is focused emphasis on procuring local and fresh food as well as sustainable and healthy products has been prioritized.
• This year saw a plastic straw ban. Can plastic bottles be far behind?
• “Start by Asking” is a campaign to assist 1 million people get the proper WIC, SNAP and EITC (earned income tax credit). The idea is to connect local service providers and government advocates to address food insecurity.
• Immigration policies have hurt participation in food programs as people fear deportation.

A Brighter Foodture

ATE hopes to continue to highlight current topics with you through this blog, and provide a spirited forum for discussion with our supporters and followers so that we may all become aware of the issues, how we are all in some way connected to them, and hopefully, what we can collectively do to promote change.

Share topics with us that are of interest to you in the comment section below or on Facebook. Be sure to read our blog each month, and follow us on Facebook and Twitter.

Happy New Year!

Ann Diamond, ATE Treasurer