There’s a call for Gov. Kathy Hochul to increase state funding for food banks across the state.
Advocates say the need is dire as more New Yorkers are having to make difficult choices when it comes to how they spend their money amid federal cuts which they say are deepening the state’s affordability crisis when it comes to buying nutritious food.
Natasha Pernicka is the CEO for the Food Pantries for the Capital District, which works with 75 food pantries. She is also the executive director of the Alliance for a Hunger Free New York.
“We are pleased that we’re finally at $75 million and [$75 million],” said Pernicka when speaking about the proposed amount in the state Legislature’s one-house budgets for two key food programs. “We really hope the governor will take it to the finish line.”
In their individuals budgets released earlier this month, the state Senate and Assembly funded the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) and Nourish New York at $75 million each.
Pernicka wrote to state senators and assemblymembers of the joint budget hearing back in January requesting the amounts and asking lawmakers to hear the call.
It’s one she says state food advocates have been making for several years.
“If you account for the 39% increase in food inflation from 2019 to 2025, as well as the more than 75% increase in food distribution that we’re seeing this is barely keeping up,” said Pernicka. “These are three-year-old numbers.”
When Hochul unveiled her executive budget earlier this year, she highlighted $66 million for HPNAP and $55 million for the Nourish NY Program.
This proposed funding is in addition to the $65 million in emergency food assistance that was provided last November during the federal government shutdown.
“What we’re asking now is not to have one-off emergency funding when it’s available, but to make sure that this is a plan moving into this next budget year, so food banks know that they have the support of New York state to get quality food into the mouths of our neighbors in need,” said Susan Lintner, chief of advocacy and engagement for the Regional Food Bank.
The Regional Food Bank serves 1,000 charitable agencies across 23 counties in New York state. According to its website, the food bank feeds 350,000 people every month.
In a statement, the governor’s office said in part: “Unlike Washington Republicans, Governor Hochul is not going to allow families in New York to go hungry. That is why she has already committed additional state funds totaling $106 million for emergency food assistance programs and has reinforced New York’s network of food banks and pantry partners, as well as proposed a baselined $15 million increase in the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program. The Governor continues to work with her partners in the legislature to pass a budget that meets the needs of New Yorkers.”