‘I’m Afraid of Wasting Away’: City Food Pantries Struggle As Funding Shrinks & Demand Grows

As federal patronage dries up the lines outside New York City pantries stretch down blocks and around corners Advocates say the city requirements to ramp up funding for its crisis food assistance scheme to help offset cuts from Washington D C Clients waiting in the lobby of St John s Bread Life food pantry in Bedford-Stuyvesant Photo by Adi Talwar As councilmembers filed up and down the strategies of City Hall last week carrying hefty lunch boxes a coalition of local crisis food providers assembled on the stairs of the building to sound the alarm on the accelerating food insecurity dilemma in New York City For local food pantries a storm is on the horizon President Trump s proposed Big Beautiful Bill has been rolling along the U S Senate floor targeting food measure programs including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Initiative SNAP The bill would shift billion in costs onto New York State and local county governments according to a memo sent out by Gov Kathy Hochul last Friday Programs are already struggling After the suspension of FEMA s Urgency Food and Shelter Venture in February food banks across the nation began wondering how they would manage to keep their shelves stocked Now facing additional cuts billion slashed from local food banks and schools and an additional million from the Crisis Food Assistance Campaign TEFAP providers are left with full tables but empty plates function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' New York receives around million annually in supplemental funding through TEFAP to help meet the growing demand for food assistance across the state As federal backing shrinks the lines outside New York City pantries stretch down blocks and around corners People start lining up at our food pantry at a m We don t open until a m We re seeing parents push their children in their empty grocery carts noted Alex Hughes the director of hunger prevention and advocacy at Project Hospitality a non-profit on Staten Island providing food and shelter Despite growing demand funding for Public Food Connection CFC the city s largest provider of urgency food assistance has hardly changed since Mayor Eric Adams executive budget for the upcoming fiscal year which starts July proposes million down slightly from million this current fiscal year But the City Council and anti-hunger advocates are pushing for million for the undertaking citing the impact of federal cuts More than area kitchens rely on it Jilly Stephens director of City Harvest called that amount a modest ask with outsized importance noting it would account for only percent of the mayor s proposed billion budget A rally outside City Hall on June pressing for more funding for emergency food providers Photo by Adi Talwar At last week s rally organizers from City Harvest Food Bank for New York City and United Way commented local food pantry visits are only increasing and it s not looking like the numbers will subside any time soon FeedNYC records shows there s been an percent increase in the number of average monthly visits to food banks across the city since Pantry leaders were convinced the situation would simmer down after the pandemic when need skyrocketed but it s only escalated In there were about million visits to food pantries across the city Last year there were more than million visits to those same organizations shared Stephens If the funding is cut I ll be in trouble I m afraid of wasting away explained Kenneth Johnson a Lower East Side resident who gets meals at the Sirovich Senior Center because his fixed income doesn t allow him to afford groceries from supermarkets Johnson announced he has been struggling to put on weight Louise Villacci the CEO of Leading Individuals From Trauma a nonprofit based on Long Island that provides endorsement materials to individuals who have experienced trauma and struggle with food insecurity declared she and her business partner had to personally cover of their usual food order last week due to federal cuts The money is being frozen If we want something we have to reach into our own pockets and buy the food Villaci explained Kenneth Johnson attended a rally in backing of the city s emergency food programs last week If the funding is cut I ll be in trouble he advised City Limits Photo by Adi Talwar Public organizations are already dealing with the effects of the FEMA funding pause groups across the city are owed over million for food and urgency services they ve already delivered according to the president of United Way of New York City Grace Bonilla Emmy Brett the director of Greenpoint Hunger Scheme criticized the mayor s budget proposal saying the administration s efforts to prioritize inhabitants safety fall short of addressing the equally critical need to keep New Yorkers fed The mayor is demanding that food justice organizations like the ones behind me tighten our belts But what he does not understand is that we have been tightening our belts she noted A hungry city is not a safe city a hungry city is a place where we have to lock up baby formula in cages in our grocery stores as people grow desperate for techniques to feed their families Brett explained That s not New York St John s Bread of Life At a m there was already a line at St John s Bread of Life a food bank tucked between Malcolm X Boulevard and Patchen Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant On Tuesday as record-breaking heat scorched New York City pantry visitors endured the sweltering conditions to receive a hot meal and a warm hello from Sister Caroline Tweedy the project s executive director Sister Caroline Tweedy left executive director of St John s Bread Life and Sister Marie Sorenson right associate executive director Photo by Adi Talwar This is a safety net for folks a place where they can find people to walk alongside them as they begin their journey to stability explained Tweedy With over years of social work experience she disclosed yearned to cultivate an organization that offered sustenance to struggling individuals as well as an array of social services St John s Bread of Life is a spacious brick building with two floors On the first floor visitors cross a waiting lobby and enter a room in the back equipped with self-ordering machines where they scan their membership cards to order their weekly supply of groceries They can choose from a range of options from basic necessities like oil rice beans and milk to more substantial proteins such as ground beef canned tuna and chicken After placing their order families sit in the lobby and patiently wait for their name to be called Contents of a single microwavable food bag prepared for clients experiencing homelessness at St John s Bread Life Photo by Adi Talwar Upstairs pantry guests have access to event management services including legal assistance therapeutic sponsorship and even a mail office for those who can t receive correspondence at their place of residence We have a relationship with Urban Justice and our clinic is run by Care for the Homeless reported Tweedy adding that the pantry welcomes guests a week in search of food and oftentimes social services Before the pandemic St John s Bread of Life would distribute less than a million meals a year Now Tweedy and her colleague Sister Marie Sorenson hand out million plates of food annually We anticipated that it would go back to normal after COVID Sorenson explained But there is no normal anymore And our funding has gone down this year So it s very unpredictable We re facing a lot of uncertainty Still they say they ve never had to turn anyone away thanks to heavy fundraising and extra help from organizations like United Way which stepped in when the state s Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Campaign denied them a grant in Tweedy doesn t enjoy having to put limits on the number of food options for clients or the amount of times they can shop but she says it s a necessary evil at this point in order for their venture to survive People are just going to plunge further and further into poverty Sorenson revealed in response to proposed cuts We were founded to be that gap between running out of SNAP money or waiting for that next check and now we re people s sole aid And that s very scary Microwavable food bags prepared for clients experiencing homelessness at St John s Bread Life Photo by Adi Talwar The Trump administration s Big Beautiful Bill would not only halt funding to the federal undertaking responsible for funding food pantries across the city but also proposes the largest cut to SNAP benefits in history eliminating billion over the next years The bill also imposes stricter eligibility requirements Several recipients will need to prove they work hours per month and those who are unable to meet this demand after days won t be eligible for SNAP for three years The change would disproportionately affect people with unpredictable work situations chronic illness or caregiving responsibilities advocates say If passed more than households in New York would lose access to food assistance warned Gov Kathy Hochul This additional rollback in federal advocacy would put important pressure on local food pantries that will not be equipped to handle a surge in visits These are our brothers and sisters waiting in line down there we need to treat them with dignity announced Sorenson Why is our gaze constantly looking down at people who are struggling when we re looking at a financial dilemma Why doesn t it ever look up at the system To reach the reporter behind this story contact Marianad citylimits org To reach the editor contact Jeanmarie citylimits org Want to republish this story Find City Limits reprint agenda here The post I m Afraid of Wasting Away City Food Pantries Struggle As Funding Shrinks Demand Grows appeared 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