Last week, the Super-committee failed to reach agreement on a deficit reduction plan, which will result in over one trillion dollars in federal budget cuts across-the-board, including an estimated five billion dollars out of the New York State budget over the next ten years. Although substantial components of the hunger safety net will be exempt, deep cuts in other areas are likely to increase the need for emergency food. With emergency food organizations already struggling to meet need this holiday season, Governor Cuomo announced $1 million in grants to New York State’s food banks and launched a state-wide initiative urging businesses to give directly to food banks during the holidays. The New York City Council held its annual oversight hearing on hunger in New York City, focusing on finger-imaging for food-stamp applicants, which only New York City and the state of Arizona require. And the Census Bureau released sobering statistics indicating one in five U.S. children now live in poverty.

For Deficit Panel, Failure Cuts Two Ways, The New York Times, 11/21
The latest Congressional failure to agree on a plan for balancing the government’s books could yield a surprising result: a sharp reduction in annual federal deficits, larger than anything contemplated by the special panel that reached its fruitless finale on Monday. But the absence of an agreement also threatens to significantly slow growth in an already ailing economy by raising taxes on almost everyone while reducing government spending on almost everything.

Soup Kitchens and Pantries Struggle to Feed Hungry New Yorkers, DNA Info, 11/21
Many soup kitchens and food pantries across the city have been struggling to meet expanding demands while their budgets are shrinking. They’re bracing for the possibility of more cuts on the horizon. The Food Bank for New York, which distributes food to a network of roughly 1,000 local programs citywide, said this summer saw several emergency food providers having to temporarily close their doors. The organization is worried that food assistance could be slashed even more by a special Congressional committee on deficit reduction, which is supposed to vote Wednesday on ways to cut $1.2 trillion from the federal government over 10 years.

NY launches food bank funding drive, Associated Press, 11/24
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo is launching "Help Your Neighbor," a statewide initiative to urge businesses and New Yorkers to give directly to regional food banks this holiday season. Cuomo also says $1 million in grants will be given to eight food banks across the state and an additional $620,000 in grants for emergency food relief organizations in communities hit by recent flooding and storms. The "Help Your Neighbor" initiative encourages New Yorkers and businesses to donate resources to help restock and fill the shelves of food banks. As a result of bad weather this year, some New York farms have struggled to provide to food banks. Additionally, Cuomo says, some donors have scaled back their giving due to tough economic conditions.

The city defends a finger-imaging requirement for food-stamp applicants, Capital NY,11/22
The Bloomberg administration's practice of requiring food-stamp applicants to be fingerprinted isn't a common one. The only other jurisdiction in America that imposes the same requirement, at the moment, is the state of Arizona. The application process for food stamps In New York City isn't terribly simple to begin with. And the finger-imaging requirement is being imposed as the need for food stamps increases, with one in five New Yorkers, and one in three children, now living in poverty.

More than 1 in 5 U.S. children poor, Census says, Reuters, 11/18
The number of children in the United States considered poor rose by 1 million in 2010, the U.S. Census said on Thursday, with more than one in five of the youngest Americans now living in poverty. "Children who live in poverty, especially young children, are more likely than their peers to have cognitive and behavioral difficulties, to complete fewer years of education, and, as they grow up, to experience more years of unemployment," the Census said.