by Triada Stampas

Making good on his pledge to work to ensure that no child in New York goes hungry , Governor Cuomo yesterday announced that New York State will be putting an end to finger imaging for the Food Stamp Program (also known as SNAP). A practice abandoned by most other states in favor of more cost-effective and less stigmatizing fraud detection methods, finger imaging for food stamps currently exists only in New York and Arizona.

As the Food Bank For New York City helps more than 40,000 New Yorkers with the complicated food stamp application process every year, we have seen our share of seniors, working parents and young adults frustrated and humiliated by having to be finger-imaged just to access needed food assistance. For many food stamp applicants, finger imaging has added a layer of shame and stigma to an already difficult experience.

Our President and CEO Margarette Purvis voiced our position best:

"We enthusiastically applaud Governor Cuomo for ending a practice that for too long has kept eligible low-income New Yorkers from the food resources they need. People should never be ashamed to seek out help. Ending this stigmatizing practice will take a barrier away from getting people the food they need for themselves and their families."

The state will issue a new regulation at the end of this month to eliminate finger imaging from the Food Stamp Program in New York. Once the regulation is released, the state will begin a 45-day public comment period – if you are interested in submitting your comments in support of ending finger imaging, stay tuned to this blog for information about how you can provide your input.

Finger imaging will officially end in New York State in mid-July, when the new regulation goes into effect. At that point, our team of food stamp specialists will be more than happy to inform the New Yorkers they assist that getting finger-printed is no longer a necessary step toward receiving the help they need.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.

By Lisa Hines-Johnson

Today, Mother’s Day, is the third day of the Food Bank For New York City’s Food Stamp Challenge – a call to supporters to spend just one week experiencing what it is like to have to rely on a food stamp budget of $1.48 per meal.

As I reflect on the challenge and how powerful it will be for people who participate, it has struck me how fitting it is to have this experience on one of the most important days celebrating mothers – as the face of poverty is overwhelmingly that of a woman and her children. I am also reminded of my own mother and our experience, as a single mother and her only child, having to rely on food stamps.

It was the early 1980s when my mother lost her job after fourteen years of dedicated service to her company. I was young, yet old enough to know that something was different. My mother still got out of the bed we shared in our one-bedroom apartment in the Bronx well before the sun came up, but she no longer put on her work clothes or those high-heeled shoes that I slipped on while playing dress-up. My mom was now home when I arrived from school. We spent more time together. That was good. Nothing seemed wrong….at least for a little while. I found out years later that my mother was able to provide for us for some time with the severance package her company had given her. Once that money was spent, things changed.

I asked my mother how she felt during this time of transition from a life of modest comfort to trying to stretch a dollar until even it begged for mercy. She shared that she did what she had to at a time when her options were limited. It was hard. She talked about the embarrassment that quickly turned to anger when she noticed disapproving stares as she paid with her food stamps. She wanted to yell out “I’ve worked. I didn’t plan for this!” She felt defeated yet thankful for the neighborhood grocer who was kind enough to allow us to get food that we needed and pay him later. And worried about the how we’d get through the next week with the stamps – which were actually stamps back then – and other support running low.

I remember when I first noticed that our food supply was dwindling which, of course, always happened towards the end of the month. Those meals always consisted of scrambled or fried eggs, French fries and a canned vegetable, usually beets. I remember sharing in my own little girl version of my mother’s shame, anger and sadness that resulted in an inescapable resilience.

I also remember that, despite her situation, my mother always tried to do things that would improve our reality even if only temporarily. From odd jobs in local shops, to babysitting for children in the neighborhood, to taking courses to become a dog groomer and grooming the same 3 dogs every month, my mother tried with everything she had to ensure that I still had gifts to open at Christmas, parties to celebrate my birthday and a new outfit to wear on picture day at school.

As a mother of three, my heart aches for what I can now fully comprehend was my mother’s struggle during this period in our lives. As someone who lived the Food Stamp Challenge and never thought she’d have to, my mother told me how important she feels it is for people who participate in this experience to talk about it so that others might know how urgently the people who rely on food stamps need this support to get through the next month, the next meal. So they might join the larger discussion around poverty and what needs to be done to truly move people back into the lives they had or the ones they dream of having.

By Margarette Purvis

Seven months ago I returned to the Food Bank ready to put forth my best effort in helping as many New Yorkers connect to the plight of our poorest neighbors. Within the 1st month I met with our director for all things policy related to discuss this Food Stamp Challenge I saw on CNN. We had a robust conversation where she gave me examples of how it could work and the many avenues we could take. As I walked out of her office, I said over my shoulder, “I definitely want us to do that.”

So here’s my Friday morning confession: when I said I wanted to do it…I had no idea that she was going to make it a reality six months later and that I would have to figure out how I would eat for One WEEK on $31! I remember the day that they raced in my office to say that Susi and Mario had agreed to lead the campaign. I was just as thrilled as they were. I remember when Mario stood before the crowd at our recent Can Do gala and spoke passionately about why people should join his family in the challenge to relate to almost 50 million Americans and 1.8 million New Yorkers. I’ve smiled every time a tweeter joins the campaign. I experienced all of that and still 24 hours before the challenge begins…I FEEL INCREDIBLY ANXIOUS.

I’m no different than any other working professional. I love a great coffee and probably lean on it a little more than I should. When I actually get a chance to go out for lunch…I expect it to be pretty yummy. My days are long and I typically have no desire to spend those final hours over a stove. GrubHub.com and peapod.com feel like personal gifts from the universe TO ME. They make this working girl…WORK. So now I stare at 7 days on a food budget that I usually have spent in a single day. The overachiever in me wants to do everything really well. But the negotiator in me immediately started figuring out how/where I could adjust the challenge to fit my lifestyle. Hey, don’t judge me. I warned you that this was a confession.

Yesterday morning as I stared in my fridge berating myself for not shopping BEFORE the challenge and still having nothing FOR the challenge, I had a bit of an epiphany. I think the first lesson for me was to remember that what’s causing me anxiety equals RELIEF for people who actually NEED these resources. Imagine if my anxiety was based in having NO FOOD. I’m blessed that this is not my daily reality so I’ve decided to be grateful to have the opportunity to highlight the daily struggle of others. This doesn’t mean that I won’t complain a lil bit on one of these days…it just means that the disposition of my inner foodie has been adjusted.

The Food Stamp Challenge is about people living on the BUDGET and not the actual benefit.  My plan is to crack open my handy crock pot and make meals that will stretch. Thankfully the Food Bank has a great team of nutritionists who put together a $31 grocery list. (That’s not cheating because this resource is provided via monthly trainings to our member network and clients in our Harlem site.) While perusing my list, the first thing I noticed was that the array of fruit that I typically eat is MIA. I can get a couple of apples though. Not the kind I like but at least an apple. Also, according to the list I would have to eat ground meat rather than ground turkey…because it’s too expensive. So, I decided to go online to find coupons so that I could hopefully trade up. You can follow my journey on Twitter OR you can join me by participating in the Challenge, sharing your experiences on Facebook and Twitter and CONTACTING YOUR ELECTED OFFICIALS to encourage them to PROTECT this most valuable resource in our safety net….FOOD FOR THOSE WHO NEED IT.

Margarette Purvis is the President and CEO of Food Bank For New York City. Follow her on Twitter at @FoodBank_Prez.

By Jacquie Wayans,

Having relied on food stamps at one time in my life, I have become skilled at making a meal work without spending very much to make it happen.

It is important to me to expose my kids to great food flavors. Since I am of West Indian heritage, spices rule. One day, I found myself with the taste for a curry dish, but was limited on my usual meat and veggie supplies (typical towards the end of the month). I looked carefully in my cupboards and came up with a tasty dish I now love.

I know how hard feeding a family on a food stamp budget can be. That is why I wanted to share this recipe here – where it can hopefully reach other people living on food stamps. But, even if you're not on food stamps, I hope you'll enjoy it!

Secret Curry Yum Ingredients: Canola oil – 2 tbs Clove or two of Garlic – chopped (You get a lot for a little, huge health benefits) Fresh or dry thyme – (You can get fresh for a buck) Med or Lg Onion – 1 whole (Cheap and full of flavor) A green pepper – (Can be expensive out of season, but worth flavor and nutrients) 1 or 2 celery stalks - chopped Curry Powder – 1 tbs 1 packet of Lipton onion soup mix (I catch when on sale for a dollar and stack up – low sodium chicken broth good substitute) Fish, chicken, beef or pork (whatever serving you have for your family. I chop the meat up into small bits, since this dish is all about the sauce, you don't need much meat.) Potato – one or two large potatoes will do. Peel and dice Curry – ¼ cup Soy sauce – (optional)I save packets from Chinese food stores 1 small can Pumpkin Puree – secret ingredient – same color as curry, blends into sauce. Rice: the amount needed for your family. I lay the sauce on the rice. *If buying fresh is out of the question, Goya makes a frozen Sofrito or Recaito for two bucks that goes a long way in flavoring anything! ** If you have cinnamon, throw a dash in at the end.

Directions: Pour oil into pot and add first 7 ingredients on med heat. Once the aroma is in the air, add your meat and brown it on all sides. Then add your water, enough to cover the meat completely. Then add your packet of Lipton mix.

Add 1 potato and soy sauce and rest of curry. Once potato is tender, mash it in sauce add the pumpkin puree and next potato (not to mash). Add water if needed and salt and pepper to taste. You should have a filling meal and leftovers.

I know it is hard to try new food on a tight budget. I say, take the risk in a smart way. By mixing something new with something tried and true, you increase the chances that kids will like it and won't even know it's there.

[Please note that this dish is a bit high in sodium. There are easy ways to reduce that, by substituting Chicken Broth for Lipton mix and then add Sea salt to taste when dish is done. The soy sauce is optional – just gives a rich flavor – again low sodium is available. The key here is the water. Water not only stretches the dish by increasing gravy volume, but it can also dilute the sodium]

By Chef Karl Wilder,

What began for me as a month long project to live as a diabetic in support of the Harlem Hospital's Stirring the Pot diabetes program also became a commitment to the Food Bank For New York City when I realized just how common diabetes and other diet-related diabetes are in low-income communities – communities that also rely heavily on food stamps to get by.

To truly understand what low-income diabetics go through, I joined the Food Bank's Food Stamp Challenge last week – an experience that for me will culminate in a twelve-hour Chef Challenge Marathon on May 19 in support of Stirring the Pot and the Food Bank.

Last summer I lived on a food stamp budget for two months in preparation for a benefit for the San Francisco Food Bank. I did okay then because I relied on high calorie foods that are filling and provide sustenance. But with the added challenge of a diet restricted by a very serious health condition, this time I sought to create an eating plan that had about 45 grams of carbohydrate per meal and never exceed $4.44 per day.

My morning cup of coffee with a splash of milk cost me forty-three cents, just 6 strawberries sixty cents, two slices of bacon forty two cents. In no time my budget has been consumed.

Now I am just hungry. Every day I am hungry. Thus far I have not been able to get my calories above 1,500 a day, though my goal is 2,200. I just can't afford that many calories while eating the "right" foods. I have managed to stay within budget but I feel weak and have less energy. My sleep patterns have been interrupted because I wake up feeling hunger.

When we think about people on food assistance we don't often realize that many also have serious health issues like diabetes, celiac, heart disease.

We are not powerless. The Food Bank's Food Stamp Challenge doesn't just ask you to try experiencing life as a food stamp recipient for one week – it also asks you to take action by telling Congress to protect this essential program.

You can also host a Virtual Food Drive, where you can shop from aisles of healthy food options to support the Food Bank. Or, you can donate food to your local food assistance program – the Food Bank serves close to 1,000 of them throughout the five boroughs. But instead of pulling that extra pound of pasta or that can of beans from your pantry, head to the store. Pick up some high quality protein; sardines, anchovies, tuna, canned salmon, foods with omega 3 that are appropriate for those with health problems...and while you are at it...get some peanut butter for the kids.

By Russell Gee

As you know if you have been reading this blog over the spring, the Food Bank’s EATWISE nutrition education interns completed a project to raise awareness for healthy breakfasts at our high schools this year – with in-class presentations, marketing materials, social media efforts and more. We wanted this project to make a real difference on our peers’ health and diets, but how would we define success and know that we were actually influencing our peers?

To me, if my peers could demonstrate that they learned something and thought the information was useful, then this would be a successful spring project. I realized the spring project made a difference when I talked to my friend Ryan. He was excited to try and make one of the healthful breakfast recipes we presented. My other friend, Kaitlin, even told me that she was eating breakfast more often and was careful to make healthier breakfast choices. To see my friends actually learn something and make changes to how they eat because of what we presented was very rewarding.

The presentation itself was also an interesting experience for me. It was different than just presenting a paper . Our EATWISE breakfast project included full-fledged presentations - with scripts, a slideshow, games and information used to educate others about breakfast. The experience itself was like viewing a kaleidoscope, as I was able to experience what it is like to be a teacher and having to expect that anything could occur.

For me, one of the most memorable parts of the presentation was when we informed a class that skipping breakfast could actually cause you to gain weight rather than lose weight. (That’s because …) Seeing the surprise and intrigue on their faces was priceless. Overall, being able to reach more than 900 of our peers, through in-class presentations, school announcements, marketing materials and social media content – all of which we created ourselves - gives me and my fellow interns a great sense of accomplishment. Our project showed how one can change their perspective so slightly and get something worthwhile in exchange.

by Triada Stampas

Last week saw major developments in the Farm Bill, the federal legislation that sets funding and policy for safety net nutrition programs as well as agriculture and conservation programs for a five-year period. The Senate Agriculture Committee voted to approve a draft Farm Bill that would cut $4.5 billion from food stamp (SNAP) benefits.

In New York City, this cut would reduce the monthly SNAP allotments of 190,000 low-income households living in public housing or receiving federal Section 8 housing vouchers. (The average income of a household living in public housing in New York City is less than $23,000.)

New York’s only member on the Senate Agriculture Committee, Kirsten Gillibrand, voted against this bill on the grounds that it would harm some of the most vulnerable New Yorkers, and will be bringing an amendment to the Senate floor to protect children in SNAP households from cuts that may remain in the final bill.

The Senate Agriculture Committee’s Farm Bill draft does make improvements to the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP), which provides the main source of food to our city’s soup kitchens and food pantries. The improvements appear significant on first glance – adding $150 million in mandatory funding and giving the federal government explicit authority to purchase additional TEFAP food in response to increases in need. However, TEFAP has already lost $175 million this year. It is clear that, on balance, emergency food providers will be coping with even fewer resources to confront the increased need created by cuts to SNAP.

What happens next? The bill will be brought to the floor of the Senate, where our legislators will have the opportunity to offer additional amendments before they vote on it. The House of Representatives must also develop and approve its version of the Farm Bill; the difference between each chamber’s version must then be reconciled and a consensus proposal adopted.

What can you do?

1. Call your Senators and Representatives and let them know cuts to SNAP are not acceptable!
2. Join Mario Batali and take the Food Stamp Challenge to raise awareness about this critical lifeline.
3. Spread the word to your family, friends and coworkers through Facebook and Twitter.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.

By Russell Gee, Kamilah Newton, Elif Ajredini and Aditi Rai

As our friends in the deliverables group wrote a couple weeks ago, the Food Bank’s EATWISE nutrition education interns are running on a project to educate our peers on the importance of eating a balanced breakfast. Changing just one thing in your diet can make a big difference and is super simple. We’ve done it and they can do it too – and when our project reminds our peers that eating breakfast can have a real impact on their energy, productivity and overall focus, we’ll be working hard to make sure they listen up!

As the marketing group, we want to capture our peers’ attention and connect breakfast to situations that teens actually experience, like studying for a test. We’ve produced our own flyers, with fun fonts and great images, and even a marketing script for our peers to use when conducting classroom announcements to promote our Twitter and Tumblr pages. At the very end of our presentations our peers will make a pledge to Change One Thing in their diet, and we will create a pledge wall with all of their responses. This will definitely be exciting and we can’t wait until we can share it with all of you!

We want our peers to have fun learning! If they ask a lot of questions, then we’ll know they’re engaged, fully captivated and want to learn more! We want to convince them to Change One Thing and let them know that it’s not hard to make minor changes to their eating habits. No change is too small!

Personally, I’ve learned a lot about teamwork, and the power of consideration. Our group has open discussions and we all share our opinions. We’re not always on the same page, but we make compromises and our work looks great because we’re working together. It feels good knowing that everyone has contributed to the project and we are producing something that makes us proud!

By Mandy Kessler

Last week, a group of Food Bank staff gathered for a big group lunch to test out a delicious new partnership between longtime Food Bank supporter Mario Batali and the taste-masters behind Cambodian sandwich shop Num Pang. Aptly named the Batali Pang, this unique new sandwich benefits the Food Bank, so we may be a little biased. But if you question the objectivity of the following review, we have a solution for you – try the sandwich out for yourself and let us know what you think! You know you want to anyway.

The Batali Pang consists of authentic Italian cotechino sausage from Brooklyn Bangers with balsamic pickled onions and Cacio de Roma cheese, folded into the traditional Num Pang ingredients – homemade chili mayo, pickled carrots, cucumber and cilantro.

As a bahn mi-lover, this sandwich offered just what I hoped for, traditional Asian flavors with a unique and pleasing Italian twist. The sausage had just the right amount of spice and fat to pair with chili mayo, and the pickled onions and Cacio de Roma cheese added a delicious bite. And after enjoying it all between the chewy-on-the-outside, soft-inside semolina flour baguette, I now know why the shop is named "Num Pang" a Cambodian term for "bread." With ingredients originating from countries not usually found in the same sentence, let alone sandwich, the different flavors came together seamlessly. I can safely say that all of my coworkers who joined me in testing out this unique partnership agreed – the Batali Pang is not to be missed.

I also have to add that, when you order the Batali Pang, check out Num Pang’s grilled corn on the cob. Our Fundraising Operations Coordinator summed up how we all felt about this addition to our meal: “I'm in a roast corn and meatball coma at the moment. Just the right balance of flavors, not too much of anything. Incredibly indulgent and delicious.”

But don’t take our word for it – check it out and let us know what you think. And remember, for every Batali Pang you order through March 15, a three dollar donation will be made to the Food Bank – helping to provide 15 free meals for New Yorkers in need.

by Triada Stampas

Three weeks ago, the Food Bank reached out to supporters like you to help save a critical source of support provided by the Child Tax Credit (CTC) to our most vulnerable working families.

In a cynical move to offset the cost of the payroll tax and unemployment insurance extension, the House proposed cutting CTC refunds that benefit low-income, working families who file their taxes with Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) rather than Social Security numbers.

Thanks to the actions of advocates like you, Congress protected this critical benefit which, simply put, helps keep food on the table for working families.

Though, in the end, Congress agreed not to require spending cuts to offset the extensions, Congress responded to the need for funding by initiating the auction of public airwaves for wireless Internet systems.

By removing a proposed cut that would have hurt our country’s most vulnerable, working families and identifying a revenue generating initiative that will speed digital communications, Congress has provided a perfect example of a fact that often goes unstated in Washington – we can reduce spending without hurting low-income Americans.

The Food Bank would like to thank our advocates for helping to save the Child Tax Credit! Please take a moment to visit our advocacy page for other actions you can take in support of New Yorkers in need.

Triada Stampas works to inform government officials, policy makers and the general public about the needs of the city’s network of emergency food organizations and the more than 1.3 million people who rely on them; and to advance public policy that meets those needs.