Advocacy
Approximately 1.3 million New Yorkers — including 1 in 5 children — rely on soup kitchens and food pantries to survive. Women, seniors and people with disabilities are among those most dependent on emergency food. Your voice can help make a difference for New Yorkers forced to choose between paying for food and covering other essentials, including rent, utility and medical expenses. The Food Bank's Advocacy Center provides current opportunities to help our most vulnerable neighbors through policy change and public awareness.
URGENT — Food Stamp Funding at Risk — Tell Congress to Take Food Stamp Cuts Off the Table!
Congress has passed legislation that will rob the Food Stamp program (SNAP) of billions of dollars in order to provide state aid for Medicaid and education. Now, a Senate proposal to pay for child nutrition programs by further reducing food stamp benefits is awaiting approval by the House. Our public health care system, public education system and food stamps all serve the same population, and by taking money away from any one of these programs to fund another, Congress is playing a shell game that low-income Americans can only lose. The House is expected to vote on these proposals after Labor Day. Read our statement on the votes and tell House members that Congress must not make it even harder for struggling families to purchase healthy food — contact your legislators today!
Help Update Outdated Poverty Measures
The federal poverty measure created in the 1960s, used to determine eligibility and benefit levels for safety net programs like food stamps and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), is based on a number of outdated and incorrect assumptions about the expenses low-income Americans face. For example, it assumes the cost of living is about the same in New York City as elsewhere in the country. As a result, many safety net programs fall short of meeting the need. The Measuring American Poverty Act of 2009, currently in Congress, would create a new poverty measure that addresses the limitations of the existing measure and brings it up to date. Join Food Bank in supporting this legislation, and find more information here.
Sign On to the Anti-Hunger Policy Platform
Developed during a series of 2006 meetings held by a collective of city and state anti-hunger organizations, the Anti-Hunger Policy Platform for New York State and City, 2007–2012 addresses specific federal, state and city hunger-related policies and funding. Focus areas include emergency food funding; access to and availability of government nutrition-assistance programs; and long-term solutions, including the development of city- and statewide offices of food, hunger and nutrition policy. Sign the petition to show your support — as an Individual or an Organization
The U.S. Senate is considering proposals to cut billions from future Food Stamp (SNAP) benefits to offset part of the cost for other legislative priorities. Regardless of the merits of these priorities, reducing benefits for the neediest people in the country should never be used as a way to pay for legislation. Proposals could reach the Senate floor for a vote before the end of this week. Congressional leaders and the White House need to hear a strong message that Congress must not make it even harder for struggling families to purchase healthy food.
An affiliate of America's Second Harvest, The Nation's Food Bank Network
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