Longer lines at funding-hungry food pantries

In the midst of a rough and tumble economy in which the number of New Yorkers utilizing emergency food programs has skyrocketed, those same programs have been hit with devastating funding cuts, a new survey shows.
In the New York City Coalition Against Hunger’s (NYCCAH) Annual Hunger Survey, soup kitchens and food pantries throughout the five boroughs reported serving 28 percent more people in 2008 than in 2007. Last year’s results showed a 20 percent jump from 2006.
Meanwhile, 72.3 percent of responding agencies reported a decrease in federal, state and local funding and a diminished stock of food. Likely a direct result of the funding cuts, 68.8 percent of emergency food agencies citywide reported not enough supply to meet demand. Comparatively, Queens fared worse, with 76.8 percent of borough-wide agencies - the highest percentage in the city - having reported insufficient quantities of food.
Of the over 84 percent of Queens agencies that saw an increase in demand this year, more than 64 percent of them were forced to ration food by limiting portion size, reducing hours of operation or turning people away. Statistics like these are alarming and unacceptable, says NYCCAH Executive Director Joel Berg.
“The hunger situation which was truly awful in 2007 has now reached crisis proportions,” Berg said in a statement. He pointed out that the next presidential administration and Congress have the opportunity to “reverse these trends by strengthening the nutrition safety net and creating living wage jobs.”
Speaking at Cabrini Immigrant Services, a food pantry on Manhattan’s Lower East Side that recently hosted various elected officials, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum echoed Berg in saying that NYCCAH’s survey “confirms what were are starting to see all around us…”
Gotbaum added: “…while Washington is bailing out the banks it’s crucial that all levels of government step up to provide the funding needed to operate emergency food programs and help out the hungry now.”
Emergency food funding has become so insufficient that nearly 55 percent of survey respondents reported using their own money to support food aid programs. At the same time, almost 92 percent of agencies admitted they would like to improve the quality of the food they provide.
Speaking at Cabrini, City Council Finance Chair David Weprin called on the city’s public and private sectors to work together to find both long-term and short-term solutions to the food pantry crisis.
“As we delve further into these tough economic times, the demand for services has risen,” Weprin said. “The survey clearly shows how the economy is affecting everyone.”