06/04/2023
๐ข๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป
๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐: ๐ง๐ผ ๐บ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ, ๐ณ๐ผ๐ผ๐ฑ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐ป๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ โ ๐ณ๐ฎ๐๐
๐๐๐ฉ๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ข๐๐ก๐๐๐จ ๐จ๐ฉ๐ง๐ช๐๐๐ก๐๐ฃ๐, ๐๐ค๐ข๐ข๐ช๐ฃ๐๐ฉ๐ฎ ๐ข๐๐ข๐๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ ๐๐๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฉ๐๐ฅ๐จ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐๐จ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ง๐๐๐ฃ.
by Natasha Pernicka
We are in the midst of a hunger crisis in New York. Food pantries in the Capital Region are currently experiencing the highest demands that we have seen in our over 40-year history.
Consider these recent quotes from Albany County food pantry coordinators:
โข โ๐๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ค๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ณ๐ฆ๐จ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐จ๐ถ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต. ๐๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฅ ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐๐๐ (๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ถ๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ฎ). ๐๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐จ๐ฆ๐ต๐ด $28 ๐ข ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฌ, ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ค๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ.โ (Guilderland)
โข “๐๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ญ๐ข๐ด๐ด ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ถ๐ด๐ฑ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐บ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐๐๐๐. ๐ ๐ธ๐ข๐ด ๐ต๐ข๐ญ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ, โ๐ ๐ค๐ข๐ฏโ๐ต ๐ด๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ต ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ง๐ข๐ฎ๐ช๐ญ๐บ ๐ณ๐ช๐จ๐ฉ๐ต ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ธ, ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ด๐ฐ ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ง๐ถ๐ญ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ต๐ณ๐บ.โโ (Albany)
We are hearing more and more stories from individuals with full-time jobs and from multi-income families who don’t qualify for SNAP, and who are struggling. Whatโs more, the end of the emergency pandemic SNAP allotment means that SNAP recipients are expected to receive about 33 percent less each month compared to last year.
When the emergency supplement ended, the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance encouraged people to reach out to their local food pantries for assistance. The state is right to highlight the important role that we play in supporting those who are falling through the gaps of the government social safety net. However, we need people to understand that food pantries are also struggling.
Inflation for food items is at 7.7 percent. The inflation rate for food pantry staples like frozen or canned fruits and vegetables is 10.3 percent. Bread is at 12.6 percent; rice, pasta and cereal are at 10 percent. With higher inflation โ and with no increase from New York state this year for Emergency Food Support Organizations โ food pantries are doing much more with less.
It is critical for us to be there for those in need, and we need to ask for support from the community. Donations to local food pantries make a difference.
And we need help from the state, too: As a recent Times Union story pointed out, those who need SNAP can’t always get timely access. For example, 31.5 percent of applicants in Albany County waited for more than the 30-day legal limit last December. We encourage the state to take swift action to increase access to SNAP by, at minimum, ensuring that all counties adhere to the mandated 30-day processing time.
Food pantries are here for anyone who needs help. There are no income or work-related requirements to receive food from a pantry. Some people use food pantries for emergency situations; some turn to them on a weekly basis. If you or someone you know needs food assistance, please go to thefoodpantries.org; and people across New York state can search for their local food pantry at our Food Connect Map.
Natasha Pernicka is the executive director of The Food Pantries for the Capital District, a coalition of over 65 food pantries serving Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga and Schenectady Counties.
