Louise C. McGuire
ENG 101.0772
Dr. Elizabeth H. McCormick
Emergency Food Programs and How Politicians Need to Help Them
In 2009, there were 50 million Americans struggling with hunger and 17.2 million of them were children (Food Research and Action Center). In New York City alone, there is 1.4 million residents, including 400,000 children, facing food insecurity. In 2009, 55.3 % of the emergency food programs surveyed by New York City Coalition Against Hunger did not have enough food or resources to meet the current demand and there are over 1,200 of them in New York City. These emergency food programs consist of food banks, food pantries, and soup kitchens (New York Coalition Against Hunger). In this essay, we will be looking at the vital function of these emergency food programs and how politicians need to help them.
The journey for food to get to these emergency food programs begins in a food bank. One of the largest food banks in the United States is the Food Bank For New York City. It has a warehouse of 90,000 square feet where food is sorted and stored on shelves and in freezers and refrigerators (Food Bank For New York City). Food banks receive both fresh and non-perishables foods from wholesalers, retailers, food brokers, government agencies, local farms, and individuals. All food is inspected, bar coded, and rotated so it is first in and first out. There is even a nutritionist on hand to make sure all the food that is being given out is in accordance to the U.S.D.A. Pyramid. It is then shipped out to soup kitchens and food pantries all over the city (New York Coalition Against Hunger).
Canned and non-perishable items are delivered to food pantries by food banks. Food pantries give out what is called a “food package” which consists of bags in which volunteers have packed in advance to distribute to patrons and they are packed according to how many people are in the household. Besides pre-bagging items, some pantries are stocked like grocery stores, so the patrons can pick and choose what items they would like. Food pantries are open usually once or twice a week, depending on how many volunteers are working and how much food is available (New York Coalition Against Hunger). All food pantries must store their food in sanitary conditions to prevent infestation of vermin (United States Department of Agriculture – Food and Nutrition Service).
Soup kitchens usually run every day depending on the demand for pre-pared food is in the area. The food bank brings them both perishable and non-perishable items to cook. Because food is made on premises, they have to meet New York City Health Code requirements and they need a permit from the Health Department to run the soup kitchen. Violations are issued for not meeting the requirements (New York Coalition Against Hunger).
Volunteers are the backbone of these emergency food programs and without them; many would not be around today. These volunteers are found as patrons of the emergency food programs themselves, in the community, local businesses, houses of worship, family and friends, colleges, military, boy and girl scouts, and where ever else people want to help. The only requirements for these volunteers are that they go through training, which is government funded, and have a heart for the people they are serving. Volunteers are needed because there isn’t enough money for these programs to have paid workers (New York Coalition Against Hunger).
Funding for these programs can be hard to come by. To start an emergency food program, you have to prove you are established and must be in operation for three to six months before you get big funding by programs like City Harvest and the Food Bank For New York City. In the beginning, funds for programs come from donations by individuals, private and corporate industries, as well as religious denominations (New York Coalition Against Hunger). Yet still, after those three to six months, the funding they provide is not sufficient to fight this problem of food insecurity.
That’s where the government and our politicians come in. According to the Faith and Hunger Network, a Joint Project of the Hunger Action Network of New York State, churches and houses of worship provide a majority of food assistance. They state “Hunger is a political condition, the direct result of policy decisions made in Washington DC and Albany”(Faith and Hunger Network). It’s advocates like these, who fight for more funding for the emergency food programs to stay in operation. Other programs that help fight for funding are the New York Coalition Against Hunger, Food Research an Action Center, and the Hunger Action Network of New York State. These programs conduct surveys to bring to the government to prove there is a need for more funding for these emergency food programs to run. They have to do this because according to the United States Department of Agriculture - Food and Nutrition Service, they base their funding to emergency food programs by the United States Census Bureau report for how many low income people live in each state (United States Department of Agriculture – Food and Nutrition Service).
For more information on Emergency Food Programs in New York, you can go to the following links:
http://www.foodbanknyc.org/
http://www.nyccah.org/
Works Cited
Faith and Hunger Network. hungeractionnys.org/fhn, 6 May 2011. Web
Food Bank Association of New York State. foodbankassocnys.org, 30 April 2011. Web
Food Bank For New York City. foodbanknyc.org, 30 April 2011. Web
Food Research and Action Center. frac.org, 6 May 2011. Web
Hunger Action Network of New York State. hungeractionnys.org, 6 May 2011. Web
New York Coalition Against Hunger. nyccah.org, 30 April 2011. Web
United States Department of Agriculture – Food and Nutrition Service. fns.usda.gov, 2 May 2011. Web
