By Blake Jackson
New York's Council on Hunger and Food Policy released its 2023 annual report, outlining plans to bolster local food access and combat food insecurity. The Council, established by Governor Hochul, aims to increase healthy, locally grown options in school meals, expand food access for underserved communities, and boost agricultural production and processing.
"Combatting food insecurity and strengthening our food supply chain are crucial," said Commissioner Richard Ball. "The Council's report provides a roadmap to ensure all New Yorkers have access to nutritious, local food."
The report prioritizes developing comprehensive food policies to achieve this goal. Key recommendations include:
- Encouraging farmers to sell to institutions: The Council proposes incentives for farmers to participate in institutional food procurement programs, like schools and hospitals.
- Boosting state agency collaboration: The report recommends increased collaboration among state agencies to improve awareness of available funding opportunities for food-related initiatives.
- Streamlining access to nutrition programs: Upgrading technology to facilitate easier enrollment in nutrition programs is another key recommendation.
- Reducing food waste: The Council suggests collaborating with food scrap generators to increase food recovery and recycling.
- Connecting food pantries to local producers: Creating an online platform to connect food pantries directly with local farmers and processors is another proposal.
- Promoting federal nutrition programs: The Council encourages cross-agency collaboration to develop outreach campaigns promoting federal nutrition programs.
The report highlights the Council's role in establishing the State's 30% New York State Initiative, which increases reimbursement for schools that source at least 30% of their lunch ingredients from New York farms. This builds on the successful Farm-to-School program, which connects schools with local farms.
The Council's work aligns with several other state programs, including Nourish New York, the Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, and FreshConnect Fresh2You, which doubles the buying power of SNAP recipients at participating farmers' markets.
The 2023-2024 State Budget also included investments supporting the Council's goals. These include raising the discretionary food purchasing threshold for schools, providing funds for scratch cooking facilities, and directing state agencies to increase their purchases from New York farms to 30% within five years.
The Council on Hunger and Food Policy, chaired by Commissioner Ball, comprises 25 stakeholders representing government, farmers, non-profits, agricultural operations, universities, and food businesses. The Council works to advise policymakers on addressing hunger and improving access to healthy, local food.
This revitalized Council is expected to deliver concrete recommendations directly to the Governor and encourage broader stakeholder participation in addressing New York's food system challenges.
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Categories: New York, Business