Our New Challenge

As the cost of living in New York City rises, so does the number of hungry New Yorkers. Nobody knows this better than City Harvest. My agency relations team recently shared with me that three quarters of our agency partners are rationing food distributions – giving out smaller pantry bags or smaller meal servings – in order to serve a greater number of people. They’re asking City Harvest for more food.

Knowing how critical the situation has now become, we’ve pledged to secure an additional three million pounds of food this year, bringing the total we plan to rescue to 23 million pounds. Keeping in line with our mission, 75% of that poundage will be nutrient dense food like fresh produce, meat, and dairy. I’ve never seen my staff so determined to meet a challenge – because we know how great our impact can be.

Fortunately for City Harvest, New Yorkers remain committed to feeding other New Yorkers. Our continuing deliveries of fresh, nutritious food depend on the generosity of so many individuals and companies. We’re constantly reaching out to new donors and to old friends and finding new, more efficient ways to move food. I’ll keep you updated on our progress throughout the year. It’s a big push, but we’re up to the challenge.

Welcome

I’ve wanted to start a blog for some time. With such a dramatic change in both the number and type of New Yorkers seeking food in recent months, sharing what I see has become more urgent. More people than ever before are contacting me directly to ask where they can find food. I’ve heard from a man with a college education who now finds himself unemployed and living in his car; another who moved to New York with his girlfriend and children to care for his elderly mother and now can’t find work; and a disabled person on a fixed income who is going hungry. The people writing to me are unfamiliar with local soup kitchens or food pantries. It’s likely that they’ve never had to rely on emergency food before.

Rising prices for food and other necessities are pushing a greater number of people into food lines. Higher prices on items like a dozen eggs – which cost $1.50 just a year ago but $2.00 today – add up to grocery bills that many families simply can’t afford.

At City Harvest, we’re always looking for new ways to get people the food that they need. In addition to stocking the shelves of programs where people can go to receive free food, recently we launched a new buying club in the Bronx in partnership with FreshDirect to help people shop for high quality food and groceries at a discount. Members will even be able to use their food stamps to shop. Read an article in Crain’s New York Business about the new program, or learn more about the club on our web site. It’s part of our work bringing affordable food, as well as free food, to low income New Yorkers.

Times like this push City Harvest to work harder than ever. I hope that this blog can serve as a forum to share our news and challenges with you on a weekly basis, and to hear your comments.