As the cost of living in New York City continues to rise, so too does the demand for food assistance, with food pantry visits reaching unprecedented levels. At the helm of City Harvest, the city’s largest food rescue organization, Jilly Stephens is confronting this crisis head-on.
Since 2019, City Harvest has scaled its operations to distribute millions of pounds of fresh food to communities in need, but the demand only grows — a reality that was only further reflected through the a recent report from the USDA which revealed that 8 million families, or 13.5% of U.S. households, struggled to access enough food, marking the highest levels of food insecurity in nearly a decade.
In speaking with Salon Food, Stephens discusses the economic forces behind the surge in food insecurity, the role of nutrition education and new initiatives like the Produce Pals program, which aims to make healthy eating more accessible for families across the city. With City Harvest now serving a record number of New Yorkers, Stephens also reflects on the organization's evolving strategies and the critical policy changes that could help combat hunger on a local and national scale.
This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
With food pantry visits at a record high and the cost of living rising, what specific economic factors are driving the increased demand for food assistance in New York City?
One primary reason that we are seeing such a high rate of food insecurity is the cost of living. In New York City, 50% of working-age households are struggling to make ends meet. The costs that everyday New Yorkers are grappling with, like for food, rent and childcare, are extremely high, and wage increases, particularly for the lowest-income New Yorkers, have not kept pace. Additionally, during the pandemic’s peak, there were vital government supports — like the expanded child tax credit — that kept many families afloat economically. Those programs have since gone away, making it that much harder for New Yorkers to afford basic necessities, including fresh food.
Could you expand on the Produce Pals initiative and how school-based food distribution programs have impacted the fight against food insecurity? How does providing fresh produce specifically benefit students and their families?
This fall, we are launching City Harvest Produce Pals, a school-based food distribution program providing free, fresh fruits and vegetables to students and their families at some New York City schools where we offer nutrition and culinary education programming. Once a month, City Harvest, in partnership with the school, will distribute free bags of nutritious, versatile produce, like sweet potatoes, apples, and onions to students.
In a city where 1 in 4 children do not always know where their next meal is coming from, increasing access to food —and especially fruits and vegetables — is critical. We know how busy families with school-aged children can be. By distributing free food directly at schools, Produce Pals aims to make food distribution as convenient as possible for families so that students have access to the nutritious foods they need to thrive. And by combining free produce distribution with nutrition and culinary education programming, City Harvest is also ensuring that families have the skills to prepare those foods into delicious, affordable meals.
What role does nutrition education play in addressing long-term food insecurity, and what are the key takeaways from your culinary education programs?
At City Harvest, we want to make sure that the foods we are bringing into communities are nutritious — 75% of the food that we rescue and deliver is fresh produce. We also want to make sure that people have the skills and knowledge to prepare and enjoy the nutritious foods that we distribute, so we equip our neighbors with the tools they need to incorporate healthy eating into their daily lives. At our Mobile Markets—which are free, farmers’ market-style food distribution sites located in neighborhoods across New York City that lack access to affordable produce—we offer free cooking demonstrations so community members can learn how to prepare the produce they are receiving, some varieties of which may be unfamiliar. We also partner with community organizations, senior centers and schools in all five boroughs to offer free Nutrition and Culinary Education classes for students, adults, and seniors.
In a recent survey of community members who completed one or more of our Nutrition and Culinary Education classes, 77% said they plan to incorporate more vegetables into their diets. We’ve heard from families that thanks to our Nutrition and Culinary Education programs, they feel more comfortable shopping on a budget, know how to read food labels, and are more confident cooking using healthy swaps.
You’ve mentioned the need for greater government intervention. In your opinion, what local, state or federal policy changes would have the most immediate impact on alleviating food insecurity?
Our priority at the local level is funding for the Community Food Connection, or CFC. CFC helps support food pantries and soup kitchens across New York City, and we are pleased that the City ultimately restored funding for CFC — and actually increased it slightly to $58 million — after threatening to cut the program in half. But the City can do even more, and we hope that future funding for CFC is responsive to the very high level of need we’re seeing.
At the state level, last year, we successfully advocated for modest increases to both HPNAP (Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program) and Nourish New York. Because of increased demand and the success of the program, including the quality of the food and the benefits to farmers, the State should be investing even more. I also want to applaud the state for increasing the Empire State child tax credit. We know that when you put money in people’s pockets, they can stretch their budgets further. Repeated, sustained efforts like this are essential to ending food insecurity.
Federally, our priority is advocating for a strong Farm Bill that makes SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Access Program), formerly known as food stamps, and other anti-hunger measures more robust and inclusive. SNAP is a critical lifeline for the nearly 1.8 million New York City residents that rely on SNAP for food. We saw during the pandemic how effective legislation like enhanced child tax credits and expanded SNAP benefits could be at lifting millions of New Yorkers out of poverty and increasing access to food. On top of that, every $1 of SNAP translates into about $1.50 of economic activity at local bodegas and supermarkets, making the program a huge economic driver across the city.
City Harvest is known for being innovative in its approach to food distribution. Are there any new strategies or partnerships you’re exploring to keep up with the growing demand for food assistance?
Right now, food insecurity rates in New York City are the highest on record. To meet the extraordinary level of need in our city, City Harvest has this year identified several neighborhoods that have faced historic disinvestment and continue to experience high rates of diet-related diseases. We are focusing on strengthening existing partnerships with food pantries and soup kitchens operating in these communities. By making strategic investments in these partner sites to increase their operational capacity—in other words, to help these partners build the capacity to distribute more food—together we can distribute even more fresh produce to community members living in these historically marginalized neighborhoods.
In addition, we are also placing a strategic focus on procurement and distribution of culturally responsive foods, in close partnerships with the food pantries and soup kitchens that we serve. We want our neighbors across New York City to have access to nutritious foods that fit their religious and cultural preferences, and to be able to get these items — for free — at locations convenient to their homes and places of work.
How has City Harvest adjusted its operations or scaled its initiatives to respond to the 1 million additional food pantry visits per month since 2019?
We are doing as much as we can to meet the persistently high need for food assistance in New York City, even as our operating costs have increased. This year City Harvest will rescue more than 81 million pounds of high-quality, nutritious food that would otherwise go to waste and deliver this, for free, to soup kitchens and food pantries across the five boroughs so that New Yorkers have the food they need to thrive. That’s nearly 30% more food than we were rescuing and delivering pre-pandemic.
Lastly, what can individuals and communities do to best support City Harvest’s mission and combat food insecurity in New York?
The best way to support our work is by donating funds, so we can continue to rescue and deliver more food for our neighbors in need. Every $1 donated to City Harvest can help feed two New Yorkers for a day. We’re also always in need of volunteers. You can learn more and get involved by visiting cityharvest.org.
