Advocate
Raising Awareness & Making Change Happen
The Food Bank of the Southern Tier and our partner agencies strive to feed as many of our neighbors in need as possible. But we know that charity alone cannot end hunger. In order to reach our mission to build and sustain hunger-free communities across the Southern Tier, the Food Bank recognizes the importance of advocating for long-term public policy solutions at the local, state and federal levels.
Our State Policy Priorities
Support the Hunger Prevention & Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP)
New York’s Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) helps support New York-based food banks, food pantries, emergency shelters, and community-based organizations that work on the frontlines in the fight against hunger. For over 30 years, the program has helped improve nutrition security for hungry New Yorkers through healthy food procurement, storage and distribution, and operational expenses.
As part of the 2022-2023 New York State Budget, lawmakers invested a historic $56.5M in HPNAP. After years of flat-funding, this investment has helped emergency food providers better support the elevated levels of demand for hunger relief. We applaud state lawmakers for prioritizing hunger relief in this current fiscal year budget.
However, due to a confluence of factors – including the expiration of pandemic-era interventions and wage growth not keeping up with the rate of inflation – 80% of our member food banks have reported longer lines at food distributions. Today, food banks across the state are also struggling to keep up with rising food prices.
WE ASK STATE LEADERS to allocate $63M for HPNAP in the 2023-2024 New York State Budget.
Support the Nourish NY Program
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, state lawmakers stepped up to connect hungry New Yorkers with NY-grown produce. Since 2020, the program has provided over 70 million pounds of healthy, nutritious food to hungry New Yorkers while generating $150M in direct benefits for over 4,000 producers across the state.
We applaud the work of Governor Hochul and state legislators to codify Nourish New York as a permanent program.
WE ASK STATE LEADERS to strengthen the program by investing $75M in the 2023-2024 New York State budget.
Learn more about Nourish NY here.
Strengthen SNAP - the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
RAISE THE SNAP MINIMUM BENEFIT TO $100/mo (A.6214 / S. 7663)
The current SNAP minimum benefit of $23 a month is inadequate for low-income New Yorkers. Amounting to less than a dollar a day, the SNAP minimum benefit fails to account for New York’s true cost of living.
Raising the minimum monthly benefit to $100 will benefit nearly 110,000 households, enabling families to better afford groceries and stimulating local economies across the state.
WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE to strengthen SNAP by raising the minimum benefit to $100/mo.
MAINTAIN FUNDING FOR THE NUTRITION OUTREACH AND EDUCATION PROGRAM (NOEP)
Nearly 3 million New Yorkers participate in SNAP. The Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) helps ensure all eligible New Yorkers are aware of and able to participate in federal nutrition programs including but not limited to SNAP, WIC, CACFP, and school meals.
WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE to support continued investment in the program to maximize the participation of eligible New Yorkers in federal nutrition programs.
Pass Healthy School Meals for All NY Kids
New York State must establish and fund statewide, permanent Healthy School Meals for All to ensure all students receive a healthy school breakfast and lunch at no cost each school day. Providing free meals for all students — regardless of income — is a proven strategy to reduce food insecurity, improve mental and physical health, support students’ ability to thrive academically, and bolster educational, health, and economic equity.
Our Federal Policy Priorities
Strengthen the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Increase baseline SNAP benefits, expand SNAP benefits to U.S. territories, and eliminate arbitrary eligibility limits.
- Lift existing barriers to participation in SNAP for immigrants, seniors, college students, and individuals with prior convictions.
- Eliminate asset limits for participation in SNAP.
Invest in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP)
- Increase federal investments in The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in response to the unprecedented demand for hunger relief.
- Fully fund the shelf-stable and cold storage infrastructure, transportation, and distribution capacity of food banks through TEFAP’s Administrative Grants account.
Enact Policies that Support the Well-Being of Families and Children
- Guarantee school breakfast, lunch, after school and summer meals for all children nationwide.
- Provide an Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) card for all children in low-income households during summer, school breaks, unanticipated emergencies, and school closures of five or more days.
- Expand and strengthen the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC).
- Restore the expanded Child Tax Credit – which had cut the child poverty rate by nearly 40% – and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit.
- Reduce the cost of child care and move towards a universal child care system.
Build an economy that empowers and uplifts low-income Americans
- Increase baseline SNAP benefits, expand SNAP benefits to U.S. territories, and eliminate arbitrary eligibility limits.
- Raise the federal minimum wage to a living wage of $15 per hour, tie future increases to the rate of inflation, and phase out subminimum wages for tipped workers, workers with a disability, and teenagers.
- Implement policies that equitably reduce the cost of healthcare, housing, education, transportation, and food.
- Enable all eligible households to obtain rental assistance, repeal the Faircloth Amendment of the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998, and invest in our public housing infrastructure.
- Reduce preventable evictions and mitigate eviction-related consequences.
- Build a more resilient and sustainable supply chain that can withstand shocks resulting from pandemics, climate disruption, and war overseas.
- Evaluate whether key metrics such as the Federal Poverty Line (FPL) are accurately measuring the poverty rate in 2022.
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Federal Elected Officials
Contact Information
US Senator Charles Schumer ( Serves All of NY)
US Senator Charles Schumer ( Serves All of NY)
Binghamton: (607) 772-6792
DC: (202) 224-6542
US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand ( Serves All of NY)
US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand ( Serves All of NY)
Senate Agriculture Committee
Rochester: (585)253-6250
DC: (202)224-4451
Rep Marc Molinaro (NY-19) Broome, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties
Rep Marc Molinaro (NY-19) Broome, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties
House Agriculture Committee
District Ph: (607) 242-0200
DC Ph: (202) 225-5441
Rep. Nick Langworthy (NY-23) Chemung, Schuyler and Steuben Counties
Rep. Nick Langworthy (NY-23) Chemung, Schuyler, and Steuben Counties
House Agriculture Committee
District Ph: (607) 377-3130
DC Ph: (202)225-3161
Why Advocacy Work Matters?
Our elected officials are in a position to make the sustainable changes needed to end hunger in our community and in our nation – by implementing policies that stop it from happening in the first place. A strong and accessible nutrition safety net is our first line of defense against hunger, while food banks provide supplemental food. This tiered solution is the most sustainable method to attacking an epidemic afflicting nearly 50 million Americans while we advocate for the systemic changes needed to permanently eradicate hunger in America. Decisions made by our elected officials also have a huge impact on the supply of food available to the Food Bank and on the overall demand for charitable food assistance.
Our advocacy work helps connect community voices, issues and stories to elected officials and public policy-makers in the fight against hunger and poverty. Share your story, add your voice to the conversation, and join us as we advocate for hungry families and individuals across the Southern Tier!
For more information, email:
advocacy@foodbankst.org