Albany, NY – May 4, 2022 – Feeding New York State, the state association of New York’s 10 Feeding America member food banks, applauds President Biden and Congress for convening the first Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in over 50 years. The last White House conference dedicated to food insecurity convened in 1969 and spurred the creation of key nutrition programs such as SNAP, WIC, and expanded school lunches. Our hope is that this year’s conference in September will mark a national recommitment to eradicating hunger.

Feeding New York State was proud to advocate for this conference as part of a coalition of national and state-based anti-hunger organizations. We greatly appreciate the work of our coalition partners as well as the federal policymakers who pushed to make this conference a reality.

Persistent levels of hunger and food insecurity are simply unacceptable, especially in the wealthiest society in human history. Hunger is a threat to public health, child development, and economic growth. We should never grow complacent or learn to accept a status quo in which tens of millions struggle to afford basic necessities like food. We must also confront how economic challenges like inflation, child poverty, and the expiration of critical pandemic-era relief measures will contribute to food insecurity in the coming months.

Now is the time for our country to commit to ending hunger and investing in the health and wellbeing of all our communities. We look forward to a substantive dialogue around these issues and hope to see a consensus emerge around the need to eradicate hunger across the United States. The nation needs action on hunger; our hope is that this conference will produce sound plans and the will to execute them.