STATE PRIORITIES
Feeding New York State is the state association of Feeding America-affiliated food banks. Our ten members work to support the nearly 3 million New Yorkers experiencing hunger and food insecurity, distributing hundreds of millions of pounds each year in partnership with nearly 3,000 community-based organizations.
Guided by this understanding, Feeding New York State advocates for public policy that both supports the immediate needs of struggling New Yorkers and addresses the root causes of hunger, poverty and food insecurity.
Despite recent state investments to expand no- cost school meals, approximately 280,000 students are still excluded. We urge state leaders to close the gap for the schools and students left behind by establishing a free school meal program for all New York kids.
WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO ESTABLISH HEALTHY SCHOOL MEALS FOR ALL NEW YORK KIDS.
SNAP is the nation’s most impactful anti-hunger program, providing ~3 million New Yorkers with vital food assistance. However, some participants receive as little as $23 per month—which amounts to less than $1 per day. We stand with organizations across the state and 66% of New Yorkers in calling for a more adequate minimum SNAP benefit of $100.
WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO RAISE THE SNAP MINIMUM BENEFIT TO $100 PER MONTH.
Roughly 1 million New Yorkers are currently excluded from SNAP solely on the basis of their immigration status. Additionally, green card holders, battered non-citizens, and conditional entrants, are subjected to arbitrary 5-year waiting periods before they can access SNAP benefits. Together, we call on New York State to create a state-funded SNAP benefit that will provide food assistance to all income-eligible New Yorkers, regardless of their immigration status.
WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO FUND SNAP FOR ALL NEW YORKERS.
According to research from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), food insecurity rates have risen in each of the last two years. Food banks, food pantries, and community-based organizations have reported significant increases in demand at distributions across the state. Together, we call on New York State to provide adequate funding for HPNAP and Nourish New York, our statewide hunger relief programs.
WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO ALLOCATE $75M FOR HPNAP AND NOURISH NY IN THE 2025-2026 NEW YORK STATE BUDGET.
NOEP is the state’s flagship program to ensure all who are eligible receive 100% federally-funded SNAP benefits. NOEP’s network of skilled community-based organizations conduct SNAP outreach and provide free and confidential application assistance to food-insecure New Yorkers.
WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO FULLY FUND NOEP AT $5.624M.
WIC is our nation’s premier maternal and child public health program, providing invaluable nutrition education, breastfeeding support, referrals to healthcare providers and community resources along with nutritionally tailored food packages. NYS WIC serves over 445,000 New Yorkers, a 25% increase since 2020, and was the catalyst for drawing down over $405 million in federal WIC funds for healthy food purchases across our state in FY 2024. The FY2026 Executive Budget proposes $9.5M to support local agencies serving an expected additional 30,000 New Yorkers this year; however, $20M is needed to better adequately fund WIC’s 85 local agencies’ current vital nutrition services that have been nearly flat funded since FY2016.
WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO BRACE NYS WIC NUTRITION SERVICES WITH $20M IN THE 2025-2026 NEW YORK STATE BUDGET.
PRIORITIES TO ADDRESS HUNGER AND POVERTY
Beyond food and nutrition policy, we recognize the need to tackle the root causes of hunger and poverty. Feeding New York State is proud to support:
