Ensure Healthy School Meals for All New York Kids

More than 320,000 students in New York lack access to free school meals. This forces children to choose between forgoing meals or going into debt to get the food that they need. New York has already made substantial efforts to provide free school meals for NY kids. The state must build upon this momentum, and act in line with 77% of voters, to support state funding for Healthy School Meals for All New York kids. This investment will allow students to get the nourishment they need to grow and thrive, while also saving their families $165 per child per month on food costs.

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WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO ESTABLISH HEALTHY SCHOOL MEALS FOR ALL NEW YORK KIDS.

Guarantee All New Yorkers Participating in SNAP Receive a Minimum of $100 per Month

SNAP is the nation’s largest and most impactful anti-hunger program. However, some participants in New York receive as little as $23 per month—or less than $1 per day—in food assistance. This is woefully inadequate for low-income New Yorkers struggling to afford food, especially considering New York’s higher cost of living. Feeding NYS, along with 66% of New York voters, support raising the minimum SNAP benefit to $100 per month. This increase will support over 107,000 New Yorkers—many of whom are older adults on SSI making annual incomes around the federal poverty line—enabling them to better afford groceries and help stimulate local economies statewide.

WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO RAISE THE SNAP MINIMUM BENEFIT TO $100 PER MONTH.

Extend SNAP Eligibility to New Yorkers Excluded on the Basis of their Immigration Status

Federal law currently excludes over 700,000 New Yorkers from vital nutrition assistance due solely to their immigration status. Despite contributing more than $3 billion per year in state and local taxes, barriers prevent SNAP access for DACA recipients, visa holders, asylum seekers, Temporary Protected Status holders, and undocumented workers. Many others, including green card holders, are subjected to arbitrary multi-year waiting periods before they can receive their benefits. Feeding NYS supports the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council’s proposal to reduce child hunger by providing food assistance benefits to non-citizen households with children. Feeding NYS further builds on this proposal by supporting SNAP4All, which would provide state-funded food assistance benefits to income-eligible New Yorkers currently excluded from SNAP based on their immigration status.

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WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO FUND SNAP FOR ALL NEW YORKERS.

Fully Fund the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) at $75M

Food insecurity rates increased in 2022 once pandemic-era relief measures ended, and they have continued to rise in each of the last two years. The Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) provides critical funding to food banks, pantries and community-based organizations that helps them feed their communities. As lines continue to grow, we must ensure that more HPNAP funding is available to continue supporting our communities.

WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO ALLOCATE $75M FOR HPNAP IN THE 2025-2026 NEW YORK STATE BUDGET.

Fully Fund Nourish New York (NNY) at $75M

Nourish New York is a program that provides funding for food banks and community-based organizations to purchase nutritious, locally-sourced and culturally appropriate foods directly from New York-based farmers, fisheries, and producers. These food purchases have helped to not only feed our communities, but have also supported over 4,200 of our very own New York businesses with over $150 million in direct food purchases. We must build on this success and continue feeding our communities with local food options by further investing in Nourish New York.

WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO STRENGTHEN THE PROGRAM BY INVESTING $75M IN THE 2025-2026 NEW YORK STATE BUDGET.

Fully fund the Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP)

The Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP) supports a network of community-based organizations that conduct SNAP outreach and provide free and confidential application assistance to food-insecure New Yorkers. NOEP helped to connect 34,000 households with SNAP in 2023. The program also helps to increase awareness and participation rates across other key nutrition programs, including free school meals, WIC, and summer EBT. Feeding NYS supports maintaining full funding for NOEP at $5.503 million plus a cost-of-living adjustment, sustaining previous years’ $2 million add-on for expanded services.

WE CALL ON NEW YORK STATE TO FULLY FUND NOEP AT 5.503MIL, INCLUDING A COST-OF-LIVING ADJUSTMENT.