If it weren’t for the existence of free food distribution campaigns and other nutrition programs, which she finds only a few blocks from her home in Harlem, 65-year-old Dominican María Bello confesses that she could possibly be on the list of thousands of New Yorkers, who live on the dangerous edge, of not being able to complete their meals each day.
“After the pandemic everything got worse. You go with 50 pesos and food coupons to the supermarket and you don’t buy anything. You eat three little things in one day, ”María points out, while she waited in line at a food bank in Upper Manhattan.
The islander’s comment is not hard to hear in a city that has faced unusual pandemic, financial and inflationary deeps in recent months. But this Thursday, a report shared by the Community Services Society (CSS), called “The Bitter Bite” of the Big Apple, described with detailed numbers that food security remains a very persistent drama.
“As food costs have risen 10.1 percent over the past year and housing costs have reached all-time highs in the city, many households, especially low-income ones and including those with children, remain concerned about know where their next meal will come from”, concludes the investigation disclosed by CSS.
The report takes a closer look at the scope and depth of food insecurity experienced by New Yorkers over the past two decades. It all comes from using twenty years of data from the ‘Unheard Third Survey,’ a unique opinion poll of low-income New Yorkers developed by CSS since 2002.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), food and nutrition insecurity is a term that describes when someone does not have access to or cannot buy enough food or enough nutritious food for their overall health and well-being.
Food and nutritional insecurity does not always mean that the person goes without food; it can also mean you’re not getting the healthiest type of food.
“This may be because nutritious foods may be hard to find in some communities or may be too expensive for many to purchase. This problem is seen in many people living with conditions such as diabetes.
Everything worse for Hispanics
In summary, low-income households headed by single women had the highest rates of food shortages, with 58% reporting that they often went hungry or had to seek food donations.
The report also finds that food insecurity is at a “higher crisis level” for the city’s Hispanic communities. Approximately 60% of all low-income, Spanish-speaking New Yorkers reported experiencing eating difficulties.
Given that the prevalence of eating difficulties is closely related to the prevalence of poverty, it is perhaps not a surprising finding in the report that respondents from The Bronx had the highest rate of food insecurity (36%) while residents from Queens had the lowest rates (29%).
More than half of low-income New Yorkers (those with income below 200 percent of the Federal Poverty Level) reported lasting food hardship.
For low-income households with children, more than 61% of them reported obstacles to completing the basic basket.
It is probable that the nutritional insufficiencies suffered at present turn into great disadvantages such as reduced cognitive capacity, worse physical and mental health for these children in their adulthood”, ponders CSS categorically.
“Almost a third of the city often goes to bed hungry. This should be a red flag that galvanizes our legislators at all levels of government to act,” said David R. Jones, CSS President and CEO.
Levels of food insecurity, which were already high before the public health crisis, especially for women and people in the Black and Hispanic/Latino communities, but have “peaked” in recent months.
Homes with children and hungry
The future scenario does not look optimistic.
The “Bitter Bite” report further assessed the effectiveness of government assistance programs, including the expanded Supplemental Nutrition Allotment Program (SNAP) and the expanded Federal Child Tax Credit (CTC), food hardship rates dropped significantly in 2021 when enhanced support was available.
But with the expiration of the additional assistance and the dramatic increase in food prices, levels of nutrition insecurity in 2022 returned to their pre-pandemic levels.
“This is the new reality for many low-income families in New York City, especially among Hispanic households, who choose to pay rent, keep the lights on, or put food on the table. We must take action and alleviate food hardship in communities,” said Jennifer Hinojosa, CSS policy analyst and co-author of the report.
As this report expands, in 2022, 63% of Hispanic families and 67% of black families with children were food insecure, that is, they have to decide between feeding their children and paying the bills.
“New York must invest in nutritional programs and financial support that help all families, regardless of their race/ethnic origin,” demanded Juan Díaz, spokesman for the Citizens’ Committee for Children in presenting these numbers.
“Hopefully it’s temporary”
It is the second time this week that an investigation reveals one of the darkest sides of the ‘capital of the world’, demonstrating that the quality of life of working-class New Yorkers, the poorest and particularly Spanish-speaking communities, is in a “free fall”. A trend only seen before the Great Depression.
This Tuesday the New York City Fund in association with the United Way organization released the report on the Real Cost of Living (TLC) for the Big Apple, corresponding to 2023, which also concludes that 65% of Latino households they are “having a hard time” to make ends meet and cover their minimum expenses for food, health and education.
Furthermore, it is clearly documented that Hispanic-headed households of working age experience the highest levels of economic insecurity, in contrast to all racial and ethnic groups in New York City.
Meanwhile, Colombian Graciela Pereira, 58, who was waiting for donated products at a food bank in Upper Manhattan, says that with 26 years “living and working here,” she had never seen the need to wait in line. .
“If it weren’t for these aids, it would be difficult for many honest families that we have only worked to complete our market. I admit that I am ashamed, because I have never liked living on charity. Let’s hope it’s provisional,” the immigrant told El Diario.
For his part, a winemaker from Sunset Park, in Brooklyn, who preferred to protect his identity, assures that as “never before” he had observed “neighbors from the block” asking for “credits” to be able to eat.
“Unfortunately people who have their jobs. Either they pay the rent or they eat. I am always receiving clients of many years, asking me to drink milk or diapers to pay for it later. So many people continue to battle this crisis. We, the winemakers, generally do not have the heart to say no to a mother who has a hungry child in her arms”, says the island merchant.
Six keys to hunger in NYC:
- 30% of all New Yorkers have “somewhat frequently” faced food insecurity exposes CSS.
- 60% of Hispanics reported having difficulty eating at least three times a day.
- 61% of the families with children exposed food difficulties and more acutely where the head of the household is a single mother. The debate is between buying groceries, diapers, paying rent or paying for child care.
- 58% of single mothers reported that they often went hungry or had to find food donations.
- 36% of the residents of the Bronx mentioned that at some point they had to cut a meal, this happened less in Queens.
- 2022 was the year more than half of low-income New Yorkers experienced food hardship.
What can be done?
The Community Service Society of New York (CSS) is a non-profit organization that has worked with New Yorkers since 1843 to promote economic opportunity and advocate for an equitable city and state, at this juncture recommends:
- NYC Mayor should establish a budget baseline for Human Resources Administration (HRA) to support community based organizations (CBOs) to bring food benefits closer.
- The City must establish a funding base to adequately staff HRA’s Department of Social Services (DSS), the agency that processes SNAP applications, to ensure that applicants receive their benefits with minimal delays.
- The City must increase and baseline funding to a total of $59 million for Community Food Connection (CFC), formerly known as the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP).
- An additional $200 million in capital funds should be invested for the ongoing redesign of the middle and high school cafeterias to be more modern and culturally inclusive.
- New York State should follow New York City’s lead and provide free school lunches to all students.
- The federal government must improve SNAP, to make it more effective, accessible and with greater impact.