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 Guiding Priorities
- 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.
- 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.
Our State Priorities
What We Asked For
To allocate $63M for HPNAP in the 2023-2024 New York State Budget.
What We Got
$57,797,000, a $1,250,000 increase from the year prior.
What is 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.
Why Is it a Priority?
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 Feeding New York 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.
What We Asked For
To strengthen the program by investing $75M in the 2023-2024 New York State budget.
What We Got
$54,250,000, a $4,250,000 increase from the previous year.
What Is the Nourish NY Program?
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, state lawmakers stepped up to connect hungry New Yorkers with New York Farmers.
Why Is it a Priority?
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.
What We Asked For
Restore $2,000,000 slated to be cut in Governor’s budget
What We Got
$2,000,000 in funding restored and $100,000 more than the previous year
What Is SNAP?
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides benefits to New Yorkers that can be used like cash to purchase food
Why Is it a Priority?
We call on New York State to:
1. Strengthen SNAP by raising the 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.
2. 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.
What We Asked For
For NYS to enact statewide universal free school meals
What We Got
As part of the FY2026 Final Enacted Budget, NYS became the ninth state to provide universal free school meals, starting in the 2025-2026 school year.
Why Is it a Priority?
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 Priorities
- 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.
- 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.
Contact Your Elected Officials
US Senator Charles Schumer
Serves All of NY
Binghamton: (607) 772-6792
DC: (202) 224-6542
Email Senator Schumer
US Senator Kirsten Gillibrand
Serves All of NY
Senate Agriculture Committee
Rochester: (585)253-6250
DC: (202)224-4451
Email Senator Gillibrand
Rep. Claudia Tenney
Serves Steuben and Schuyler Counties
House Committee on Ways & Means
District: (585) 869-2060
DC: (202) 225-3665
Email Rep. Tenney
Rep. Josh Riley (NY-19)
Serves Broome and Tompkins Counties
House Agriculture Committee
District: (607) 242-0200
DC: (202) 225-5441
Email Rep. Riley
Rep. Nick Langworthy (NY-23)
Serves Chemung, Tioga, Schuyler and Steuben Counties
House Rules Committee
District: (607) 377-3130
DC: (202)225-3161
Contact Rep Langworthy
