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.
- Fill Budget Gaps to Ensure Access to WIC
- NYS WIC participation has grown 25% since 2020, but funding has not kept pace, resulting in staffing shortages, longer wait times, and reduced access to services. $30M in the FY27 budget will address
- growing demand, fund needed modernizations, and support outreach to an estimated 200,000 more
- New Yorkers who are likely eligible. Reduce the cost of childcare and move towards a universal childcare system.
- Increase baseline SNAP benefits, expand SNAP benefits to U.S. territories, and eliminate arbitrary eligibility limits.
- Restore the expanded Child Tax Credit – which had cut the child poverty rate by nearly 40% – and expand the Earned Income Tax Credit.
- 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 $75M for HPNAP in the 2025-2026 New York State Budget.
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 rising cost of groceries and wage growth not keeping up with the rate of inflation – 70% 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 and the reduction on federal commodities
What We Asked For
To strengthen the program by investing $75M in the 2025-2026 New York State budget.
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 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:
- Fully fund SNAP administration: H.R.1 cuts federal funding for SNAP administration in half. New York must fully backfill federal cuts to ensure strong program operations.
- Sustain SNAP navigators: H.R.1 reduces federal funding for New York’s network of SNAP navigators, the Nutrition Outreach and Education Program (NOEP), which helps low-income families connect with SNAP. To sustain SNAP navigators statewide, the FY27 budget must fund NOEP at $8.5M.
- Protect benefits with secure chip cards: More than 150,000 New York families have reported SNAP benefit theft due to skimming. Federal replacement funds have ended, leaving families without recourse. The FY27 budget must fund the transition to more secure EBT chip cards.
- Guarantee a $100 minimum benefit: The federal minimum SNAP benefit of $24 per month is wholly inadequate to support food costs. A $100 minimum benefit can help increase SNAP participation and draw down more federal dollars.
- Provide food assistance for excluded New Yorkers: Many income-eligible New Yorkers are excluded from SNAP due to immigration status. New York should provide a state-funded food benefit or non-citizen households with children and immigrants newly excluded from SNAP due to H.R.1.
- Increase funding for Double Up Food Bucks NY (DUFBNY): Through DUFBNY, SNAP
shoppers receive a dollar-for-dollar match on fresh fruits and vegetables at farmers’ markets and grocery stores, doubling SNAP’s purchasing power. $6M in the FY27 budget will broaden the reach of the program.
Our Federal Priorities
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the most efficient hunger-relief program in the U.S., helping to bridge temporary meal gaps and strengthen local economies
Every SNAP dollar spent generates $1.54 in economic activity—supporting local jobs, farmers and retailers in
In 2023, approximately $7.69 billion in SNAP benefits kept dollars circulating in the community and supported local farmers and retailers in New York, providing around $2.87 billion meals. New York.
- 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.
Food banks bolster America’s agricultural economy by ensuring the food farmers work hard to produce reaches neighbors’ tables. Federal programs like The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) move over 120 types of nutritious foods from farms through food banks to people facing hunger. TEFAP is the cornerstone of the charitable food system that also provides farmers a reliable market, reduces waste, strengthens rural communities and ensure taxpayer investments in agriculture benefit growers, producers, ranchers and families facing hunger in America.
The need for food has grown, and TEFAP and other USDA food purchase programs are crucial sources of food for families. Yet nationally, the Feeding America network is facing a 30% decline in pounds of TEFAP food over recent years (FY24 to FY26), with a 25% decline projected from FY25 to FY26 alone. Food banks are finding ways to stretch resources and purchase more food, ensuring communities continue to receive support despite rising food costs—but we need to come together to do more.
- 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
