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Lester navigated the busy streets as a cab driver for 24 years before retiring to a rural area of the Southern Tier, between the towns of Bath and Cameron.

He enjoys gardening and growing vegetables like cucumbers, corn, and tomatoes in his raised garden beds. But, as a senior living on his own, things aren’t always easy in retirement. “It’s tight right now paying all my bills. My only form of income is social security,” he said.

Lester’s garden isn’t just a hobby. It’s vital to his overall health. In the spring and summer months, his garden provides him with fresh produce he may not otherwise have. But, when winter comes around, it’s his local Mobile Food Pantry that becomes a lifeline.

Lester has been visiting the Mobile Food Pantry at Spring Meadow Apartments on and off for three years. He often gets milk, as well as meat and produce like potatoes and onions. “It sure helps out, especially in the winter months, when I can’t grow in the garden,” he said.

 

The Need In Our Backyard

This National Nutrition Month, the Food Bank and its partner pantries are working to provide colorful, nutritious plates – support that is becoming ever more valuable as the need for nutritious food in our service area continues to grow.

Because residents like Lester aren’t alone. Produce and other nutritious items are getting harder to come by for many in the Southern Tier. In our region, 1 in 7 adults and 1 in 5 children faces food insecurity. In 2025, we saw a 4% increase in need, with fresh produce making up 55% of our total distribution.

At the same time, programs that help the Food Bank and our partners provide well-rounded nutrition – such as HPNAP, TEFAP, and Nourish NY – have had their funding significantly reduced in recent months.

For example, The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) is one of the federal programs that provides organizations like the Food Bank with USDA food items, including meat, dairy, and produce. However, these products are not as readily available as they used to be.

TEFAP products used to be 60% of our warehouse. That number is now 30%, which means the Food Bank has to purchase more independently. The Food Bank has also been impacted by the same ground beef shortages affecting consumers at the grocery store.

 

How We Can Work Together

With limited access to nutritious food, our neighbors are more susceptible to chronic conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and high blood pressure.

What does this mean for you and your community? Limited access to nutrition doesn’t just impact those facing food insecurity. It impacts the health and resilience of our entire community. When our neighbors have the nutrition they need, we all enjoy a stronger and more equitable community.

That type of community health is the goal of the Food Bank and its network of partner pantries. When you support the Food Bank, you directly strengthen your community by helping us provide nutrition-dense food to those visiting pantries and using FBST programs.

Every $1 donated to the Food Bank helps us provide 3 meals to children, families, and seniors who utilize our partner pantries and programs like Mobile Food Pantries, BackPack, and School Food Centers that reduce barriers and meet people where they already are in their communities.

We don’t stop there, either! Community health is all about providing nutritious and delicious food. That’s why the Food Bank also offers free digital recipes, which anyone can use to make healthy meals they’ll enjoy using common food pantry items. Recipes are provided in multiple languages, and the Just Say Yes Look ‘n Cook book is available to download for free from our website.

 

Community Health Starts with You

This National Nutrition Month, you can take care of yourself and your community in a powerful way – give today to help put food at the center of better health in our community. Giving a one-time or recurring gift is fast, simple, and easy to do on our website: https://foodbankst.org/give/.