Nonprofit anti-hunger leaders, community leaders, and farmers gathered today at Hebron SDA Church in Crown Heights to celebrate the kickoff of the new Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) site that brings fresh produce directly to low and middle income residents of Central Brooklyn. This CSA is one of only a few citywide to accept food stamps/SNAP benefits as a form of payment. Increasing access to healthy food is essential to reducing hunger and obesity. ...read more

City Admits: No Criminal Fraud Found with Food Stamps Finger Imaging

Advocates Say City Was Just “Called On Its Bluff”
First Lady/White House Obesity Report Decries the Practice

New York City’s Human Resources Administration (HRA) Commissioner Robert Doar, admitted in a City Council hearing today that the City’s costly practice of requiring food stamp applicants to provide finger images never results in referring people for prosecution for food stamps fraud, thereby undermining his previous assertions that the practice acts as a deterrent against fraud. ...read more

Obama Official Urges NYC to Drop Food Stamp Finger Imaging: Letter Says Practice is “Barrier to Participation” and “Not Cost Effective”

New Data Shows States That Use It Have More Errors, Less Participation;
Advocates, Elected Officials Urge Mayor Bloomberg to Drop Practice;
Finger Imagining Is a “Lose-Lose-Lose Situation” ...read more

As the economy continues to decline and more New Yorkers struggle to afford enough food for their families, over 150 people including elected officials, public spokespeople, and advocates raised their voices to urge all levels of government to take the lead in ending hunger in New York City. ...read more

April Fools Day Release: Iroquois Leaders Assail Government Benefits for Illegal Immigrants;
Say Aid Should Be Denied to Anyone Entering U.S. in Last 25,000 Years

Tribal Leaders Blast “Broken Borders” that Allowed in Dobbs, Levy, Buchanan ...read more

President Obama proposed keeping the nation on track towards his goal of ending U.S. child hunger by 2015 by increasing funding for the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Program and reiterating his support for an additional $10 billion over the next decade for improvements in the Child Nutrition Reauthorization bill expected to pass Congress this year. ...read more

New York Has Nation’s Hungriest Congressional Districts

New Data: More than Half of NYC’s Districts Face Severe Food Hardships;
One Fifth of Households with Kids in Metropolitan New York Lacked Food Money; Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, U.S. Reps. Jose Serrano, Ed Towns, Charles Rangel, Speaker Christine Quinn, and Public Advocate Bill De Blasio Respond ...read more

Supported by Martin Luther King III; Two More Days of Service in All Five Boroughs to Follow ...read more

Advocates Applaud NYC Efforts and Encourage More Progress;
Call for Federal Government to Pass Strong Child Nutrition Bill ...read more

Rep. Anthony Weiner Speaks Out against Hunger at Local Pantry

In a study conducted by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, the populations with the greatest increase in need at Queens emergency food providers were families with children (45.5 percent) and senior citizens (30 percent). Fifty-seven percent of Queens survey respondents were forced to turn people away, cut portion sizes, or cut hours of operation. An astounding 93 percent of Queens agencies reported an increase in the number of people they’ve served in the past twelve months. ...read more