Anti-hunger advocates today hailed the National Hunger Awareness Day announcement by the Spitzer Administration that the State would take a number of significant steps to make it easier for all eligible New Yorkers, and particularly low-income working families, to access federal food stamp benefits.

New York City pays an estimated $2.65 billion per year due to health care spending, reduced productivity, and other spending caused by the fact that 1.3 million city residents are forced to live in households that cannot afford enough food, according to new data released today by advocates to mark National Hunger Awareness Day. The cost to each city resident is $335 per year.

When I recently challenged a New York City Council Member Eric Gioia to join me for a week of eating only foods we could buy if we were in the Food Stamp Program, the main idea was to dramatize the need to the raise the average benefit size.

Given that I’m a long-time anti-hunger advocate, who previously worked for the federal government on food stamp issues, I expected that I wouldn’t learn anything that I didn’t already know.

I was wrong. ...read more

To the Editor, New York Post:

Your criticism of Governor Spitzer for increasing food stamps access for eligible New Yorkers is both factually inaccurate and ideologically confused. ...read more

The percentage of households who cannot afford an adequate supply of food is far higher in the U.S. than in Canada – and the difference is particularly severe in families with children – according to a new study written jointly by researchers who work for the U.S. and Canadian governments.

Covering the years 2003-2005, the study found that out of all households, 14.1% of U.S. adults and 9.0% of Canadian adults suffered from food insecurity. ...read more

Free Summer Meals Sites And Farmers' Markets Mapped Online; Resource allows localized search, color-coded results for children in need ...read more