Advocate for Food Justice

It takes EVERYONE to end hunger. Call on your elected officials to protect vital resources like SNAP for families in need.

The continuum of wrap-around services TCAH provides is a supplement and not a replacement for needed long-term solutions. These solutions include higher wages, a strong federal anti-hunger safety net, and an economy that supports the success of all workers. The challenges are complex and require collaboration among both private and public entities. We must expand the protections and opportunities for community members who are struggling to make ends meet and get ahead.

 

We do what we can with what we have, but generosity, not the force of law, drives our movement. We are uniquely positioned to recognize the needs and gaps in our communities, but we cannot address them on our own. Together, with the support of New Yorkers like YOU, our government, corporations, and other nonprofits, we can combat the root causes of food insecurity to ensure that all of our neighbors, including children, families, and seniors, have access to an abundant source of nutritious food.

 

Join us in advancing food security as a policy priority to your Member of Congress. Remind them that their primary responsibility is to serve and protect everyone in their district.

Find your Member of Congres

Get familiar with the political landscape around food security:

Biden Administration & Hunger Relief

  • What Has Been Done

    • January 22, 2021 Biden issued an executive order asking the Department of Agriculture to expand and extend federal nutrition assistance programs by increasing P-EBT benefits by 15% (White House).
      • The Pandemic Electronic Benefits Transfer (P-EBT) established under the Families First Pandemic Response Act, passed in March 2020, provides low-income families with kids food-dollars equal to the value of school meals missed because of COVID-19 related school closures. P-EBT has been capped at $5.70 per child per school day and many families have had trouble claiming benefits
      • The President proposes increasing P-EBT benefits by 15% to more accurately reflect the cost of missed meals and make it easier for families to collect benefits (White House).
      • This increase could provide families with three children more than $100 in additional assistance every two months (White House).
    • Extend emergency Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (SNAP) benefits already approved by Congress to the United States’ poorest families.
      • The Families First Coronavirus Response Act passed in March temporarily gave all SNAP receiving households the maximum amount of aid for their household size. This provision excluded the more than 7 million poorest families– or 40% of SNAP recipients– who were already receiving the maximum benefit. January 22nd’s executive order asks the USDA to consider allowing states to increase SNAP allotments to cover the households previously excluded (White House) & (Center for American Progress).
  • What the Biden Administration Hopes to Accomplish

    • Update Thrifty Food Plan to reflect the true cost of a healthy diet
      • The USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, the basis for determining SNAP benefits, is out-of-date and does not accurately reflect the cost of healthy food today, leaving SNAP receiving families unable to provide healthy meals for their families.
      • President Biden’s January 22nd executive order asks the USDA to revise the Thrifty Food Plan.
    • President Biden’s proposed American Rescue Plan would extend the 15% increase in Food Stamp Benefits, currently set to expire in June, through September. It would provide $3 billion to ensure women and children have access to food and $1 billion in nutrition assistance to U.S. territories. It would also establish a partnership with restaurants to restore jobs to laid-off restaurant workers and get food to people facing hunger (CNN).
  • What Hunger Relief Organizations are Pushing for

    • Because Biden’s plans will take time to implement, Feeding America, a network of 200 food banks and 60,000 pantries, is pushing for more immediate investments in food assistance and food purchases that will allow them to support families as they wait for hunger relief measures to go into effect (Feeding America).
    • Dr. LaDonna Parvetti, the Vice President for Family Income Support Policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, believes it is not enough to focus on hunger relief, we must also address the other issues hunger is tied to, like housing and health care (Food Bank News).
      • We must recognize hunger as a failure of our economic system (Food Bank News).
      • Additional income support is a component of food security (Food Bank News)
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