Alliance Applauds Progress but Says Final Budget Still Falls Short for Families, Frontline Food Providers, and Farmers

The Alliance for a Hunger Free New York applauds efforts to increase state investment in emergency food assistance in the final state budget. However, funding still falls short of the $75 million needed for the Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) and the $75 million needed for Nourish New York, despite years of frontline advocacy and support in the Senate and Assembly one-house budgets.

The Alliance, a member-driven coalition of emergency food providers across New York State, has spent the last three years calling for stronger investment in frontline organizations responding to hunger every day.

This budget includes important progress, and we appreciate the efforts made to increase funding for emergency food assistance. At the same time, it still falls short of what New Yorkers need and what frontline providers have been saying for years.

Our members are being asked to do more with less. They are serving working families, older adults, children, and neighbors whose budgets no longer stretch far enough, while also paying more to keep food on the shelves.

Food pantries are not a backup plan anymore. For many communities, they are a secondary food system. Expecting charity alone to carry a problem of this scale is not sustainable.

The Alliance has stressed that underfunding affects not only the amount of food available, but also quality, dignity, choice, and access. The gap between need and funding continues to grow, with New York State pantries reporting an average of 24% increases in service levels while grocery prices remain far above pre-pandemic levels.

When accounting for food inflation and increased distribution, the current funding ask was “barely keeping up” and reflected “three-year-old numbers.”

The shortfall is especially frustrating because New York already has models that work. HPNAP and Nourish New York strengthen food access, support frontline providers, and connect emergency food programs with New York farms and food producers. Nourish New York has helped distribute more than 2 billion meals and positively impacted thousands of farms and agribusinesses since 2020.

HPNAP and Nourish New York are not extras. They are two of the clearest tools New York has to strengthen local food access, support direct providers, and build a better food system. We need consistent funding and more direct contracts for Frontline Food Providers, not patchwork solutions.”

The Alliance will continue organizing with members and partners and urges state leaders to continue working toward adequate, recurring funding for both HPNAP and Nourish New York.

Our members will continue doing what they do best: showing up, working together, and finding innovative ways to serve their communities. We are encouraged by the progress made and look forward to reaching a place where state investment keeps pace with the need at New Yorkers’ tables. We know that, together, we can move New York toward a stronger food system and a hunger-free future.