Food Insecurity in NYC; Thinking Big to Effect Change; Food Resources We Recommend

Vol. 5, Issue 3, 2025

Nov 26, 2025

Photo by Alexander Schimmeck on Unsplash

FOOD INSECURITY IN NYC: YOUTH & ELDERS

Any one of the 3 million New Yorkers receiving SNAP benefits prior to November 1 has been through the wringer during and beyond the two weeks before the government resumed operations. They were denied funds for food, sometimes food itself when pantries ran out, and certainly, any confidence in a food-secure future. Defying court orders and common decency, Trump and his USDA refused to use emergency funds to continue the program that helps feed 42 million Americans during the government shutdown.1 No mercy, not even for the most vulnerable among us ~ the youth and the elders.

An astonishing 1 in 10 people over 60 years old “lack reliable access to affordable and nutritious food”,2 a worsening trend over the past 25 years. This age group comprises 21% of SNAP recipients in New York City, who often survive on a fixed, poverty-level income they can’t readily increase.3 Due to health and mobility issues, many older SNAP recipients can’t leave home at all, much less manage the physical demands of finding and securing available food.4 To boot, only people informed about the SNAP cut-off could prepare for it. By broadcasting the news online, not through the mail, NY State ignored the known digital divide and isolation of older, lower-income New Yorkers.5 Leaving them hungrier.

31% of New York City’s SNAP recipients ~ over 350,000 ~ are children, who not only rely on school meals bought with SNAP dollars for their sustenance, but will face the long-term health and educational consequences of hunger that severely dim their bright futures. Malnutrition, compromised immunity, delayed or impaired growth, physical, and cognitive development, to name a few clouds on their horizons.6 These compound to lower educational achievement, economic mobility, and life expectancy. The poorest children suffer the longest, especially if the parents whose SNAP benefits affect them are cut permanently.

CAUTION! BEWARE! Even though SNAP was reinstated on November 13, restrictions effective March 1, 2026 will reduce the number of New Yorkers it serves. Expanded work requirements will lead over 280,000 “able-bodied adults without dependents” (ABAWD) in New York to lose SNAP eligibility and put another 413,000 at risk of the same.7 Another provision disqualifies documented non-citizens from SNAP eligibility from here on out, resulting in the immediate cancellation of benefits for 40,000 people.

All this to say… it’s surely up to all of us to keep each other nourished.

Food Resources

WE MUST THINK BIGGER TO EFFECT ACTUAL CHANGE

Not even a year in and they’re already trying to starve people. Despite the horrific absurdity, however, there’s always something we can do.

Yes, your friendly neighborhood mutual aid group or food pantry is hard at work to make sure people get food. Undoubtedly, resources will strain. Thankfully, the state released $65M for emergency assistance.8

But these things are only ever temporary. Until we address the economics of it, we will forever be running after these fires: wealth inequality is the reason we need SNAP at all.

Durable solutions in this system are to tax billionaires out of existence and insure living wages (or at least a Universal Basic Income or UBI). But until then, there are support systems we can build out in our neighborhoods. Complementary currencies (CC) are one and, depending on the scale and format, can do some miraculous things.9

The most basic CC is a time bank, Ithaca, NY for example, has had Ithaca hours on and off since 1991.10 In Brooklyn, some neighborhoods have local currencies for specific causes like DUMBO Dollars and the Brooklyn Torch.

But what if public resources were leveraged to back a complementary currency? On the state level, CC’s can be extremely potent. For the sake of discussion, let’s call such a thing an NYCoin.

This hypothetical NYCoin, linked to the value of a basket of state resources (like land or renewable energy credits) can free up BILLIONS of dollars in value for people who need it and for far less than a traditional program which requires actual dollars.

A state-backed CC is a way for New York to invest the value of public resources directly into the public and, alongside other established programs, has the potential to lift almost every New Yorker out of poverty and boost the state and city economies drastically.11

“But is this mutual aid?” You might ask? Let’s refer to Dean Spade: “…mutual aid [is] collective political participation to meet community needs that existing power structures are not meeting.”12

If, through collective political participation, we pressure existing power structures to leverage the value of public resources so they support those most overlooked by them, then yes it is. And why not? This stuff WORKS- throughout history and the world.

New York can easily invest in the infrastructure needed to build and manage the system with a return value potentially in the tens of billions- enough to take care of those who need it while we work towards lasting solutions.13

In the meantime though, start where you are:

If you need food or have money to donate, or time to give, check out our Community Resources Library to see if there’s a mutual aid group or food pantry near you.

Start a timebank with your neighbors or create a local currency in cooperation with businesses in the community.

Organize with them all and, as a group, pressure your representatives to solve what is tragically just a policy choice.

*Do you want to hear more about any of these ideas? Less? Different Altogether? Send us your feedback here

FOOD RESOURCES WE RECOMMEND

POTS (Part of the Solution) - enjoy a healthy meal served to your table

POTS offers a variety of comprehensive and personalized services to fight poverty and hunger in The Bronx, at no cost to clients. Their Food Security program offers nutritionally balanced lunch from our Community Dining Room and fresh groceries from our food pantry. Come to POTS, at 2759 Webster Avenue, The Bronx, Monday through Saturday, 12:30-3pm.

Sunnyside & Woodside Mutual Aid - free food distribution on Thursdays at Bliss Plaza and Saturdays at Woodside Houses

Formed at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sunnyside & Woodside Mutual Aid (SWMA) began as a response to their neighborhoods’ increasing and urgent need for grocery deliveries, medical deliveries, food relief, and community support. It has continued to seek out and build sustainable models to address needs in our neighborhoods through collective care ever since. They distribute free food from pop-up pantries on Thursdays in Sunnyside and Woodside on Saturdays.

Astoria Food Pantry - free food distribution in Astoria on Mondays and Saturdays

Community members seeking food, diapers, clothing, books, or other needs can get these items at the all-volunteer organization’s community center at 25-82 Steinway Street, Astoria, Queens, or at other events around Astoria, like- game nights, craft fairs, workers’ meetings, and more. Started in response to COVID, Astoria Food Pantry has worked ever since to keep its neighborhood fed and safe. Pick up a pre-packaged bag of groceries on Mondays, 8-10:30am, and Saturdays, 1-1:30pm. No sign-up, ID, or name required.

EVLovesNYC - free food distribution on Sundays in Tompkins Square Park and Lower Manhattan

A group of friends started making meals in their own kitchens in response to the food insecurity they saw on the rise during COVID lockdown. Five years and 710,000 meals later, they’re still cooking and speaking up for fairness and economic equality. Every Sunday morning, volunteers gather to prep, cook, and package around 2,300 meals made from fresh ingredients and recipes that reflect NYC’s rich ethnic makeup. The menus always include beef, chicken, and vegan options, as well as allergen-free and halal items. Free food distribution on Sundays, noon-2pm, at the NE corner of W. Houston Street and W. Broadway, Manhattan, and in the SW corner of Tompkins Square Park at Avenue A and E. 7th Street, Manhattan.