In New York City, almost 15% of residents are food insecure. In a city where fast food chains can be found on nearly every block, what does being food insecure look like for these New Yorkers? Food insecurity is defined as the inability to access nutritious food. There is a correlation between the number of New Yorkers that fall below the poverty line, 18% of adult New Yorkers in 2021, and the number of food-insecure residents, demonstrating how these residents’ financial situation limits their ability to have access to adequate food. This issue is further exacerbated by the fact that the average meal in NYC is twice the national average and food pantries have been struggling to provide for New Yorkers, shown by how almost half of New York’s food pantries have a budget of under $25,000. For reference, the average cost of one meal in New York City is $6.31, so it would cost over 8 million dollars to provide for only 15% of New York City’s population).
The plethora of fast food restaurants and delis in neighborhoods across the city, particularly in the Bronx and Brooklyn, prevent people from accessing nutritious foods, and these areas are known as food deserts. This is shown by how for nearly 20 neighborhoods, there are up to 15 bodegas, which have more processed, high-sugar food options, for every supermarket. For people who live in these neighborhoods, their health is compromised by the inaccessibility of nutritious food options at these delis, and the result is that the Bronx has the highest obesity rate of 32.9%.
So, what is the city doing to combat inadequate food access?
During the pandemic, the Nourish New York Program was created to provide funding for food banks to purchase food from local farmers, and $50 million has been proposed for the 2023-24 budget of this program. In conjunction with the Nourish New York Program, the state government built the New York Regional Food Hub in Hunts Point, NY, which is a food storage facility that strives to increase access to nutritious and affordable food from New York farmers to low-income communities by increasing the wholesale distribution of Grow NYC. This location was expected to open during the Summer of 2022 but has yet to open today. For now, communities that still struggle to access affordable fresh produce have been left to grapple with unhealthy food options that they cannot escape.