New York State Kicks off Hunger Action Month with Celebration of...

New York State Agriculture Commissioner Richard A. Ball today kicked off Hunger Action Month, highlighting the success of the State's Food Access Expansion Program. Earlier this summer, Governor Hochul announced $10 million in awards through the Food Access Expansion Grant Program to nine projects across the State that will increase food access for New Yorkers living in areas with limited options for affordable, fresh food. Projects include the development and expansion of supermarkets, food cooperatives, permanent farm stands, mobile markets, and other retail food stores in underserved regions while also increasing markets for New York farmers. Hunger Action Month is observed each September to raise awareness about food insecurity and to encourage people to take part in the fight against hunger.

Commissioner Ball said, "One of our highest priorities here at the Department is making sure that all New Yorkers have access to enough fresh, local foods, and that our farmers can get their products to those who need them most. Our Food Access Expansion Grant Program is a great way of connecting those dots and helping us to achieve those goals in real and meaningful ways. As we kick off Hunger Action Month, I'm honored to visit the Broome County Council of Churches to see how they'll implement funding through this grant program to make sure that folks in their community can access SNAP-eligible foods and prepared meals to feed their families."

Commissioner Ball visited the Broome County Council of Churches in the Southern Tier earlier today to get a sneak peek of its progress on a project funded in part through the Food Access Expansion Grant Program. The organization received $1,553,688 in State funding to partner with members of their task force, including the City of Binghamton, Broome County, Eden Food for Changes, Cornell Cooperative Extension, and others, to renovate an existing building to include a new commercial kitchen, and to purchase and customize a new Mobile Market Bus. After hearing input from the community that SNAP-eligible prepared meals were needed in the region, the new kitchen was designed to produce such meals for retail sale at the Greater Good Grocery and in the Mobile Market Bus. Products such as meat and eggs from The 607 CSA (Greenane Farms, Slope Farms, Weaver Family Farm, Sugar Hill, and Orinoco Cattle), Triple J Farms, and Empire Custom Processing will be used in the preparation of these meals, including NYS Grown & Certified products from Triple J Farms and Sugar Hill.

The Commissioner and other guests toured the facility where the new kitchen will be built as well as the Council's existing Mobile Market Bus, which featured renderings of the planned enhancements to the new bus. The guests also had the opportunity to sample small bites of food made using New York chicken, eggs, and ground beef. The small bites were prepared by the Broome County Council of Churches' executive chef, similar to the foods that will be prepared in the new commercial kitchen.

The full list of awardees includes:

• The Adirondack North Country Association (North Country) - $468,576 to partner with The ADK Food Hub and Whitten Family Farm to increase the availability and distribution of food throughout the North Country. The project will construct a new processing kitchen and retail store in St. Lawrence County. This will help to expand a permanent farmstand, allowing for food processing and sale of processed products from other farms, including milk, yogurt, cheese, salads, frozen vegetables, baked foods, pickles, and jams. The Real Food Hub will result in a building that offers climate-controlled storage, a processing kitchen, loading dock, and retail storefront.
• Buffalo Go Green Inc. (Western New York) - $809,932 to implement building renovations for a market, commercial kitchen, and juicery, including dry and cold storage and a loading dock to be used by their mobile market. The project will result in a commercial kitchen, juicery, food retail space, and 3,500 square feet of cold and dry storage on Buffalo's Eastside to expand and support their mobile markets.
• The City of Schenectady (Capital Region) - $2,100,000 to partner with Electric City Community Grocery, Schenectady County Metroplex Development Authority, and National Co+op Grocers to open a new grocery store and co-op in downtown Schenectady. The project will result in the renovation of an existing building into a cooperative food store. The City of Schenectady is providing a $1 million grant toward project costs.
• Foodlink Inc. (Finger Lakes) - $291,420 to expand its Curbside Market program in Monroe County through the construction of a commercial warehouse for loading and unloading Curbside Market vehicles with storage space for product. The project will additionally fund the purchase of a new Curbside Market vehicle.
• The Research Foundation for the State University of New York (Western New York) - $265,973 to expand critical infrastructure for the UB Veggie Van mobile market by purchasing and customizing a new market vehicle and expanding cold and dry storage infrastructure. The project will result in shared infrastructure that addresses food insecurity across the University of Buffalo and Buffalo State campuses.
• Riseboro Community Partnership Inc. (New York City) - $2,134,720 to partner with the Central Brooklyn Food Coop to lease 10,000 square feet of a new development project for grocery retail and food storage. Funds will be used for excavation costs and the retail fit-out of the co-op. Riseboro will partner with Brooklyn Packers to source food from New York farms.
• Syracuse Economic Development Corporation (Central New York) - $1,719,000 to partner with the City of Syracuse, Ellicott Development Company, Super Imperial Market, and Food Access Healthy Neighborhoods Now to renovate and reopen the Valley Plaza Grocery Store on the Southside of Syracuse that has been vacant since 2018. The project will result in 22,000 square feet of retail food space bringing fresh produce, meats, and prepared foods to the neighborhood and grocery delivery for seniors.
• Tri Corner Food Equity, Education & Distribution (Mid-Hudson) - $656,690 to purchase and renovate an existing building that includes walk-in refrigeration, refrigeration and freezer displays, and bakery display cases. The new Fair Food Grocery Store will result in 2,080 square feet of retail space, a commercial kitchen, and café space.

According to a report from the Office of the State Comptroller, between 2019 and 2021, approximately 10 percent of New Yorkers, or approximately 800,000 households, experienced food insecurity and struggled with food affordability.

Governor Hochul continues to sound the alarm on the recently enacted "Big Ugly Bill," which will result in an estimated 300,000+ households in New York State losing some or all of their SNAP benefits.

The Broome County Council of Churches is a not-for-profit organization located in Binghamton, New York, which is a network of 100+ interfaith congregations. The Council's mission is to provide a vehicle for local faith communities to cooperate on neighborhood or county wide efforts.

Rev. Dr. Joseph Sellepack, Executive Director, Broome County Council of Churches said, "We are grateful to the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets for the recognition of our project and the willingness to partner with us to make healthy food available to all Broome County residents. Through this partnership we will not only reduce food waste, but will also make food deserts less abundant through our grocery store bus. This expanded capacity will benefit especially the most vulnerable in our community. Thank you."

Assemblymember Donna Lupardo said, "I am thrilled that the Broome County Council of Churches received such a sizable grant from our Food Access Expansion Program. The program was designed to improve access to fresh and local food in areas with limited options, while also increasing opportunities for NY's farmers. Communities like mine, with high poverty rates and food deserts, need resources like this, especially when federal assistance is being reduced. Thank you to Governor Hochul, Commissioner Ball, and my colleagues for their support of this initiative."

Senator Lea Webb said, "I'm proud to see the Broome County Council of Churches receive this critical funding through the Food Access Expansion Grant program. With this $1.5 million investment, they'll be able to renovate a vital community space and bring healthy, affordable food directly to neighborhoods through a new Mobile Market Bus. This is exactly the kind of innovative, community-driven solution we need to address food insecurity and support families across Broome County."

Administered by the Department of Agriculture and Markets, funding through the Food Access Expansion Grant Program was made available to eligible entities for projects aiming to increase the availability of food, whether through construction of a new retail store, the purchase of equipment to improve food and meals offered, the creation or expansion of mobile markets, and more. The program was developed following a Request for Interest (RFI), which gathered input from stakeholders to guide the Department on how best to shape the program.

In addition to the Food Access Expansion Grant Program, Governor Kathy Hochul continues to prioritize increasing access to food for all New Yorkers, with the Department of Agriculture and Markets implementing an array of programs to build a more resilient food system and ensure that farmers can connect with new local markets.

Under Governor Hochul's leadership, New York State continues to support the Nourish New York program, the 30 Percent NYS Initiative for school meals, the Farm-to-School program, the FreshConnect Fresh2You initiative, the Farmers' Market Nutrition Programs, the Urban Farms and Community Gardens Grants Programs, and more. Additionally, this year's Budget included the third round of funding as part of the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program, which provides $50 million over five years to support regional cooking facilities that will facilitate the use of fresh New York State farm products in meal preparation for K-12 school children.

These investments build on the Governor's commitment to boost demand for New York agricultural products, bolster New York's food supply chain, and ensure all New Yorkers can access fresh, local foods. This includes the Governor's Executive Order 32 directing State agencies to increase the percentage of food sourced from New York farmers and producers to 30 percent of their total purchases within five years. The Governor has also committed $25 million toward the New York State Grown & Certified Infrastructure, Technology, Research and Development Grant Program to assist food producers, processors, distributors, and others using New York ingredients to bring innovative NYS Grown & Certified products to market.

Governor Hochul also announced in June $13.7 million in funding for 19 projects statewide through the Resilient Food Systems Infrastructure Grant Program to provide capital and technical assistance to farmers and food businesses operating at the middle of the supply chain, helping to enhance coordination throughout the food system and improve access to markets for farmers. This investment will help connect the dots between our state's food producers and retail operations.