-- Shares Facebook Twitter Reddit Email As the cost of living in New York City continues to rise, so too does the demand for food assistance , with food pantry visits reaching unprecedented levels. At the helm of City Harvest, the city’s largest food rescue organization, Jilly Stephens is confronting this crisis head-on. Since 2019, City Harvest has scaled its operations to distribute millions of pounds of fresh food to communities in need, but the demand only grows — a reality that was only further reflected through the a recent report from the USDA which revealed that 8 million families, or 13.
5% of U.S. households, struggled to access enough food, marking the highest levels of food insecurity in nearly a decade.
Related "Hunger in America is getting worse, not better" according to an explosive new USDA report In speaking with Salon Food, Stephens discusses the economic forces behind the surge in food insecurity, the role of nutrition education and new initiatives like the Produce Pals program, which aims to make healthy eating more accessible for families across the city. With City Harvest now serving a record number of New Yorkers, Stephens also reflects on the organization's evolving strategies and the critical policy changes that could help combat hunger on a local and national scale. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.
With food pantry visits at a record high and the cost of living rising, what specific economic factors are driving the in.
