More New Yorkers turn to food stamps amid hunger crisis

Enrollment in food stamps grew nearly 10% from February to May in New York, following similar growth in food assistance across the nation, the New York Times reports. 

The greatest spikes in enrollment in the program – which helped more than six million additional people in the first three months of the pandemic – were seen in Georgia and Florida, which both saw a more than 30% increase. 

Rising unemployment and expanded access to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provided by Congress has played a part in its increasing reach, but it hasn’t ended the ongoing hunger crisis. About one-fourth of New Yorkers still don’t have regular access to food, New York City officials estimate – an increase of 800,000 people since the onset of the pandemic.

Jilly Stephens, CEO of the food rescue organization City Harvest, argued in a Daily News op-ed last week that the Senate should approve the HEROES Act passed by the House of Representatives in May to fight hunger. The bill includes many provisions to boost the social safety net: increasing SNAP benefits by 15%, extending the length of time a pandemic food assistance program for students will operate, and holding off the Trump administration’s previously proposed cuts to SNAP.

Though Senate Republicans have pushed back on passing that legislation, senators are finally back in session starting this week to discuss what proposals they’d like to move forward in the next round of stimulus funding. Also on the table are other initiatives that have kept some financially suffering people afloat, such as expanded federal unemployment benefits and additional stimulus checks.