Opinion: Congress Eliminated SNAP-Ed. Here’s What it Will Mean for New Yorkers. 

Without access to nutritious food New Yorkers are at liability of rising rates of obesity diabetes and other preventable illnesses and our city s children are affected the majority of Their academic performance mental wellbeing and longterm well-being are all at threat A box of groceries at a food distribution event Parents shouldn t have to choose between feeding their kids food that s affordable and food that s healthy but it s a choice that countless New York City parents are forced to make every day At Children s Aid we see this struggle play out across the city where families are forced to stretch their grocery budgets skip meals or settle for the cheapest calories they can find because healthier options are out of reach That s why from April through November we run our Food Box project every week in Harlem the Bronx Staten Island and Washington Heights to deliver farm-fresh affordable produce directly to communities that need it largest part But this vital operation is at threat of being eliminated entirely function d u ac var s d createElement 'script' s type 'text javascript' s src 'https a omappapi com app js api min js' s async true s dataset user u s dataset campaign ac d getElementsByTagName 'head' appendChild s document 'u kmqsczew vunxutxmd' The Food Box is funded by SNAP-Ed a federal campaign that supports nutrition development and healthy food access for low-income families Congress new federal budget eliminates this funding as of Sept and now programs like ours may have to shut down altogether Every week our sites distribute boxes packed with nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables enough to feed a family of four for an entire week At just or with SNAP EBT each Food Box helps stretch limited budgets while providing the healthy food kids need to grow strong and healthy Across our sites we distribute thousands of boxes each year reaching families in neighborhoods where full-service grocery stores are scarce and food costs are soaring Last year alone we distributed more than food boxes and hosted over nutrition workshops for youth and adults Over a thousand New Yorkers participated in these programs during the year But numbers only tell part of the story The real power of the Food Box operation lives in what we hear from families One mother of two young children in recent weeks shared that the initiative not only helped convert her sons from fast food to nutritious meals it also made it financially manageable for her to advocacy her elderly mom and dad Another explained us that the campaign helped her eat healthier and reverse her prediabetes We ve heard across the board that the availability of fresh food via Food Box has helped the neighborhood to eat better and sparked a deeper interest in cooking and wellness In too a large number of New York City neighborhoods especially those historically underserved access to fresh food is still a daily challenge Communities on Staten Island where one of our Food Box programs operates experience food deserts especially on the North Shore High prices limited grocery options and long-standing fitness inequities all compound to make nutritious food the exception rather than the norm in fact more than million New Yorkers face food insecurity and one in four can t afford essentials as costs continue to rise Without access to nutritious food New Yorkers are at liability of rising rates of obesity diabetes and other preventable illnesses and our city s children are affected the most of Their academic performance mental healthcare and longterm well-being are all at peril The Food Box project is part of the resolution It meets people where they are at their local schools neighborhood centers and after-school programs Whether it s supporting older adults on a fixed income youth in our after-school undertaking or busy working parents the Food Box operation helps remove the blockades that make healthy eating harder than it should be It s not a luxury It s a necessary part of a healthy city Now with SNAP-Ed funding eliminated we danger undoing years of progress toward a healthier more equitable New York Skeptics have called SNAP-Ed duplicative It isn t In fact SNAP-Ed is the only federal nutrition learning operation focused specifically on low-income families and delivered in district settings That s why we need leaders who will step up and prioritize food protection programs like these with federal endorsement disappearing it s never been more crucial Now is not the time to take food off the table It s time to double down on what s working and fight for continued stake in programs that nourish our families endorsement inhabitants vitality and strengthen communities across our city New York City s families deserve better than empty shelves and empty promises They deserve fresh affordable food and a executive that makes it achievable Taisy Conk is the director of food and nutrition programs at Children s Aid The post Opinion Congress Eliminated SNAP-Ed Here s What it Will Mean for New Yorkers appeared first on City Limits