Despite facing dire economic circumstances, NYC's food and nutrition education organizations are stepping up to make sure students are fed while school cafeterias are closed, writes Christina Veiga for Chalkbeat, citing the Food Ed Hub's survey of COVD-19's impact on Food and Nutrition Education Organizations in NYC.
Many local nonprofits that typically work within schools and with young people to teach healthy eating are providing groceries and meals — some of which are providing direct food assistance for the first time, while others are significantly ramping up their food distribution efforts.
They are facing increased costs while seeing their budgets shrink, with reported losses for some organizations expected to top $1 million, respondents said. Yet, many of the member organizations surveyed said the pandemic hasn’t changed the need to address health disparities in low-income communities of color that can often be driven by a lack of access to a nutritious diet.
“We know that people with underlying diet-related diseases — they have hypertension, diabetes, heart disease — they’re just more susceptible to COVID-19. Diet is a key part of the problem here...This is an opportunity to double down on prevention strategies.”
- Julia McCarthy, director of the Food Ed Hub.