NYC's leading food policy centers, CUNY Urban Food Policy Institute, Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center, and the Tisch Food Center collaborated to conduct an independent assessment, NY Food 20/20: Food Systems During COVID-19 and Beyond, on the city's response to the pandemic. The assessment shows that food insecurity remains high despite the massive effort of city agencies and non-profit anti-hunger organizations to expand emergency meals. Overall, the pandemic has exacerbated the deeply inequitable food system and revelaed the lack of a sufficient emergency food plan in New York City.
Read more about NY Food 20/20 in our op-ed, co-authored by TFC's Pam Koch and her colleagues, highlighting policy recommendations that can help New York City to build a better food system.
"COVID-19 spotlighted a deeply inequitable food system — where middle-class and wealthy New Yorkers have consistent access to healthy affordable food while low-income, Black and Brown and immigrant households do not. These communities experience higher rates of food insecurity and diet-related diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, and now COVID-19 as well. Inequitable access to healthy food is a key driver of New York’s race-based health inequities, premature deaths, and preventable illnesses...We could make a lasting commitment to the city by using the lessons from COVID-19 to dismantle the food apartheid which leaves so many New Yorkers without access to food they need to stay healthy." - NICHOLAS FREUDENBERG, PAMELA KOCH and CHARLES PLATKIN
Click here to visit the NY Food 20/20 website.