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Council Member Diana Ayala opens hearing on hunger and food insecurity
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3 min
Council Member Diana Ayala, deputy speaker and chair of the general welfare committee, opens the annual oversight hearing on hunger and food insecurity in New York City. She introduces the hearing's agenda, including three bills to be discussed, and outlines key issues related to food insecurity in the city.
- Ayala highlights the overlap between poverty and food insecurity, noting the disproportionate impact on people of color and those with disabilities.
- She discusses rising food costs, inflation, and potential cuts to federal programs like SNAP, which could increase reliance on city programs.
- The council member acknowledges recent cuts to federal food assistance programs and expresses interest in hearing from the administration and advocates about challenges and potential solutions.
Diana Ayala
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Good morning, everyone, and welcome to today's hearing.
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My name is Diana Ayala, and I am the deputy speaker of the New York City Council and the chair of the general welfare committee.
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Today, we holding our annual oversight hearing on hunger and food insecurity in New York City.
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We will also be hearing three bills.
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The first intro, intro two four five sponsored by council member Hudson is a local law that would require the Department of Social Services to report on the feasibility and creation of a universal benefits application for local public benefits programs.
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Next, Intro ten twenty eight, also sponsored by council member Hudson, would require DSS to create a system to automatically enroll individuals in city created benefits programs like Fair Fairs NYC and to notify individuals about the system including how to opt out.
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Finally, intro eleven forty eight sponsored by council member Caban would require DSS to provide an application receipt to any applicant of of for benefits of service.
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Moving on to our oversight topic for today.
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Every year, the committee on general welfare holds a hearing on hunger and food insecurity, recognizing the growing challenges around these issues for too many New Yorkers.
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We know that poverty and food insecurity overlap, and we also know that people of color, as well as those living with disabilities and chronic health conditions are more likely to experience food insecurity.
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Food costs have grown significantly since 2019.
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Pandemic era supply chains disruptions, rising labor costs, increased operating costs paired with high inflation have made grocery prices volatile.
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Wages have not grown in line with inflation and families are struggling to meet with their basic needs including ensuring that they have access to sufficient nutritious food.
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Additionally, federal social safety net programs like the supplemental nutrition assistance program and Medicaid are at risk of significant cuts which would make New Yorkers even more reliant on city programs like community food connection.
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Already the local food purchasing assistance program and the local food for school program, which provide federal funds to food pantries and schools to purchase food from local farms and ranchers has been cut.
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The LFPA was used to fund the statewide New York food for New Yorkers families program with organizations running food pantries and soup kitchens in New York City amongst its many grantees now facing a funding gap.
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I look forward to hearing from the administration and advocates today about the challenges faced by those who are working hard to feed New Yorkers in need and ways in which that we can better collaborate to make sure that no one goes hungry in New York City.
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At this time, I well, I would have acknowledged my colleagues, but they're not here yet.
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I'm sure that they will get here anytime soon.
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But I would like to acknowledge the committee staff who has worked hard to prepare this hearing.
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Sahar Mozami, assistant deputy director, Nina Rosenberg, policy analyst, Julia Haram, as unit head, Elizabeth Childers Garcia finance analyst, and Driscoll data analyst, and my finally my chief of staff Elsin Carnacion.