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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Adaeze Okoli, Chief of Staff at Rethink Food
1:45:47
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Adaeze Okoli, Chief of Staff at Rethink Food, testified about the organization's efforts to create a more sustainable food system and provide nutritious meals to New Yorkers. She highlighted Rethink's achievements, including delivering over 40 million meals and injecting $130 million into the local economy.
- Requested $150,000 from the Speaker's Initiative or Welcome NYC for food pantries to support holiday distributions and emergency food needs
- Proposed a food donation tax credit for restaurants to donate surplus food to nonprofits for distribution
- Emphasized the need to support both restaurants and agriculture industries while reducing food waste and promoting healthier food options
Adaeze Okoli
1:45:47
Wonderful.
1:45:48
Majority leader Farias, chair Gail Gail Brewer, and members of the committee on economic development oversight and investigation, thank you for the opportunity to testify today.
1:45:58
My name is Adesi Okoli and I have the pleasure of serving as chief of staff for Rethink Food.
1:46:04
Since our inception in 2017, Rethink has been dedicated to creating a fair more sustainable food system and ensuring that every New Yorker has access to dignified nutritious meals that reflect their cultural backgrounds.
1:46:17
Through our network of local independent restaurants sustainable community kitchen, Rethink has delivered over 40,000,000 high quality meals that celebrate diversity in various cultures.
1:46:28
We've also injected over a hundred and $30,000,000 into our local economy supporting two thirty community based organizations partnering with 145 different restaurants across the city.
1:46:40
Our partnership with council members gives us keen insight into community needs helping us to ensure meals reach families who truly need them most.
1:46:50
This year, Rethink is requesting a hundred and $50,000 from the speakers initiative Welcome NYC or food pantries initiative to support and drive our mission forward and provide meals to communities for holiday distributions, special community based events, or emergencies that arise throughout the year such as fires outages and more and we hope to count on your support.
1:47:12
Our collaboration with partners and government has also offered us opportunities to expand our partnerships with restaurants a key part of New York City's food New that we are empowering to drive change by feeding New Yorkers and creating jobs in our community.
1:47:25
While restaurants consistently rank among the top industries for creating new jobs, approximately 60% of restaurants fail within their first year and about 80% close within five years.
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To that end, Rethink is currently exploring a proposal that can mutually support New York State restaurant and agriculture industries as well as nonprofits while promoting less food waste and healthier food options.
1:47:47
This would be in the form of a food donation tax credit for donated meals to independent nonprofits to then distribute to communities facing food insecurity.
1:47:56
We believe there's a real opportunity here to incentivize even more restaurants and small businesses to make a difference by donating their surplus food.
1:48:04
We appreciate the council's attention to creative solutions to support our city's food infrastructure.
1:48:09
Thank you so much for your partnership in working with New Yorkers.
Gale A. Brewer
1:48:12
Thank you very much.