Meals For Good works with local farms and food pantries to alleviate food insecurity in New York City.
HOW WE BEGAN
From the beginning, Meals For Good has aimed to help local family farmers and food pantries meet the needs of New York City residents.
We did this by partnering with restaurants, who added between $0.25 - $1.00 to one food item on their menu for at least six months. Every time someone ordered that item, the additional money went to Meals For Good, which gave it to a food pantry local to the restaurant. The pantries used this money to buy fresh produce through GrowNYC, which only works with local and regional family farms. As the number of restaurant partners grew, so did the number of pantries we were able to help.
This supported the people who stand in pantry lines, and our local farmers as well. And it showed the community spirit of New York City’s restaurants.
We did this by partnering with restaurants, who added between $0.25 - $1.00 to one food item on their menu for at least six months. Every time someone ordered that item, the additional money went to Meals For Good, which gave it to a food pantry local to the restaurant. The pantries used this money to buy fresh produce through GrowNYC, which only works with local and regional family farms. As the number of restaurant partners grew, so did the number of pantries we were able to help.
This supported the people who stand in pantry lines, and our local farmers as well. And it showed the community spirit of New York City’s restaurants.
OUR WORK TODAY
Like so many other organizations, we had to pivot in response to COVID-19.
The pandemic has had catastrophic consequences for the restaurant industry, as well as New York City residents who had already struggled to access the food they needed.
In 2019, 1.2 million people in NYC were food insecure. By 2020, that number has doubled. In 2019, one out of every six children were food insecure. That number is sadly higher today. Between lost jobs, the rise in grocery prices, and children at home instead of at school, too many families are struggling to put enough food on the table. Even going to a food pantry is often not an option, because so many pantries have closed.
In response, we’ve sought out new ways to fight food insecurity in New York City, continuing to work with local farms to help families buy fresh produce from local farmers. So far, we have:
The pandemic has had catastrophic consequences for the restaurant industry, as well as New York City residents who had already struggled to access the food they needed.
In 2019, 1.2 million people in NYC were food insecure. By 2020, that number has doubled. In 2019, one out of every six children were food insecure. That number is sadly higher today. Between lost jobs, the rise in grocery prices, and children at home instead of at school, too many families are struggling to put enough food on the table. Even going to a food pantry is often not an option, because so many pantries have closed.
In response, we’ve sought out new ways to fight food insecurity in New York City, continuing to work with local farms to help families buy fresh produce from local farmers. So far, we have:
- Partnered with Indivisible Harlem to distribute local, fresh produce and other groceries to 400 families in conjunction with State Senator Brian Benjamin. Read more about the joint effort to distribute 400 boxes of food.
- Distributed two thousand Health Bucks—$2.00 coupons that can be used in over 144 farmers market and food box sites in New York City. This gave our Harlem families a chance to choose the fruits and vegetables they liked best.
Our distribution network included other community non-profits that distributed the Health Bucks to those families in domestic violence shelters, those who were undocumented, those who were post incarceration and getting back on their feet.
Distributing Health Bucks is not only a substantial approach to helping to reduce food insecurity in the time of COVID, but an additional way to support our farmers. Read more about the grant that funded our Health Bucks distribution. - In November and December we teamed up again with Indivisible Harlem to help out two local food pantries that did not have enough food for Thanksgiving distribution. You may have heard, but food pantries have doubled and tripled their numbers since COVID and are struggling to keep up.
- We also gave out vouchers for turkeys to one Housing Development site and delivered fresh produce to another for Thanksgiving week.
- For Christmas we teamed up with Harlem Grown, a local urban farm and the chef JJ Johnson of Field Trip and had meals sent to 52 families with 118 children who were living in domestic abuse shelters in Central Harlem. We also gave vouchers for groceries to 30 families living in shelters in East Harlem.
- In January and February 2021, Meals For Good distributed groceries to unemployed and undocumented restaurant workers. We have done this twice so far for Harlem restaurant workers only. Their haul included a whole chicken as well as fruits and vegetables!
- Also in January, we bought groceries for 60 families in Central Harlem (many of them Seniors) and distributed supermarket vouchers to a dance troupe in East Harlem that works with trans kids, many of whom have been disowned by their families.
- We did a survey of 250 pantry clients with https://brotherhood-sistersol.org and found that families were missing Masa Harina (flour), tortillas and coffee. So Meals For Good bought enough for everyone for two months.
- In the Spring we supplied avocados, eggs and lettuce to many free fridges https://nycfridge.com in Harlem and the South Bronx .
- In June and July 2021, community groups in East Harlem distributed $20,000 worth of supermarket vouchers to families in need. 700 adults and over 600 children were able to buy meat, fresh vegetables and fruit as well as basics such as eggs, corn oil and coffee. This was called the Robin Hood Foundation Project.
- This November, we teamed up again with Harlem Grown and https://indivisibleharlem.com to help pay for and pack over 200 bags of turkeys and fresh produce to be delivered to families in need. We also bought local produce for smaller pantries in the area to ensure that their clients received the fruit and vegetables that are so important to good health and good eating!
The Robin Hood Foundation Project
Robin Hood gave us the opportunity to try something new. This was an opportunity to give New Yorkers who were food insecure an opportunity to choose foods from local supermarkets that they want, that align with their family likes and are part of their family culture. The vouchers were printed in $10 denominations and local community organizations distributed $70 (seven $10 vouchers) to families and $40 (four $10 vouchers) to single individuals.
We chose two neighborhoods that Meals For Good had already been working in, and used the most recent data from the Furman Center to highlight the need. https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/east-harlem.
East Harlem:
South Bronx (Mott Haven/Melrose):
We then searched for community organizations that were trusted by the community residents, and that offered services to neighborhood people who were poor, many of whom were also undocumented. We chose three in East Harlem and two in the South Bronx.
Our Population:
Community organizations listed only the country of origin for individuals and families and the number of adults and children in each family. No other identifying data was taken to avoid any mistrust or concern that using the vouchers would identify them.
A total of 696 adults and 628 children (325 families and 81 single adults) received the vouchers. Approximately 17% were from Central America and 29% from Mexico, 9% from Africa, 3% China, 5% from Puerto Rico, 5% from the Dominican Republic and 20% stated their country of origin was either USA, America or African American. 2% did not state their place of origin and another 2% merely stated ‘Hispanic’. The remaining 11% included the Philippines, Russia (1), Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Guyana, and Jamaica (1). The 9% from Africa came from array of countries including Yemen, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea and Senegal.
Next Steps:
We are currently working with Hunter College’s Food Policy Center to analyze receipt data and we are exploring opportunities to expand this program which gives so many people agency over their own food.
We chose two neighborhoods that Meals For Good had already been working in, and used the most recent data from the Furman Center to highlight the need. https://furmancenter.org/neighborhoods/view/east-harlem.
East Harlem:
- 5.2% of the population identified as Asian, 35.9% identified as Black, 43.0% identified as Hispanic, and 14.0% identified as white.
- 34.5% of households had an annual income of less than $20,000.
- Median household income was $32,960, about 53% less than citywide median household income ($70,590).
- The poverty rate was 34.0% compared to 16.0% citywide.
South Bronx (Mott Haven/Melrose):
- 0.5% of the population identified as Asian, 27.7% identified as Black, 68.3% identified as Hispanic, and 2.6% identified as white.
- 42.7% of households had an annual income of less than $20,000.
- Median income was $25,500, about 64% less than citywide
- The poverty rate in Mott Haven/Melrose was 39.6%
We then searched for community organizations that were trusted by the community residents, and that offered services to neighborhood people who were poor, many of whom were also undocumented. We chose three in East Harlem and two in the South Bronx.
Our Population:
Community organizations listed only the country of origin for individuals and families and the number of adults and children in each family. No other identifying data was taken to avoid any mistrust or concern that using the vouchers would identify them.
A total of 696 adults and 628 children (325 families and 81 single adults) received the vouchers. Approximately 17% were from Central America and 29% from Mexico, 9% from Africa, 3% China, 5% from Puerto Rico, 5% from the Dominican Republic and 20% stated their country of origin was either USA, America or African American. 2% did not state their place of origin and another 2% merely stated ‘Hispanic’. The remaining 11% included the Philippines, Russia (1), Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru, Guyana, and Jamaica (1). The 9% from Africa came from array of countries including Yemen, Mali, Mauritania, Guinea and Senegal.
Next Steps:
We are currently working with Hunter College’s Food Policy Center to analyze receipt data and we are exploring opportunities to expand this program which gives so many people agency over their own food.
