Gov. Kathy Hochul signs Nourish New York into law, codifying it as a permanent state program as Sen. George Borrello, Assemblyman Chris Tague, Sen. Michelle Hinchey and Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz and the bill’s supporters look on.
State Senator George Borrello joined Governor Kathy Hochul as she signed the “Nourish New York” program into law this weekend.
The Nourish New York initiative reroutes New York’s surplus agricultural products to the populations who need them most through the state’s food banks. The program also provides much-needed support for the food producers and farmers who have lost markets as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic because the state’s food banks are buying agricultural products from New York farmers and food processors.
Hochul said some food banks had over 200% more demand for what they offered then they had the previous year, “Because of the three rounds already, $65 million allocated. We’ve had 35 million pounds of food go from New York State farms to the homes and kitchen tables of New Yorkers throughout this date. That equates to 30 million meals. When I first took office and they said, that’s a great program, but it’s not working. We still need more. We added another $25 million to this which allowed for nearly 7 million more pounds of food, 6 million more meals.”
Borrello co-sponsored the bill with Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz.
He said in a statement, “The pandemic laid bare the fragile nature of our food supply chain in New York. It also gave us an opportunity to unite and address it. By strengthening the connection between New York agriculture and our food banks with a consistent, recurring program that farmers can plan for and food banks can count on, we can create a resilient program to the benefit of farms and families in need across our state. ”
Nourish New York was supported by both Democrats and Republicans in the Senate and Assembly and was passed unanimously by both houses.
To learn more about the program, visit https://agriculture.ny.gov/NourishNY
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