New study finds 1 in 3 New Yorkers uses a food pantry amid affordability crisis

CHELSEA, Manhattan (WABC) — A new study finds more New Yorkers can’t afford healthy food for their families.

The study, conducted by Columbia University, Robin Hood Foundation and City Harvest, says that one in three New Yorkers has used a food pantry over the past three years, and right now, pantry use is twice as high as it was before the pandemic.

“There is most definitely an affordability crisis,” said City Harvest CEO Jilly Stephens.

“For people working one or two or even three jobs, wages are just not keeping up,” said Robin Hood Foundation CEO Richard Bury. “It’s not enough to pay for food, to pay for rent.”

Almost half of all families with a working parent in New York have used a food pantry in the last three years.

They are used out of necessity, almost like a supermarket now. Fresh fruits and vegetables, which are expensive, make up about 75% of what’s given out.

“New Yorkers have to pay their rent, they have to pay for childcare, transportation. All of these are fixed costs, and food is often viewed as an ‘elastic’ expense. And you can choose not to go to the store if you run out of money in the household but instead to a food pantry somewhere in the five boroughs,” Stephens said.

Ryan Vinh, from Columbia University, crunched the numbers and was shocked to see the scope of this working hungry crisis.

“Even though people are making money, even though people may be employed in some capacity, that’s still not enough to keep up with the rising costs, those hardships, and so they’re still needing to turn to free food assistance, to food pantries to meet those needs,” said Vinh of Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy.

With the study in mind, Bury says to think about people in need over the holidays.

“Remember that those who are in need is not some stranger far away, it’s your neighbors,” he said.

Holy Apostles Church, on Ninth Avenue and 28th, famously uses its “sanctuary” to feed people.

“Pretty much every single human category you can think of is represented week in and week out with the people that we serve,” said Dr. Anna Peason of Holy Apostles Church Soup Kitchen.”

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