State Senator Pete Harckham at a Bedford food drive. Photo from Office of State Sen. Pete Harckham / James Persons
Five-Million Pound Milestone Reached, Food Distributed to State’s 10 Regional Food Banks
New York State Senator Pete Harckham announced today that his 2021 law requiring supermarkets to make excess, unsold food available to organizations involved with helping residents with food insecurity, like food pantries, has led to the distribution of over five million pounds to the state’s regional food banks.
“So many of our neighbors are still facing food insecurity, which is why we cannot let up our fight against hunger in our communities,” said Harckham. “The success of the food donation law in stocking food pantries statewide while continuing to raise awareness of how neighbors can help each other is truly remarkable. As always, I am thankful to all those who have donated and also for the many volunteers who are fighting hunger in New York.”
In his testimony recently during the New York State Legislature hearings on the Executive’s Proposed FY2024-2025 State Budget, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Commissioner Basil Seggos noted that his agency, in partnership with Feeding New York State (Feeding NYS), had diverted more than five million pounds of nutritious food headed toward landfills that was donated instead to food banks serving food insecure New Yorkers.
Harckham’s law, which was amended to extend its functioning period through 2026, has received $4.8 million in support from the DEC through the Environmental Protection Fund to help Feeding NYS and the 10 regional food banks to dramatically increase donations beginning in October 2021. The funds were used by Feeding NYS to deploy staff to grocery stores, restaurants, colleges, and other food industry facilities to increase participation in the program and encourage food donations. The fund also supported several equipment purchases for the 10 regional food banks to increase food pickup capabilities at food pantries, meal centers and other partner agencies.
The partnership between New York State and Feeding NYS is a nation-leading model for food diversion programs. The implementation of Harckham’s law and investments by New York to put the program into action have been tremendously effective: as of October 2023, Feeding NYS reported receiving more than 300,000 pounds of monthly food donations over the last six months, with an increasing number almost every month. This is a significant increase from 50-60,000 pounds per month when the program launched in October 2021. The program previously reached the one-million-pound food donation milestone in August 2022.
News investigations have highlighted how food production and food waste are major contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Each step of food production, from growing, harvesting, processing and packaging to transportation and storage, releases harmful gases such as carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere.
On average, Americans waste about 35-40% of the food that is produced nationwide. This results in food production being to blame for almost 25-33% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide—and when that food is wasted, the emissions that brought it forth are too. Food scraps that are often perfectly safe to eat unfortunately end up being thrown out, where they sit in landfills to decompose and release even more methane.
Cynthia Knox, chief executive officer of Caring for the Hungry and Homeless in Peekskill (CHHOP), said, “Commercial food waste has a huge negative impact on the environment and is a missed opportunity to ensure that the two million New Yorkers who are food insecure have the opportunity to access fresh, edible food that remains unsold. We applaud Senator Harckham for his work championing this food recycling legislation that will create a better environment and feed hungry people.”
Marisa O’Leary, Putnam Community Action Partnership director at Westchester Community Opportunity Program, said, “The Excess Food Act legislation brings vital support to emergency food providers such as Putnam CAP. As food insecurity continues to increase in our local community, the donations from local supermarkets will strengthen our ability to provide low-income families with access to nutritious food. We are grateful for Senator Harckham’s support on this important issue, as access to healthy food is a basic human right.”
Carol Durst-Wertheim, board president of the Federated Conservationists of Westchester County (FCWC), said, “We support this bill and all the sustenance it provides to our neighbors who are food insecure. Every pound of food makes a difference. Thank you, Senator Harckham!”
