New data from City shows sharp hike in pantry and kitchen use

Charitable soup kitchens and food pantries that receive some funding from the City of New York provided 172,840 more meals in 2005 than in 2004, according to the first-ever release by the City of two full calendar years worth of such statistics. During the same two year time period, participation in the federally funded Food Stamp Program in the city increased by 141,916-people, providing low-income families with an estimated $170 million in additional federal nutrition assistance. According to Coalition Against Hunger Executive Director Joel Berg, “The only good news is that participation in the Food Stamp Program continues to climb somewhat, providing hungry families much more food than they would be otherwise able to obtain from pantries and kitchens. But as long as pantry and kitchen use continues to soar, our collective work is clearly cut out for us.”