City Harvest Programs » Emergency Food Programs

Overview

City Harvest partners with many public and private institutions with the goal of making more quality food available to people in need. Our policy work focuses on expanding the reach of feeding programs and to help support the health of participants.

Emergency Feeding Programs

City Harvest delivers most of the food we rescue to emergency food providers that run food programs open to the general public. EFPs may provide food in the form of a pantry or grocery bag (food pantry) or a prepared meal to consume onsite (soup kitchen or shelter).

Food Pantry: A program distributing emergency food in the form of groceries about once per week. People visiting pantries usually have access to cooking facilities.

Soup Kitchen: Soup kitchens prepare hot, nutritious meals for people in need that are consumed on-site.

Emergency Shelter: Short-term overnight shelter that normally provides one meal a day to its beneficiaries.

Benefits available to agencies

The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) provides funding and food commodities to food pantries, soup kitchens, and other emergency food programs.

The Emergency Food & Shelter Program (EFSP) supplements the work of pantries, kitchens, and shelters assisting residents of New York City in economic emergency. This program is run by the United Way.

Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program (HPNAP) provides assistance for food, operating costs, food service equipment, food safety and sanitation supplies, and nutrition technical assistance to nonprofit emergency feeding programs throughout New York State. This program is run by the NYS Department of Health.

Public Institutions

City Harvest works with childcare and senior centers to deliver food and provide nutrition education. We also work with schools to support food programming, and connect students to opportunities for food and nutrition education.

Young children are eligible for meals from childcare centers and schools. The city’s information hotline, 311, can provide a list of meal sites.

Seniors are eligible for food assistance in the form of food stamps, congregate meals, and meals-on-wheels. For more information, see the NYC Department for the Aging (DFTA) or Citymeals-on-wheels or call 311.

Schools provide two or more meals each school day to children citywide.

New York City schools offer free breakfast to all public school students. Breakfast consists of a bread item (e.g., bagel, toast, oatmeal), a protein item (e.g., eggs, sausage) fruit, vegetable or juice, and milk, cheese, or yogurt. Some schools offer breakfast in the classroom during first period to make it easier for students to have a meal, but most schools offer breakfast in the cafeteria before the start of school and students must arrive early to eat breakfast.

In January 2009, the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) released a report on School Breakfast in NYC and other big cities.

Recipes for Health: Improving School Food in New York City

Recipes for Health: Improving School Food in New York City offers a view of the vibrant and fast-growing school food movement in NYC, describing the various programs and activities transforming the food environment in our city’s schools. The report, a joint effort between the City University of New York School of Public Health at Hunter College and City Harvest, also gives a detailed look at how the school food system works in New York City so that newcomers have the knowledge needed to fully participate in this powerful movement. Finally, the report highlights recent improvements made by the Department of Education and other agencies to address food quality and nutrition concerns, as well as continuing challenges NYC faces in providing an ideal school meal.

Recipes for Health is a guide for parents, teachers, students, policymakers and advocates. By working together to improve school food in a single school or community, young people, parents, advocates, teachers, principals, and policymakers in New York City can reduce hunger, obesity, and poverty and improve the health and well-being of children and future generations. We hope that you will read the report, use it, and pass it on to others!

The cost for school lunch depends on a student’s family income and ranges from free to $1.50. Many students in NYC are eligible for free or reduced-price meals. Parents must fill out an application to receive this benefit. School lunches provide bread or starch, protein, fruit or vegetable, and milk or dairy.

Many public schools are open the entire summer to serve free breakfast and lunch to all children 18 years of age and under in New York City. Meals are also offered at swimming pools, parks, and libraries. Summer meal sites are listed on the SchoolFood website and are available at 311.