Isabella Divilova

Food Bank For New York City sent three representatives to the inaugural Elevating Voices: Power Summit in Washington, D.C. earlier this month. Funded and hosted by Feeding America, the Power Summit is an extension of Feeding America’s effort to bring Americans with lived experience of food insecurity to the historic White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health in October 2022, the first of its kind in over fifty years.

THIS JUST IN: The New York State Senate and Assembly have released their NY State Budget proposals. We now have until March 31 to call on our leaders in Albany to strengthen essential funding for our state's most powerful food security programs. Did You Know? Our neighbors in New Jersey have already raised their SNAP minimum benefit to $95/month. In addition to supporting food pantries and soup kitchens, one of our many priorities is to raise New York State’s SNAP minimum to $100. We are hearten

We hope you and your families are remaining safe and staying healthy during these uncertain times. We want to thank you for your dedication to your students and families. June is Pride Month, and we wish all our LGBTQ+ CookShoppers and allies a very Happy Pride! Food insecurity among LGBTQ+ adults in the United States is more than double the national food insecurity rate; with 33 percent of LGBTQ+ adults who were raising children indicating not having enough money for food. Consider celebrating Pride with our healthy Rainbow Fruit Skewers recipe in this issue of the Bite.

As we all know, we can’t start CookShop without… washing our hands! Washing our hands could not be more important right now. Washing our hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water is the best way to prevent the spread of germs. Make sure to wash your hands frequently, especially after coming in from outside and before eating or preparing food. For students: Try singing the ABCs twice while washing to know when you’re done!

We wanted to take a moment to wish you a joyous New Year from us here at Food Bank For New York City’s Public Affairs team! With your dedication, we were able to...
• Launch our official Food Bank For New York City Advocacy Texting Service!
• Bring advocates to our nation's Capital twice to meet directly with their representatives and staff.
• Host our first Woman to Woman Panel, courtesy of Queens Public Library.
• Host our first College Hunger Summit, courtesy of Medgar Evers College.
• So muc

Spring is here, and Vitamin D is near! With the weather warming up, and the sun out longer (thanks, Daylight Savings!) now is a great time to get outside and enjoy physical activity outdoors, while social distancing of course. As a reminder, children and teens (ages 6-17 years) need to be active 60 minutes a day, at least 5 day a week. Adults (18 and older) need to be active 30 minutes a day, at least 5 days a week. As you might know, March was National Nutrition month, a time for all of us to make new habits and think critically about the food we eat. Though the month is officially "over," here are some ways to celebrate National Nutrition Month all year long...

We invite you to join a "Farm Bill 101" webinar hosted by the Food Bank For New York City TOMORROW, Wednesday, September 20th at 6 PM to get actionable ways to fight for anti-hunger policies and programs in the next Farm Bill. Federal Nutrition Programs are on the line NOW. We must take this opportunity to make our voices heard for a strong Farm Bill for a stronger NYC. The Farm Bill, legislation that is passed by the United States Congress every five years, legislates rules that establish fundi

Finally, the day we have all been waiting for is just around the corner! 2020 was a difficult year with unprecedented challenges and ongoing struggles exposed from under the rug in which they were swept. For those that have experienced loss this year, we extend our deepest condolences. For those that are fighting for a more healthy and equal society, we stand with you, hand in hand.

We have an exciting issue of the Bite coming up. Start off with a fun Summer Word search over on the next page to get you pumped up for all that summer in the city has to offer. Then go ahead and check out our Rainbow Pinwheel recipe in honor of all our LGBTQ+ New Yorkers and CookShoppers! Make sure to make the best of your summer by checking out (and checking off) our Summer Bucket List, followed by a fun physical activity. Finally, check out our Resources page for more ways to enjoy summer and connect with Food Bank.

We are so excited to pilot CookShop Online to partnering schools this program year! We want to thank all our CookShop teachers and administrators for their continued dedication to CookShop—in this issue of the Bite we will be spotlighting the illustrious Ms. Barbara Pollitt from PS 138 X Samuel Randall, who made YouTube videos and activities so that she could keep doing CookShop lessons with her kindergarten students while NYC was on PAUSE.