Food Insecurity Rising On Long Island, Food Bank Says

LONG ISLAND, NY — Food insecurity has risen on Long Island compared to last year, according to Long Island Cares, a food bank with satellites across the island.

Visitors seeking food from the five Long Island Cares locations have risen by 43 percent year-to-year between Jan. through June 2021 versus Jan. through June 2022, the food bank said.

Here is a look at the increase in visitors to the five Long Island Cares satellites, Jan. to June 2021 vs. Jan. to June 2022:

• Bethpage visitors are up 109%.
• Freeport up 52%.
• Hampton Bays up 48%.
• Huntington Station up 34%.
• Lindenhurst up 30%.

The United States inflation rate being at 9.1 percent is a "direct correlation" to the increase in food insecurity, said Paule Pachter, CEO of Long Island Cares. Other contributors are the rising cost of food, supply chain issues, and salaries not keeping up with inflation, Pachter said.

“Government must get inflation and the cost of food down, and people’s salaries need to keep up with the cost of living," Pachter told Patch. "If the cost of living is up by almost 9% and salaries have increased by only 2%, people will need assistance from nonprofit charities.”

Food bills for many Long Islanders have doubled since last year, said Dr. Jessica Rosati, chief program officer of Long Island Cares.

“We’ve seen an increase [in visitors] with families, specifically with children," Rosati said. "That can be contributed to a number of different things. It’s summertime, school’s not in session, so families have that extra burden of being able to provide three meals a day for their children.”

Long Island Cares serves as the regional food bank for the island. The organization houses and distributes millions of pounds of food to pantries, shelters, soup kitchens, etc. all over Long Island.

Pachter said Long Island Cares is "prepared to meet the rising needs of Long Islanders" for as long as it takes.

"Our goal is to ensure that Long Islanders have continual access to nutritious foods," he said.

Pachter said the organization's costs have gone "through the roof."

In 2020, Long Island Cares was paying $1.03 per pound of food to be distributed. Last year, the cost rose to $1.35. This year the cost has gotten as high as $1.88 per pound, according to Pachter.

Long Island Cares purchases the majority of the products it distributes because of a contract with the federal government and New York state in order to ensure that people don’t go hungry, according to Rosati. The organization strives to offset the costs with food drives.

Food drives account for roughly 18 percent of the products that Long Island Cares distributes, Rosati said. The organization doles out around 14 million pounds of food a year.

"There are, at any point in time, multiple food drives going on throughout the island to support the regional food bank," Rosati said. "We’re very fortunate in that regard, in which, Long Islanders truly care about one another and they really do want to help.”

There are many ways to support Long Island Cares, Pachter said.

"It starts with education," he said. "There are an estimated 250,000 people who are food insecure on Long Island. Let people know that if they are in need, we will help. If you are fortunate to not need, we are always looking for individuals to help: Sign up to volunteer on our website, LIcares.org, donate food at our locations or make a monetary donation at LIcares.org. Every gift counts.”