Given the choice between paying for housing or feeding your family, which would you choose? Making such a decision is unfathomable, but it is a reality that many Long Island families continue to face as we recover from a surge in global inflation that began in mid-2021, resulting from outpaced consumer spending on goods over services, consequently producing corporate price gouging.
According to the July 2024 issue of the World Economic Outlook, published biannually by the International Monetary Fund, “Global inflation is forecast to decline steadily, from 6.8 percent in 2023 to 5.9 percent in 2024 and 4.5 percent in 2025.” Although the forecast suggests that inflation is leveling off, corporations around the globe have not been motivated to lower their prices for consumers.
Contributing to this corporate reluctance to lower prices is service inflation, or price changes in service-related categories including transportation, food, and accommodations. The World Economic Outlook states that service inflation “[…] is holding up progress on disinflation, which is complicating monetary policy normalization.” As long as service-related categories are facing higher costs, then reductions in goods-inflation will continue to lag, making it difficult for families in lower tax brackets to keep up with economic demands.
Despite widespread confusion and political propaganda accusing elected officials in the United States of driving inflation through poor policy making, the Economic Policy Institute states that an international comparison among member countries and partners of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) demonstrates that “[…] rising inflation is a global phenomenon,” and that the culminating effects of inflation are not unique to the United States. Many economists predicted the 2021 rise in global inflation due to longer term variables, including housing shortages, climate change, and government deficit spending. The 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russia further exacerbated the situation by driving gasoline prices up. Oil producers experienced record profitability during this time, dissuading them from lowering prices.
Global inflation is just one factor forcing Long Island residents into experiences with food insecurity. In New York State, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) has failed to provide adequate resources to low-income families. The SNAP program provides a minimum benefit of $23 a month to families who qualify. However, many low-income families fail to qualify because of SNAP income guidelines, which are based on the federal poverty level.
Advocacy organizations, including Equity Advocates, NY Food Policy Alliance, and the Chapin Center for Public Policy of Long Island Cares, are lobbying for the minimum SNAP benefit in New York to increase to $100. These groups have called on the State to recognize that a true cost of living study needs to occur by geographical location, rather than relying on standardized federal income levels, and to take into account household income levels needed for families to meet basic needs without assistance. As stated in Long Island Cares’ 2023 Annual Report, “[…] 40% of food-insecure Long Island households earn too much to qualify for programs like SNAP but struggle to afford the high-living costs in Nassau and Suffolk counties.”
Consumers are coming in with the same amount of money each week to buy groceries, and leaving with only half of the items on their shopping lists. In an interview with Veris Media Group, Paule Pacter, President and Chief Executive Officer of Long Island Cares, Inc., said, “What is $23 to someone if you go to a supermarket? A box of cereal, a quart of milk, and maybe a dozen eggs. That’s what $23 buys.” Consumers are forced to choose cheaper alternatives, sacrificing healthy options in favor of inferior products to fill their stomachs.
According to ABC News, “Roughly half of New Yorkers said they now purchase less or no fresh produce and proteins like meat because of their cost.” Peter Crescenti, Media Relations Specialist for Long Island Cares, told Veris Media Group during a visit to their warehouse in Hauppauge, New York, that this is something the organization hopes to combat in the coming year. “We received a grant of $650,000 from the New York Food for New York Families Grant Program,” Crescenti said. Long Island Cares will use the funds from this grant to purchase fresh, whole foods, grown by socially disadvantaged New York farmers and producers.
Crescenti further discussed how Long Island Cares has seen a more proactive response to food insecurity from non-profit organizations and corporations. “Amazon is our largest retail donation partner,” Crescenti explained. Long Island Cares has also launched a partnership initiative with supermarket chains and wholesale clubs to reduce food waste. According to Feeding America, 38% of all food in the United States, or 92 billion pounds of food, is wasted annually. This equates to 145 billion meals being transferred into landfills instead of low-income households. Robert LaBarbara, Vice President for Procurement and Supply Chain Oversight at Long Island Cares, told Veris Media Group that the organization is working to reduce food waste by taking donations which include food items nearing their expiration date, overstock, seasonal items, and/or food items which are damaged or not ‘perfect’ enough for a retail setting.
These initiatives are not unique to Long Island Cares, as PSEG’s Food Initiative, Long Island Harvest, and other food banks have also increased their response to meet increasing demands across Long Island. While these food banks are working hard to make healthy foods accessible to low-income families, Pachter tells Veris Media Group that despite decreases in inflation, Long Island Cares is struggling to keep up with the consistently rising demand for their services.
“I was visiting a pantry yesterday […] and five minutes before they opened at 11:00 […] there were more than sixty cars waiting to get into the parking lot to pick up food,” said Pachter. Veris Media Group was invited to perform a site visit on Wednesday, of the food pantry run by Long Island Cares in Hampton Bays, New York. While our investigative team was unable to substantiate the claims of cars lined up for assistance during the site visit, Yenny Buitrago, the Program Center Coordinator, stated that they do witness as many as sixty-to-seventy families come through their doors on Wednesdays.
Navigating through the narrow hallways of the food pantry, Pachter’s concerns about meeting increasing demand were evident. Buitrago explained that their warehouse order arrives on Tuesdays, and despite this, shelves remained devoid of product entirely. Many food staples, including eggs, were in such limited quantities that most families visiting the pantry would have to go without. By Monday, Buitrago said, “[…] It’s empty, the pantry. There’s no food.” When pressed about whether the pantry has ever had to turn away people seeking assistance, she confirmed that it has happened.
Communities of color are more likely to experience food insecurity, and many times it is due to accessibility rather than affordability. Pachter describes these communities as food deserts, “[…] where they don’t have large supermarkets or chain stores […] they have to go to the corner bodega or the dollar store to pick up food.” According to Crescenti, having food pantries available is no longer enough. Long Island Cares is engaging in a number of initiatives and innovations to reach families located within food deserts, including mobile food delivery.
In addition to helping families access healthier food options, food banks like Long Island Cares also provide personal hygiene products, clothing, household supplies, and even pet food. However, due to the intricate balancing act between supply-and-demand, Long Island Cares has had to implement stricter limitations on how many of these consumer goods are accessible to families. The Hampton Bays location displayed a chart that indicates household sizes of four or less members are allowed only a single personal care item per week, and households of any size are limited to only a single household item per week.
Regardless of these stricter limitations and decreasing inventory, Veris Media Group spoke to Orvelina Garcia, a guest at the Hampton Bays food pantry, who explained that the food pantry has eased the burden on her family. When asked how Long Island Cares has benefited her family, Orvelina said, “[…] it’s so hard because everything is so expensive […] I can’t pay that.” This response seemed to resonate with other families waiting for their opportunity to shop the pantry.
The conversation about food insecurity on Long Island has often focused on the disproportionate impact on low-income communities and communities of color, however, the problem goes a lot further than that. “[…] looking at issues like homelessness and poverty […] veteran services and seniors […] there’s a lot going on in that space when it comes to food insecurity,” Pachter says.
Additionally, economic uncertainty, global inflation, and price gouging has an effect on the spending habits of communities with more financial stability. “Someone that might have written us a check last year for $1,000, is now writing us a check for $500, because the cost of goods is really affecting everybody,” Pachter explains.
Food banks have served to bridge the gap between consumer goods accessibility and low-income households, but are serving as a temporary solution to a much larger problem facing Long Island communities. What lurks around the corner? According to Long Island Cares, colder months create an even larger demand than warmer months. Until action is taken to combat corporate price gouging and create reasonable income requirements for assistance programs, food insecurity will remain a growing issue on Long Island.