Legislature Stalls Funding for Food Insecurity

By Holly Crocco

With state benefits being sliced last year and the current state of the economy, Putnam lawmakers are discussing ways to fill the gap and make sure those who are food-insecure don’t go hungry.

Legislator Nancy Montgomery, D-Philipstown, recently proposed a resolution that would allow the Legislature to move $150,000 from subcontingency into the budget, to be allocated to agencies that can get the funds to local food pantries throughout the county.

“There have been discussions regarding this food insecurity issue since last year,” said Montgomery at the county’s July 27 Audit Committee meeting. “The Legislature had an initiative to put $150,000 in subcontingency stemming from the food insecurity issue, stemming from the SNAP prices.”

The state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program provides money to low-income individuals and families to purchase food. However, according to the New York State Office of Temporary & Disability Assistance, about 10 percent of SNAP recipients lost their benefits in July 2025.

Late last year, the county dedicated $150,000 to go toward area food pantries and other supports for food insecurity, but after it was announced that SNAP would be reinstituted, that funding was held back.

However, families are still struggling.

“All this money (that) went to recover from SNAP was actually never distributed,” said Montgomery. “Even though we are a wealthy county… We have many pockets of poverty in this county and thousands of residents who are food-insecure.”

In recent weeks and months, lawmakers have met with members of Cornell Cooperative Extension, Second Chance Foods, Putnam Community Action Partnership, the Department of Social Services, and the Office for Senior Resources to come up with a plan to funnel the funding to local food pantries.

While the county has no mechanism to allocate money directly to food pantries, these agencies do. Therefore, Montgomery’s resolution provides them with the funding to purchase and collect food, as well as buy refrigerators and freezers to store perishable items, and cover up to 10 percent of administrative costs for these volunteer agencies.

The county already has contracts in place with Second Chance Foods, CCE, and Putnam CAP for other services, according to the lawmaker.

Audit Committee Chairwoman Erin Crowley, R-Mahopac, said she fully supports funding these agencies so they can help those facing food insecurity, but the resolution needs more review and a more concrete plan for the money before lawmakers can OK the transfer of funds.

“I don’t believe the Legislature should appropriate the $150,000 first and receive the implementation plan after,” she said.

Crowley said she’s willing to call a special Audit Committee meeting to expedite the matter, but that she was uncomfortable passing the resolution last week.

“While I support addressing food insecurity, the proposal lacks sufficient detail about how the funds will be administered and distributed, and it doesn’t clearly identify the role, if any, (the county) will play,” she said. “In addition, the proposed allocation appears to direct a disproportionate share of funding to the western side of the county without clearly demonstrating how the distribution reflects a countywide need.”

Montgomery said the details are to be worked out, and that the resolution is only calling for the money to be moved from subcontingency into the budget, so that it can be released when the time comes.

“We’re not writing a check here, we’re approving the budgetary transfer,” she said. “This resolution took into account the consideration that this is a fluid program that may change based on need… This isn’t micromanaging Second Chance Foods, for which we already have a contract, or Cornell Cooperative. This is giving them the opportunity to expand the programs they already have, that they are in great need of expanding.”

Legislator Dan Birmingham, R-Brewster, said he’s comfortable moving the money from one line item to the other.

“I don’t think we’re going to be able to, as an administrative body or a legislative body, administer the nickel-and-diming of this to each recipient,” he said. “We rely on our contract agencies… Before it can be spent we get a report of where it’s going.”

Birmingham also said he was happy to see a 10 percent cap on administrative costs coming out of that funding.

“When I envisioned it last year, I wanted all the money to go into food because that’s the real purpose here,” he said. “I’m comfortable with the 10 percent cap on staffing costs because I do realize … they’re not-for-profits (and) they have to divert their personnel to carry out a country function.”

Birmingham advocated for approving the resolution without delay. “I think we’ve got enough safeguards in here that it fulfils more than the purpose that was envisioned last year, and people are hungry today,” he said. “People need relief today.”

Legislator Amy Sayegh, R-Mahopac Falls, agreed that the funding needs to remain flexible. For example, she noted that the St. John the Evangelist Food Pantry in Mahopac was shut down because of flooding, and now people are flocking to Mahopac Public Library’s food pantry – in turn putting the library in need of more resources.

“If you’ve ever been to St. John’s food pantry, they have lines around the building,” said Sayegh. “It’s a huge need here. We have a large population in Mahopac.”

At the end of the discussion, Crowley and committee member Laura Russo, R-Patterson, tabled the resolution with the intention of holding a special meeting this month to revisit it.

Food Insecurity Rates Rise in the Hudson Valley

New research by Feeding America’s annual “Map the Meal Gap” study on food insecurity shows that more than 351,000 people – or 12 percent of the population in the Regional Food Bank’s 23-county service area – are food insecure, meaning they don’t always know where their next meal is coming from.

And a staggering one in every six children in the region experience food insecurity. 

“The challenges we are facing as well as our partners in the charitable food industry have faced in recent months, are truly unprecedented,” said Tom Nardacci, CEO of Regional Food Bank. “With federal cuts to the USDA, the SNAP crises, and increasing inflation, our more than 1,000 partner agencies are witnessing longer lines and greater demand… We need more help from our community to meet the demand for our children.”

In the six Hudson Valley counties (Orange, Ulster, Dutchess, Rockland, Sullivan, and Putnam) served by the Regional Food Bank, 167,990 people or 11.9 percent are struggling with food insecurity.

In Putnam County, food insecurity is 8.6 percent. That means 8,430 people in the county could go hungry tomorrow, including one out of 12, or 1,590 children.

In 2025, the Regional Food Book distributed more than 53.3 million pounds of food – more than any year in its nearly 50 years of service, except for 2020 when responding to the pandemic.

Food-insecure households reported needing an additional $23.16 per person, per week to have just enough money to cover their food needs. In the Hudson Valley, the estimated food budget shortfall is $127.7 million.

Individuals who were food insecure reported spending an average of $3.70 per meal. In the Hudson Valley, the average cost per meal is $4.04.