New York State Works With Local Farmers to Provide Fresh Produce for Food Pantry

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y.—Programs such as Nourish New York are helping local farmers connect their fresh produce to consumers through food banks such as the Regional Food Bank, local officials say, with the arrangements benefiting both farmers and the people who are served by food banks.

The Regional Food Bank held a five-person panel, focused on cooperation between agriculture and food charities, at its Orange County Distribution Center in the town of Montgomery on April 9. The panel was moderated by New York State Department of Agriculture Commissioner Richard Ball, and included Regional Food Bank CEO Tom Nardacci and local farmers Mira Miller, Gibson Durnford, and Jeff Crist.

A big focus of the discussion was the Regional Food Bank’s partnership with the Nourish New York program, which gives millions of dollars to food banks to buy products from New York state farmers and producers for distribution. The Regional Food Bank also maintains its Micro-Purchasing Program, which involves partnering with small-scale farmers to purchase fresh produce and deliver the food directly to food pantries instead of a food bank warehouse.

Ball said getting food directly to food banks from farms is revolutionary for nutrition security, which he said he believes is a more important problem than food security. One of the issues that food banks face is that much of their food is unwanted products from stores. This leads to inconsistent availability of quality food for the people who rely on food banks. Buying from local farms means a consistent flow of fresh fruits and vegetables to food assistance recipients.

The panelists highlighted the consistency of Nourish New York purchases and the opportunity for increased sales that are beneficial to farmers.

Crist, the fourth-generation owner of Crist Bros. Orchards in Walden, said that being able to sell to the Regional Food Bank creates income for the farm and also provides the charity with an economical source of apples.

Crist told The Epoch Times that he believes that Nourish New York helps farmers, saying, “Oftentimes, smaller farmers don’t have as many opportunities to sell their product across the country, and this is close to home, feeding people that live here.”

Miller, owner of Row by Row Farm in Hurley, said that in the difficult business of farming, selling to community distributors such as Capital Roots and Nourish New York is beneficial for her farm. Capital Roots is an organization that focuses on providing healthy food access in New York’s Capital Region.

Miller said Nourish buys in bulk and performs its own distribution, instead of letting distribution fall on the farm. This allows farms to focus on growing efficiently instead of expending effort on marketing and distribution.

The predictability of the purchases is also helpful, Miller said.

“I love when it’s a partner who is distributing food to underserved communities,” she said. “Those are usually the customers of ours that want to sit down and plan in the winter, and that just helps us lock in our production costs and hone in on what works for our farm and what doesn’t.”