Roughly one in four adults in New York State is facing food insecurity, driven by high living costs, inflation, and federal assistance challenges.
Natasha Pernicka is the executive director of The Alliance for a Hunger Free New York and CEO of The Food Pantries for the Capital District. She spoke with WAMC’s David Guistina about the challenges of food insecurity and the challenges it causes.
INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
Editor's note: This conversation has been lightly edited for clarity.
Guistina: I saw some information, Natasha, that after already having spoken to you fairly recently about the problems with hunger, at that high rate, it's even gone up further, another 10%. Can you clear up that picture for us?
Pernicka: Yeah, what we're seeing in food pantries, not only in New York's Capital Region, but across the state, and honestly across the country at this point, we're just seeing more and more people whose incomes are not keeping up with the basic needs. We talk a lot about the affordability crisis here in New York. Last year's numbers, when we looked at 2023 to 2024, we had seen a 40% increase in the number of individuals using food pantry assistance here. This past year, the numbers in 2025, here in the Capital Region, are more than 75 member food pantries served more than 114,000 people. It's basically one in eight people have had to turn to food pantries to make ends meet. You know, some people are having to utilize food pantry assistance every month because they just don't have enough. And then, other people come because they have a short-term crisis, a medical bill, their car breaks down, something major happens. And so, it's a short-term help to help them get through, so they have food on the table while they're experiencing hard times.
Guistina: And to add to all of this, we've seen inflation, fuel costs, food costs, which is of course what we're talking about going up dramatically. And you know, you add that to the changes in SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program], and we're really at a crisis point. Not to mention that, so far, the money that has come from New York State hasn't been adequate.
Pernicka: I mean, what we're experiencing here in the state, just the past couple of years of data, we have seen food inflation rise 15% in the New York City metropolitan area. Here in the Capital Region, it's been a 20% increase. So we all know that it's a lot more expensive when we go to the grocery store, and it's also a lot more expensive for food pantries to keep their shelves stocked. A lot of people don't realize that much of the food pantries distribute, they actually pay for, whether that's from the food bank, or they're getting deals when things are on sale at the grocery store, or working with local farmers or their own wholesalers. Those prices are hitting everybody hard right now, and this is on top of, like we talked about, the increase in need. According to Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap, from 2022 to 2024, there's a 14.8% increase in people experiencing food insecurity. So what that means here in New York, as far as the state budget, you know, three budget cycles ago, we were asking for $75 million for the Hunger Prevention Nutrition Assistance Program. New York really has a remarkable program that helps pantries purchase healthy and nutritious foods, so that it's more than just a get-what-you-get. You're able to provide fruits and vegetables, proteins, grains, and people really appreciate that. This past year, we nearly made it to $75 [million]. We're around $73 million. But again, these are three-year-old numbers. We have recently recalculated based on inflation and food insecurity needs. This year, we're going into the budget asking for $100 million. It really does need to be right-sized at this point. It's really hard to put the pressure on food pantries and keep asking them to do more with less.
Guistina: And as you said, some of these numbers are older. Like, for example, Oswego County. This is numbers from 2024: among children who were hungry, 19.1%. And I think that's another point to be made, right? Some of the largest numbers of people who go hungry are children.
Pernicka: Yeah, and that's definitely true for the SNAP program. The largest numbers of people on the SNAP program are children, older adults, and people with disabilities. For the food pantries, you know, that is also where we're seeing increases is [in] households with children, older adults, and when you look at national food insecurity data, the people that tend to have higher food insecurity challenges are households with children, people of color, and people who live in rural communities, which here in upstate New York we know well.
Guistina: Natasha Pernicka, for those that need help, what should they do? Where can they go? And for those that want to help, what should they do? Where should they go?
Pernicka: We have one easy place to look for food pantries in your own community. If you go to thefoodpantries.org and click Find Food Now, you can help a pantry by finding the pantry right in your neighborhood. Or if you are home and are really having a hard time, you can go there to find not only food pantries but other food assistance programs in your neighborhood. If you're here in the Capital Region, we would love to see you at our Harvest Evening Celebration, Oct. 22. Our community comes together and celebrates the work that we've done while recognizing there's still a lot to do. But it's important to come together in community, knowing that working together we can do more than any one of us alone.
Guistina: She is Natasha Pernicka, the executive director of The Alliance for a Hunger Free New York and the CEO of the Food Pantries of the Capital District. I know how hard this is and how hard it is to see people in hunger, and your passion and your work over the years is inspirational. So thank you so much for sharing this important information with us today.
Pernicka: Thank you, David, for the opportunity.
