Law Aims To Improve Targeted Kosher Food Aid
Two New York lawmakers introduced legislation to ensure that kosher food pantries receive enough food as part of the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program.
Under the legislation – introduced Monday by U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) and Rep. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.) – the United States Department of Agriculture would target, label and track distribution of kosher food to guarantee that more meals are directed to kosher food banks that need it the most. Under the current system, kosher meals are not tracked to make sure they end up in kosher pantries or specific communities.
“With food insecurity in New York reaching disturbing, historic highs and food banks facing extreme shortages of kosher meals, many families are at risk of hunger and malnutrition,” Gillibrand told JTA. “We must take steps to help the neediest observant families and children get access to nutritious food during these difficult times.”
“Our legislation will help make it easier for these food banks to provide kosher meals and food items, helping them to better meet the needs of the communities they serve,” Crowley said.
According to William Rapfogel, CEO of New York’s Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, nearly 400,000 poor or near-poor Jewish households citywide are struggling to get by and approximately 52,000 Jewish children are living in poverty.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we still need 300 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Only 300 more gifts needed by April 30