Elizabeth Higgins, Extension Associate
CCE Eastern New York Commercial Horticulture Program
At the end of 2021 Nourish NY became a permanent program in NYS Ag and Markets Law1. The law requires the NYS Department of Agriculture to facilitate a connection between farmers and food banks to ensure that New York State agricultural products (dairy, fruit, meat and eggs, seafood, and vegetables) are available for purchase by food relief organizations at competitive wholesale prices. I spoke to vegetable farmers at the 2023 NYS Vegetable Expo in Syracuse this February as well as to some NYS apple growers about the program and they were very positive about their experience with Nourish NY as an outlet for their produce. If you want to participate in this program, according to the Nourish-NY website, you must have products grown in NY; available at competitive, wholesale pricing, and available by the truck load.
Funding for the program, which goes to food organizations to purchase the food, will be determined by annual state appropriations and/or the availability of federal funding. In 2023 there is $50 million available in Nourish NY funding which will be distributed in 2023 to Food Bank Regions through a grant process as follows:
| Region | Funding | # of counties in the region |
| Albany | $8.7M | 23 |
| Buffalo | $4.3M | 4 |
| Elmira | $2.1M | 6 |
| Long Island | $3.2M | 2 |
| New York City | $22.0M | 5 |
| Rochester | $3.4M | 10 |
| Syracuse | $4.4M | 11 |
| Westchester | $2.0M | 1 |
Ag and Markets has developed a website https://agriculture.ny.gov/NourishNY where New York farmers, suppliers, and processors are encouraged to share details about their available products, such as produce, meat, eggs, seafood, and dairy products, so food banks across the state can find New York agricultural food products to purchase and distribute to communities in need. To include the products, you have available you will first need to create a my.ny.gov account if you do not already have one. You can also reach out directly to foodbanks in your region to see if they are looking for produce. This is a link to a directory of foodbanks that are eligible for the Nourish NY program. https://www.feedingamerica.org/find-your-local-foodbank.
For more information, please email NourishNY@agriculture.ny.gov.