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NYS Announces Availablity of Funding for Fresh Connect Program
Eligible Projects Will Increase Access to Fresh Produce in Underserved Areas; April 2 Deadline
New York State Agriculture Commissioner Darrel J. Aubertine recently announced the availability of $300,000 in funds to support Governor Cuomo's initiative, the Fresh Connect Program. This program will award up to $10,000 per project for eligible projects that increase access to locally grown, fresh foods by low-income and/or underserved communities across New York State.
The press release states that the goal of the Fresh Connect Program is to enhance the nutritional and economic health in New York State by supporting projects that connect underserved communities with New York farm products.
Eligible projects can include, but are not limited to:
- new farmers' markets;
- satellite youth markets;
- delivery systems for fresh produce;
- transportation for low-income individuals;
- a CSA-share type model for distributing produce;
- or forming new partnerships or programs to better connect low-income and/or underserved communities with New York farm and food products.
Local government entities, regional market authorities, public benefit corporations, and not-for-profit corporations are eligible to apply, including farmers' markets that participated in the Fresh Connect Program last year.
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The Economic Consequences of Cutting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program
Center For American Progress
March 2012
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program continues to help Americans struggling to make ends meet today. This program provided $72 billion worth of benefits to nearly 45 million Americans in fiscal year 2011 ending in October last year. Even though our economy is improving, unemployment and wage stagnation continue to make it difficult for millions of Americans to avoid hunger and food insecurity.
The program also plays an important role in sustaining demand for groceries provided by businesses in communities around the country. Our analysis presented in this paper finds that each $1 billion spent by recipients enables nearly 14,000 Americans to find or keep their jobs. That means approximately 1 million workers were employed last year because of this program.
It is too soon to know if the FY 2013 House leadership budget proposal, which is due out sometime this month, will propose any cuts to this program. If cuts are proposed, this study offers policy makers a tool to estimate the employment consequences that will result. We detail our findings in the main pages of this report, but briefly, our study estimates that:
- Each $1 billion reduction in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program eliminates 13,718 jobs.
- A 10 percent reduction in the size of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program would cause more than 96,000 job losses.
- These losses would be particularly strong in food-related industries, which would lose as many as 11,000 jobs under a 10 percent cut to the program.
- Job losses will likely have the greatest impact on younger workers, since they account for a disproportionate share of workers in food-related industries- nearly one-third of grocery employees are under 25, compared to just 14 percent of workers in all industries.
Read the full report...
Veiw an Interactive Map: How SNAP Cuts Affect Your State
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