New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Interim commissioner Sean Mahar announced Feeding New York State –the state association of New York’s 10 Feeding America member food banks – collected 32 million pounds of food since launching in 2022. Implemented under the New York State Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law, this nation-leading program helps reduce waste and climate-altering emissions caused by landfilling while providing quality food to New Yorkers in need. The latest milestone is a direct result of DEC funding to Feeding New York State to increase new food donations, strengthen partnerships with local providers, and help build stronger, healthier communities.
New York State’s partnership with Feeding New York State remains a model for food diversion programs. Implementation of the law and investments by New York to put the program into action helped successfully divert tens of millions of pounds of food to those in need. As of August 2024, Feeding New York State reported receiving an average of two million pounds of food donations each month. This is a significant increase from 300,000 pounds per month during the last 12 months, and the 50 to 60,000 pounds per month when the program first launched in October 2022. The program previously reached the five-million-pound food donation milestone in October 2023.
The New York State Food Donation and Food Scraps Recycling Law continues to see record volumes of food managed sustainably and diverted away from disposal at the state’s largest food-related businesses. DEC provided $4.8 million to Feeding New York State and the 10 regional food banks through the Environmental Protection Fund (EPF) beginning in October 2021. The funds are used by Feeding New York State to deploy staff to grocery stores, restaurants, colleges, and other food industry facilities to increase participation in the program and encourage food donations. The fund also supported several vehicle and equipment purchases for the 10 regional food banks to increase food pickup capabilities at food pantries, meal centers, and other partner agencies. The ongoing development of innovative solutions such as continuing to enable food bank partner agencies to pick-up edible food from donors reduces wasted food and lowers the carbon footprints of New York state food banks traveling long distances to transport food from donor to receiver.