Amid affluence, food insecurity is growing concern

This is the first article in a comprehensive series on hunger action in Westchester County. Developed in partnership with The Rivertowns Dispatch, another Westchester independent community news outlet, the series will examine the rise in food insecurity and highlight the people and organizations delivering solutions to fight hunger. Over the next six weeks, our teams of reporters and designers will collaborate on producing in-depth news coverage of the issue in print, digital and audio formats. 

Feeding Westchester Chief Operating Officer Tami Wilson, second from right, at an annual Golden Scoop competition where representatives from local companies compete against each other to see which team can pack the most food.

By MARTIN WILBUR

Mention Westchester County to almost anyone, and chances are they may think of an affluent suburb with tree-lined streets and well-kept lawns.

While that’s certainly true in many parts of the county, there is also great need — including thousands of families who feel the pressure of not having enough food to eat.

Food insecurity has long been a problem in Westchester. However, the shutdown following the onset of COVID-19, which caused a sudden spike in layoffs, followed by steep inflation and escalating cost of living, including housing, has placed added pressure on community pantries and hunger relief organizations. That includes residents who may never have envisioned that they would need to rely on a food pantry.

Tami Wilson, chief operating officer for Feeding Westchester, the Elmsford-based nonprofit that sends food to stock most pantries in the county and about 175 organizations throughout Westchester, said the public has a misconception of what hunger looks like. While seniors, single-parent households and Black and brown communities are those most likely to need to supplement their food needs by visiting a pantry, Wilson said there are also residents working multiple jobs or who find it difficult to earn a high enough wage without needing assistance.

She called the level of hunger in Westchester “shocking” considering the amount  of wealth. .“We often say it’s one in three households, but what that looks like for me in Westchester County right now, given all of the policies that have changed, we’re now asking people to choose even further. Do I choose between food, do I choose between food and medicine, food and school supplies?”

Perhaps more telling is that 39% of households in Westchester are considered Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed due to the spiraling cost of living, which means there is a struggle to pay for the basics, according to the most recent United Way report. In Westchester, a household of four with income of less than $131,000 a year is considered to be in that category.

As Hunger Action Month concludes this upcoming week, an overwhelming percentage of agencies in Westchester are struggling to meet the need. They are also keeping a wary eye on government cuts that have already begun to take effect.

Representatives and volunteers hand out food at one of Feeding Westchester’s mobile pantries.

Pantries under pressure

Most of the dozens of food banks and pantries in communities throughout Westchester have been on the front lines addressing hunger problems for years. However, starting in 2020 and the ensuing shutdown with the onset of COVID-19, when the reported national unemployment rate spiked to more than 14%, the number of residents needing help hasn’t abated.

While the extent of the crisis caused by the pandemic diminished by late 2021, the number of families coming into the Community Center of Northern Westchester’s food pantry (temporarily relocated to Bedford Hills while the main building in Katonah is under construction) has remained at pandemic levels, said Executive Director Clare Murray. In 2019, its pantry saw just over 5,000 visits; last year there were over 12,000, where approximately 744,000 pounds of food was distributed, mirroring pandemic highs, she said.

“So as cost of living increases so dramatically and wages don’t keep pace, then there’s a large gap for people to be able to just keep a roof over their head and keep putting food on their table and provide for their children,” said Murray, who sees people from throughout northern Westchester, from the Hudson River communities to the Connecticut border.

A Feeding Westchester volunteer hands out a cantaloupe during a mobile pantry event.

Currently, the fastest growing group of visitors at CCNW are seniors, many of whom are on a fixed income and are having trouble keeping up with inflation, Murray said. Of the 3,200 households that have signed up for its pantry, about 650 of those include seniors.

JoAnn Reed-Stokes, the director of the Hastings Youth Advocate Program, which oversees the Hastings Food Pantry, agreed that the need is as great as ever in that community. Prepandemic there were about 25 families registered; today that number is at more than 100, with 60 to 70 visitors each week. 

Greater awareness of the Hastings pantry since the pandemic, is a factor in addition to escalating need.

“At times, it has fluctuated, but I would say this year specifically, 2025, we’ve seen a steady increase and our biggest increase has been coming from seniors,” Reed-Stokes said.

Wilson cited how wages for many have failed to keep up, combined with inflation not only at the supermarket but for many other necessities such as housing and utilities. As a result, families are left with less money and hard choices have to be made.

“If I’m sitting here having to make choices between my health, food, my children’s school supplies or books or anything, you’re going to go with what’s going to keep you alive first, and sometimes food is not the need,” Wilson said.

Even greater challenges loom

As cuts from the federal government for a variety of social safety net programs, including those to alleviate hunger, begin to take hold, there is the likelihood that there will be even more responsibility falling on local pantries. The “Big Beautiful Bill,” which Congress passed earlier this year, will eliminate an estimated 2.4 million Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients, according to the Congressional Budget Office. In all, more than 22 million households may lose or see a reduction in benefits.

In New York state, households could see an average $190 month reduction in those benefits, the Urban Institute projected.

In the spring, Feeding Westchester lost more than a million dollars of its federal funding as part of discretionary cuts in the Commodity Credit Corporation, Wilson said. Last fiscal year, which ended June 30, Feeding Westchester saw $9.1 million in all government funding. This fiscal year, it’s $6.6 million. 

Since it buys food at low-cost, three meals are lost for every dollar that’s cut, Wilson said. Last year, Feeding Westchester distributed about 17.5 million meals, but the true need in the county is roughly 40 million meals.

She said pantries are designed to help tie people over who need help, not replace government funding.

“Food banks are not built to safeguard communities and our neighbors,” Wilson said. “We’re depending on federal funding and federal programs to do that, not food banks.”

Recent reports that the federal government will eliminate the annual report on hunger in America because it was “rife with inaccuracies,” a USDA statement claimed, may result in further reductions, she said.

Trina Fontaine, executive director of The Pantry in Mount Kisco, saw a steady climb of about 31,000 people in 2015 to more than 107,000 last year. The key spikes occurred in 2020 and in 2023, where in the latter fiscal year, visits skyrocketed by nearly 50%, from 63,840 the year before to 93,000. 

“I think what we’re seeing is new people coming into the community and then people not being able to afford to stay here,” said Fontaine, whose pantry serves a large number of immigrants. 

“So we’ll see how long that lasts before we start seeing the trickle-down effect in the economy and the reduction of social services,” she added.

Murray, the CCNW executive director, said she already knows of SNAP recipients who have seen reductions in their benefits, in one case from $250 to $25 a month. 

“So to think that these cuts are going to have an even more devastating impact for people will make it a very challenging environment,” Murray said.

Next week: Solutions to cope with hunger in the community.

Martin Wilbur has more than 30 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, including having previously served as editor-in-chief of The Examiner. 

This editorially-independent series on hunger action is presented with support from the PepsiCo Foundation.