Economy may be bouncing back in city, but child hunger persists

Child hunger rates in New York City remain much higher than before the COVID pandemic even though the economy is starting to bounce back, according to a new report from the anti-hunger City Harvest group.

Compared to pre-pandemic levels, about 55% more kids are going hungry today and one in four children “don’t know where their next meal will come from,” according to a report being released on Monday.

The problem will worsen during the upcoming summer break when many poor children miss out on the free school meals they depend on.

“Families across New York City are struggling amid surging prices for food, rent and other necessities all at a time when free school lunch will be harder to access,” said Jilly Stephens, CEO of City Harvest.

As recently as February, about 525,000 children received food from City Harvest’s mobile pantries and soup kitchens in the five boroughs.

That’s a dip from the 778,000 who sought help in May 2021 at the height of the COVID pandemic when the city’s economy was groaning under the weight of a dreadful downturn.

But it’s still a shocking jump from the 339,000 served in February 2020, the last full month before the pandemic took hold.

“City Harvest continues to see far more children at our Mobile Markets and the community food programs we serve,” the report said.

In 2021, the group fed a record 7,694,714 children, more than double the 3,617,465 total as recently as 2018.

City Harvest, which rescues nutritious food from restaurants and grocery stores and delivers it to people in need, is on track to provide 100 million pounds of food in 2022, again nearly double its pre-pandemic performance.

In recent months, the economy has turned around and is growing at robust rates. Unemployment has plunged, and almost as many Americans are working as before the pandemic struck.

But those at the bottom of the city’s economic ladder are still struggling, causing severe problems with food security to persist, especially for children.

Inflation has also added a burden to poor families struggling to make ends meet, especially as government stimulus programs during the pandemic have been phased out.

A recent study conducted by City Harvest found that 88% of food pantry users expect rising prices to force them to seek more help in upcoming months.

“Many people have still not been able to find work and cannot afford (adequate) food,” said Bella Vilenkin of the Crown Heights Jewish Community Council in Brooklyn.

City Harvest issued the report as a start to its annual summer Share Lunch Fight Hunger campaign that runs from now through June 9.