Food Pantry Demand Soars by 30% in Sullivan County Amid Job Losses, Housing Crunch

Putting healthy food on the table has never felt more challenging for some families in New York. Demand for emergency food is up by 30%, according to local food pantry providers in Sullivan County.

At a Sullivan County legislature meeting on April 3, Colleen Monaghan, Executive Director of Sullivan County Cornell Cooperative Extension, shared that inquiries to Sullivan Fresh for emergency food deliveries have increased by more than 33% since January. Sullivan Fresh operates a door-to-door food distribution of food and prepared meals.

“We’re talking about hundreds of inquiries per week just to our pantry alone. At the same time, the availability of USDA commodity selections at the regional food bank have decreased along with the availability and selection of healthy local and regional farm fresh products, digging right into our local and regional farm and food system’s viability,” said Monaghan.

In April, New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand said the Trump administration’s decision to cut $1 billion in federal funding to food banks would “deprive Americans of food assistance, emergency food providers of necessary support to carry out their work, and American farmers of vital domestic markets.”

Thirteen percent – or one in eight people – in Sullivan County do not get enough food to eat to live an active, healthy life, according to Feeding America data. That need is even greater for children, says Audrey Garro, Executive Director of A Single Bite, a nonprofit providing healthy food to local families across the Catskills region.

Over the past month, Garro said that her organization has seen almost a 30 percent increase in requests for meals. “Those are new families coming to us in addition to the 650-plus families that we’re already feeding at the start of the year,” said Garro.

She explained that economic difficulties remain the primary reason why people may need food assistance.

“We’re hearing more about as we did during COVID, multi-generations moving back into the same household, so there are parents and guardians who are feeding not only school-aged children, but in some cases, children that have just recently left the house and have to return,” said Garro.

Economic challenges coupled with the region’s housing crunch, increased fear to access services, and widespread federal and local layoffs has contributed to the demand. In February, PepsiCo announced it would close its manufacturing facility in Liberty, N.Y., laying off nearly 300 workers.

A 2024 report from the nonprofit Hudson Valley Pattern for Progress revealed that the number of school children living in hotels in the Hudson Valley area has more than doubled in the past fifteen years. According to the report, Orange County experienced a sharp rise in families placed in hotels, while Sullivan County had fewer placements but longer household stays.

Garro noted that there is no blame appropriate for people that are “doing the best that they can do.” Many families in need of food assistance lack relatable transportation or the time to go grocery shopping due to working multiple jobs, she says.

“There’s fear that comes with being hungry,” said Garro. “There’s just this unsurety and once you see it, you can’t unsee it.”

Looking for free food assistance? You can find a list of free meals, food pantries, and other basic needs services in Sullivan 180’s community resource guide.

(Image provided by A Single Bite)