By Donna Lamb

This prompted the City Council to launch its Food Today, Healthy Tomorrow campaign, a citywide initiative to increase food stamp enrollment among under-served populations that are probably eligible but are not signed up for the program. "Hunger in New York is a big – but solvable – problem," stated City Council Speaker Christine Quinn at a recent visit to St. Margaret Mary Church food pantry in Queens. She went on to say that the City Council is working with community leaders and civic groups to encourage more New Yorkers to sign up for and use food stamps "because it will bring hundreds of millions of dollars into the City’s economy, help create good-paying jobs, and, most importantly, help more New Yorkers access three healthy meals a day."

"To have a strong city, we need a healthy city," added Council Member Peter Vallone, Jr. Chair of the Public Safety Committee. "By encouraging eligible New Yorkers to use food stamps, the Council can help reduce the strain on soup kitchens and food pantries, and make sure that people have enough nutritional food to eat."

As advocates have been pointing out, the problem of hunger has become a citywide crisis. More than 1.2 million New Yorkers – more than one in eight – go hungry each year. The problem is even more acute among the City’s most vulnerable populations, especially senior citizens. One in four seniors relies on emergency food sources, such as soup kitchens or food pantries, and one in five worries about where their next meal is coming from. Less than 20% of seniors receive food stamps.