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Senator O'Mara's weekly column 'From the Capitol' ~ for the week of November 29, 2021 ~ 'Nourish NY emerges as a highlight of effective government'
November 29, 2021
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ISSUE:
- Nourish NY
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Senator O'Mara offers his weekly perspective on many of the key challenges and issues facing the Legislature, as well as on legislative actions, local initiatives, state programs and policies, and more. Stop back every Monday for Senator O'Mara's latest column...
This week, "Nourish NY emerges as a highlight of effective government"
One of the most positive state-level actions heading into this holiday season was the recent enactment of a new law I helped co-sponsor and strongly supported to make the “Nourish New York” program a permanent fixture of New York government moving forward.
It is the product of legislation (S4892/A5781, Chapter 631 of the Laws of 2021) that received overwhelming bipartisan support in the state Senate and Assembly, where it was unanimously approved earlier this year, and was recently signed into law by Governor Kathy Hochul.
In a year of dubious actions, this new law emerges as a highlight and important to the future.
We all can recall the earliest weeks and months following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The rapid shutdown of life as we had known it imposed unprecedented hardships throughout our communities. One of the most alarming scenes occurred at regional food banks – right here in the Southern Tier and throughout
The Food Bank of the Southern Tier delivered an incredible response to this unprecedented demand, shifting its operations to respond quickly and effectively to meet the community’s needs, while also ensuring the safety of staff, volunteers, and clients. The food bank ended the first year of the pandemic with a record-breaking distribution of 17.6 million pounds of food – a 40% increase over the previous year!
Remarkable. Nevertheless, it wasn’t easy and it took an enormous amount of creativity, collaboration, and perseverance.
Nourish
Nourish New York was launched in May 2020 as a pandemic relief initiative to help respond to the rapid, statewide escalation of community residents and families seeking assistance at local and regional food banks, and the hardships farmers were facing due to supply chain disruptions. An initial $25 million in state funding directed the purchase of food and products from Upstate New York farms and food producers for distribution to food banks throughout
The successful farm to food bank strategy has been widely praised by farmers, food banks, and many other community leaders for its partnership approach to meeting dire community needs and challenges. Through the program, food banks have purchased food and other agricultural products directly from
According to the governor’s office, through the first three rounds of the program,
In other words, the COVID-19 pandemic forced local communities to work together like never before to meet these unforeseen and unprecedented challenges and needs. Nourish
The legislation directs the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets to provide financial and technical support for the development of a permanent initiative to provide surplus
In a statement, New York Farm Bureau President David Fisher said, “
Ensuring the continuation of Nourish
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