Sen. Jessica Ramos Partners with Student-Led FarmLink Project to Lead Farm-Fresh Food Distribution for Queens Community

East Elmhurst, NY — Senator Jessica Ramos distributed over 50,000 pounds of New York State-sourced food to over 1,000 Queens residents impacted by the COVID-19 crisis at her district office. In a first for Ramos, she is partnering with The FarmLink Project to support the weekly food distribution by paying the wages of farm workers and truckers, thereby keeping employees staffed, fresh produce away from dumps, and food on the tables of those who need it most. Photos from today’s events have been added to a Google Drive folder (click here).

The FarmLink Project was founded by students from Brown and Stanford Universities who are committed to alleviating the ramifications of the COVID-19 pandemic. When their college campuses closed in March 2020 in response to COVID-19, many of them found themselves back at home seeking to make a positive impact wherever it was needed. FarmLink was born when the students saw the impact of food shortages, business closures, and lay-offs in local communities.

“FarmLink is excited to be breaking into New York City. The food crisis that is hitting the communities and food banks of New York City is staggering and we are determined to do our best to keep helping provide produce and dairy to as many families as we can both in the city and across the nation,” said Will Collier of The FarmLink Project. “We are honored to work with Senator Ramos and her team to provide dairy to neighborhoods in the city this summer. This is just another step in the right direction as we work to combat the issues of food waste and food insecurity resulting from the pandemic.”

As New York State farms run out of food from last year’s harvest, The FarmLink Project will be a crucial partner in diversifying farm-fresh food sources in Ramos’ food operation. Through GrowNYC’s new Emergency Fresh Food Box Program, Ramos also delivered boxes of regionally sourced, farm-fresh and nutrient-dense food directly to residents in need at LeFrak City apartments as well as to other constituents who are physically unable to make it to the in-person distribution. 

“Each week, we’ve sought new, innovative ways to ensure we can continue serving our Queens neighbors who’ve been hit the hardest by the COVID-19 crisis. Providing fresh, nutrient-rich food has been our priority and thanks to our new partnership with The FarmLink Project, we’ll be able to continue working with and supporting local food producers,” said Senator Jessica Ramos. “The precautions New York is taking to prevent another outbreak of coronavirus are crucial, but we need to make sure that New Yorkers are taken care of. We are in our fifth week of food distribution thanks to our many partners, community organizations and volunteers who recognize the need to continue to support our neighbors.”

Ramos also provided 600 hot meals prepared fresh by local street vendors, bringing the total number of hot meals provided over the past five weeks to over 4,000 thanks to Ramos’ partnership with Street Vendor Project (SVP). 

Ongoing partners of Ramos’ food program include farms and organizations from across New York that have contributed nearly 200,000 pounds of fresh produce and milk including Northeast Dairy Producers Association, NY Corn and Soybean Growers Association and Northeast Agribusiness and Feed Alliance. Other partners include Food Bank of New York City and local food pantry Elmcor; the Hispanic Federation; Skanska; the Yankees which provided refrigerated trucks to transport dairy for this week’s food giveaway; Together We Can Community Resource Center; and the Jackson Heights, East Elmhurst and Woodside COVID-19 Care Neighbor Network Fund.

About The FarmLink Project: FarmLink is a grassroots movement supporting farms and food banks during this crisis of food instability. While food banks are facing an unprecedented increase in demand, millions of pounds of produce are being dumped or wasted as commercial farms around the country struggle to adapt to decreased and cancelled orders. Our project handles all the logistics to connect such farms with food banks. 100% of donations towards FarmLink are used to pay the wages of farm workers and truckers, thereby keeping employees staffed, fresh produce away from dumps, and food on the tables of those who need it most.

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