Copyright Staten Island Advance
In Staten Island’s North Shore, hunger wears new faces. It’s the nurse working double shifts just to cover childcare, the disabled veteran stretching a limited disability check, the families navigating a food desert where fresh produce is scarce and rents consume half their pay. These are the families I connect with daily—referring thousands to food‑pantry networks, helping coordinate pop‑up produce events, and assisting households using 1115 Waiver services. Yet even with these supports, families go hungry—because policy is starving them. The harsh reality Across the U.S., over 40 million Americans rely on SNAP. • Roughly 70% of adults in SNAP households work full time at some point during the year. • Nearly 28% live with a disability. • About 1.2 million veterans live in households receiving SNAP. In New York State, a family of five with a disabled member can earn up to about $6,275/month (~$75,300/year) and still potentially qualify. That number sounds high—until you realize North Shore rents often hit $2,500–$3,000/month, childcare and medical costs pile up, and grocery stores with fresh produce are few and far between. Even a full-time household income can leave a family one emergency away from skipping meals. A household on the edge Imagine a nurse making ~$78,000/year, married to a disabled veteran, with three children. On paper, they’re above the poverty line. In practice: they pay steep rent, cover medical expenses, and navigate a neighborhood where access to healthy, fresh food is limited. Many weeks, they rely on referrals, pantry bags, and pop‑up produce events just to keep the kitchen running. This is not charity. This is the system failing them. Food insecurity as structural violence The North Shore has some of the highest rates of chronic disease in NYC—diabetes, hypertension, heart disease—all worsened by food insecurity in neighborhoods that qualify as food deserts. Hunger here is not accidental. It’s policy. Every cut to SNAP, every delay in benefits, every neighborhood lacking a grocery store full of fresh fruits and vegetables—doesn’t fight fraud. It fights the people who need food to survive. The hidden frontline Platforms like Hungry on Staten Island, which hosts a comprehensive list of pantries, community fridges, and mobile food services (hungryonstatenisland.com), are lifesavers. They show just how many local households rely on these networks to stay fed. But these networks are band‑aids, not solutions. A call to action Food is a human right. Hunger should never be treated as policy leverage. If we truly care about the health of our children, the dignity of our veterans, the well-being of working households, and all families striving to make ends meet, then we must: • Fully fund SNAP and make it accessible to all working families, veterans, and people with disabilities. • Invest in food access in North Shore food deserts—fresh produce, healthy markets, mobile units. • Support community programs: pop-up produce events, referral networks, 1115 Waiver services, and platforms like Hungry on Staten Island. Hunger is not inevitable. It is a choice policymakers make every time they turn their backs on the families who feed, teach, serve, and work for this city. As someone running for the working families of Staten Island, I will fight to make sure no family goes hungry while we all work to care for our own.
