Pachter: Budget cuts will hurt LI's hungry

As Congress crafts a budget that addresses our nation's long-term fiscal challenges, our elected officials must be sure to safeguard nutrition assistance and other safety net programs.

The number of families struggling to make ends meet increased significantly during the recession. On Long Island, the number of people relying on emergency food programs increased from 287,000 in 2009 to nearly 320,000 last year. With unemployment still hovering near 9 percent nationally and around 7 percent on Long Island, the need for food assistance remains high.

Food banks and other social service agencies are already pressed to meet the need in our communities. But Congress is proposing cuts that would eliminate federal food assistance for hundreds of thousands of low-income seniors, women, infants and children, pushing more people to local charities for food assistance.

At the same time, federal support for local emergency food providers would be reduced. Congress is considering slashing the Emergency Food Assistance Program by 50 percent. The impact on Long Island would be a loss of about $1.25 million worth of commodities, or 1.6 million pounds of food. At Long Island Cares, which is the regional administrator of the federal Emergency Food Assistance Program, we will be unable to meet the increased demand for food assistance if these cuts go through. We will have to reduce current levels of support for existing clients, including more than 100,000 children.

Programs like the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which primarily aids low-income seniors and is also slated for cuts, and the Emergency Food Assistance Program make sure that the most vulnerable Long Islanders have enough to eat. The commodity supplemental program is an efficient and effective use of federal resources, providing thousands of seniors on Long Island with a monthly box of food tailored specifically to combat the ill effects of senior hunger by providing nutrients typically lacking in their diets.

The income-based emergency assistance program provides food at no cost to Americans in need of short-term hunger relief through local organizations. While our food bank relies on generous donations from individual donors and community and business partners, the healthy and nutritious foods provided through the federal emergency program are the backbone of the charitable food system, providing 33 percent of the food that flows through our local hunger-relief agencies.

Last year, Long Island Cares distributed more than 2 million pounds of food through the emergency assistance program -- more than 33 percent of our total distribution. Without this federal support, our food bank and network partners could not provide even the current levels of food, nor could we meet added demand if the funding levels and structure of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly the Food Stamp program) and other federal nutrition efforts are eroded, as some members of Congress have proposed.

Long Island has experienced an 11.5 percent increase in food bank and related agency visits since 2009. This year, many agencies are seeing double-digit increases. The Emergency Food Assistance Program provides these agencies with foods that are high in protein, fruits, vegetables and staples such as cereal, pasta, and special foods for vulnerable populations including children and seniors. The proposed cuts would devastate operations like Long Island Cares, which are already struggling to meet the rising demand for their services.

Long Island social service agencies may well be facing empty pantries as soon as this summer and continuing into the holiday season and beyond. With 11 percent of our neighbors struggling with hunger or lack of predictable, adequate food, demand for food aid remains high across Nassau and Suffolk counties. We must keep all of the nutritional safety net programs strong. The health of our communities depends on it.