Food Insecurity in the AAPI Community
This Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we want to highlight the realities of food insecurity in the AAPI community. Though pop culture may have us...
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Food Insecurity |
Food Insecurity in the AAPI Community
This Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we want to highlight the realities of food insecurity in the AAPI community. Though pop culture may have us...
This Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, we want to highlight the realities of food insecurity in the AAPI community. Though pop culture may have us believe that all Asian people are highly educated, wealthy, and high-achieving, the truth is that hunger and poverty don’t discriminate, and do in fact affect Pacific Islander and Asian communities all across the United States, including the ones we serve here in New York. According to the latest census estimates from 2019, there are over 1 million people who identify as either “Asian” or “Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander” in New York City. This accounts for approximately 14 percent of the city’s total population, signaling an immense and significant presence across the five boroughs. However, this presence isn’t monolithic, and is made up of dozens of different ethnic groups who may or may not have that much in common aside from checking “Asian” on the census. So, understanding what hunger looks like in the AAPI community is all about recognizing not only the diversity of the acronym itself, but the vast spectrum of need housed within it. As a recent report from the Food Research & Action Center points out, the AAPI community is both the fastest growing racial group in the United States and the one with the fastest growing (and widest!) wealth gap. This means that the AAPI community is the most economically divided racial group in the country. Per the FRAC report: “Compared to other racial groups, [AAPI] is small, so when it is included, it tends to be under sampled and erroneously treated as a homogeneous group. These missteps often lead to results that hide the high levels of inequalities and inequities between [AAPI] subgroups, and give a false impression that there are no or few [AAPI] individuals, families, and communities in need of SNAP and other social safety net programs.” In New York City, the need for these social safety net programs is at an all-time high. According to Robin Hood (NYC’s largest poverty-tracking organization), poverty amongst Asian New Yorkers is the fastest growing in the city and is 15-25 percent higher than the city average. As of this writing, over 245,000 Asian New Yorkers are living in poverty, which constitutes nearly 25 percent of the city’s entire Asian population. To combat these inequities, Food Bank partners with organizations across the five boroughs to help Asian Americans and new immigrants enroll in social safety net programs like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly food stamps). But, as Food Bank’s Network Resource Specialist Yuanjing “Jeff” Lin explained to me, enrollment isn’t always as easy as filing a simple form. “The AAPI community encompasses so many different cultures, languages, and origins, so language can be a major roadblock for people,” he said. “Though the city provides some translations for languages spoken by AAPI people [currently Chinese, Korean, and Bengali], there are still so many languages and dialects that are left out.” And even when these translations do exist, Lin says that they don’t always provide further clarity for people. Terms that appear on these forms (like, “household compensation,” for example) may be literally translatable, but that doesn’t mean they necessarily make sense in someone’s native tongue. Therefore, folks often have to have these forms explained to them regardless of the language they’re in. As Lin puts it: “A lot of my work is translating the translation to people, trying to break it down into a simple conversation that they can understand.” This work becomes even more difficult once the government sends back their official approval or rejection letters to the submitted SNAP forms. Why? Well, regardless of the form’s original language, these government letters almost always arrive in English. “Clients will bring me piles of paper and say, ‘Can you let me know if I need to take action?’ You keep receiving papers from the government, but you don’t know what to do with them. Some of my clients bring their children with them, so first we talk to the kids and make them understand in English, then they have to try their best to explain these really complex topics in their own language to their parents... we have to go through multiple layers of barriers.” And this is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of roadblocks, complications, and hurdles non-English speaking AAPI folks may face when trying to access the benefits they need. To surmount these obstacles, Lin says it’s imperative to invest in community-based organizations that can provide personalized translations and resources to different ethnic groups within the AAPI community. One such organization is the Tzu Chi Foundation, a partner agency of ours that provides SNAP enrollment services to folks in Flushing, Chinatown, and Sunset Park. They also distribute culturally appropriate vegetarian meals and pantry goods on a recurring weekly basis. To learn more about how Tzu Chi brings specialized assistance to the Chinese communities they serve, check out the video below. Hunger isn’t something that discriminates by race. It affects all sorts of people, including those who identify as Asian and Pacific Islander. By obscuring this fact with harmful stereotypes and misinformation, we miss out on the opportunity to serve those who need us most. But if we invest in robust translation services at the government level and prioritize funding for community-based organizations that can tailor their programming to the unique needs of their people, we can begin to address the growing issue of food-insecurity in the AAPI community. -
Food Insecurity |
6 Ways to Volunteer to Fight Hunger
It’s National Volunteer Month, which means it’s the perfect time to join us in the fight against hunger! Thankfully, there are a ton of ways to get involved, from...
It’s National Volunteer Month, which means it’s the perfect time to join us in the fight against hunger! Thankfully, there are a ton of ways to get involved, from putting in shifts at a local soup kitchen to advocating for hunger relief on social media. For a little inspiration, check out our guide below, which outlines some easy ways to leverage your talents to combat food insecurity. Join a Virtual Service Event Though not all onsite volunteer opportunities are back up and running yet, there are still a number of ways to get involved with hunger relief virtually. In fact, many organizations like ours have been holding virtual volunteer events throughout the pandemic to connect folks and galvanize for action. Click here to join Food Bank’s next virtual service event on 4/21! Support a Local Pantry When giving back, it’s always best to keep things local. So, use our Food Finder Map to locate one of our member food pantries or soup kitchens in your neighborhood that you can support. It’s a great way to fight hunger and show up for the folks in your neck of the woods. Write a Letter to a New Yorker in Need During challenging times, a kind note can make a huge impact in someone’s life. While we're not currently accepting onsite volunteer assistance at our Community Kitchen, our “Dear New York” program allows you to interact with our clients in a safe, socially distant way. Simply write a letter and we’ll slip it into one of our to-go pantry bags. To get started, check out our “Dear New York” toolkit. Use Social Media An easy way to make a difference in the fight against hunger is to get the word out on social media. Our Social Media Ambassador Program encourages volunteers to use their platforms to educate people on our mission and the state of food insecurity in NYC. As we’ve seen throughout 2020, social media has transformed into a lifeline for folks looking to start important conversations and share resources. Go on a Food Rescue Mission There are many restaurants, cafés, and grocery stores that throw away perfectly good food at the end of the business day, either because it’s not shelf-stable or because it’s company policy. As you can imagine, this creates a huge surplus of food that’s completely going to waste. To help save these resources and redistribute them to organizations that can use them, consider going on a food rescue mission! Groups like Food Rescue US can help you come up with your rescue plan. Advocate for Hunger Relief There’s never been a better time to advocate for hunger relief at the federal level. President Biden has made it clear that combatting food insecurity is a major priority for his administration, which presents a great opportunity for you to use your voice to impact national policy. Join our action team to send letters to your members of Congress in support of legislation that expands food assistance nationwide. -
Food Assistance |
Welcome to The Core!
Welcome to The Core, Food Bank For New York City’s new blog! We created this space to dive a little deeper into the subjects, stories, and stakeholders that power our...
Welcome to The Core, Food Bank For New York City’s new blog! We created this space to dive a little deeper into the subjects, stories, and stakeholders that power our mission. You may be familiar with Food Bank as the city's largest hunger relief organization, but our work actually spans a great deal more. So, The Core will give you insight into how we operate, who we serve, and what kinds of impact we make across all five boroughs of the greatest city in the world. But don’t worry, we won’t just be talking about New York! Anyone and everyone with a hunger for food justice, equity, and advocacy will find a home here where they can learn new ideas and read some fantastic stories. To that end, we’ll have content covering a variety of subjects, including: Activism, Nutrition + Health, Financial Empowerment, and Stories from the Field. So, let’s meet these categories and figure out how we use them here at Food Bank and what they’ll mean to you. Activism Activism is at the heart of everything we do. To fight hunger is to actively fight poverty, which includes standing up for and supporting low-income New Yorkers and their families. This means not only getting them the resources they need to survive and thrive, but also advocating for policies that serve their best interests. So, we’ll be tagging stories that deal with both activism and advocacy in the hunger space. We’ll share information about the fights we’re taking on and the ones waging at the local, state, and federal levels. To get involved with our own efforts, join Food Bank’s action team. Nutrition + Health Another important facet of our work is nutrition, specifically as it relates to education, health and equity. Our nutrition program focuses on teaching folks how to establish and maintain healthy habits on a limited budget, which helps to fight hunger while addressing some of poverty’s key contributing factors – in both the short and long term. So, we’ll be giving you your fill of yummy recipes, nutrition tips, and resources exploring the relationships between food, health, culture, and poverty. Food Assistance In this category, we’ll explore not only the topic of food assistance, but also SNAP benefits and enrollment as well as insights into the various factors that impact emergency food providers across the city. We want to make it as easy as possible for people to find food whenever they need it. To do that, we’ve created an array of tools New Yorkers can use to source free meals and connect with local pantries and soup kitchens for immediate food assistance. If you’re looking for food assistance now, check out our virtual food locator. Financial Empowerment Financial empowerment refers to the sense of security that comes from being in control of one’s finances. Have you ever been down to your last 20 bucks, with more month to go before your next check? Not a great feeling. Well, for many low-income New Yorkers, living in a city as expensive as ours makes that feeling a constant companion. To help the New Yorkers we serve feel more financially empowered, we offer an array of financial resources, from free tax assistance for the working poor to SNAP enrollment and community-based financial coaching. We designed these tools because the truth is, fighting hunger takes more than food. If there’s a change in tax policy that could impact New Yorkers or if we’re leading a free (virtual) workshop on financial management, we’ll make sure to cover it here. We’ll also provide tips anyone can use to become a better budgeter! Research The hunger space is a dynamic one, so it’s important to stay on top of all the latest research to ensure that our messaging is current to our cause and relevant to our communities. Food Bank’s proprietary research has long been industry-leading, but we also rely on reports from other prominent institutions to inform the work we do. To keep you up-to-date, we’ll be sharing all of our latest research findings on this blog. Stories from the Field Here, we’ll feature photographs, interviews, and videos from the field. We work with over 1,000 food pantries, soup kitchens, and schools across the city, and our partners on the ground are the ones who keep this whole operation running. And trust us – they've got plenty of stories to tell! We’ll also share stories from those who experience hunger firsthand so that you can better understand what food insecurity actually looks like. To make sure you never miss a single anecdote, hit subscribe to get fresh updates on The Core as soon as they arrive.
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