City Farmers Markets Will Be Devastated By Trump's 'Cruel Proposal' To Cut Food Stamps, City Says

UNION SQUARE, NY — City officials issued a call-to-arms condemning President Donald Trump's proposed federal budget on Monday, specifically expressing concerns over plans to cut hunger prevention programs for low-income New Yorkers.

City health commissioner Dr. Mary Bassett toured the Union Square farmers market, one of the city's 51 "Greenmarkets," to highlight the number of low-income New Yorkers who have spent federal assistance money to purchase healthy, locally-grown food at farmers markets throughout the city. Last year, more than $1 million were redeemed at farmers markets by low-income New Yorkers. An estimated one in five New Yorkers use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, which was previously known as food stamps, according to the city's health department. Under Trump's proposed budget, released last month, SNAP could lose more than $190 billion over the next 10 years.

City officials are condemning the proposed cuts, which they say would prevent poor city residents from having access to affordable, healthy food. Bassett and other city officials toured the Union Square farmers market, where more SNAP dollars have been redeemed than at any other market in the city, to highlight what they say will be devastating cuts to the SNAP program and other federal programs that support local farmers and low-income New Yorkers. (For more news from Gramercy and the rest of NYC, subscribe here for free breaking news alerts and updates from Patch.)

Marcel Van Ooyen, the president of GrowNYC, which operates the city's Greenmarkets, said the proposed cuts would be so severe that some of the markets would simply have to shut down because farmers wouldn't get enough support or business.

"To say that these cuts are cynical is an understatement," he said. "They don't just hurt poor people, they're going to hurt the hard working farmers that live outside of the city and bring their produce to the city each day."

Lisa Ossiboff, of the family-owned Phillips Farms in New Jersey, said losing customers who pay with SNAP benefits would hurt the business. Phillips Farms sells at the Union Square Greenmarket year-round.

"We've come to count on that source of income every year," Ossiboff told Patch about SNAP customers.

Of the 51 "Greenmarkets" throughout New York City, Union Square sees more SNAP business than any other, a trend which officials attribute to the market's central location. Last year, the market saw $311,116 in SNAP sales, a 12 percent increase from 2015. City officials don't have an exact estimate for what percentage SNAP sales make up of the Greenmarkets' total sales, but estimate that somewhere between 20 and 50 percent of any given market's sales come from SNAP sales.

City health officials stressed on Monday that the proposed cuts wouldn't just cut the amount of money that poor New Yorkers could use to purchase food, but also the markets where low-income shoppers have found access to affordable and healthy produce.

"We have to express concern about the planned reductions for SNAP benefits," Bassett said about Trump's "cruel proposal" on Monday. "You'll hear about how it will hurt families' budgets put them at risk for hunger. But I also want to highlight the plight that it will increase the likelihood that people eat less healthy food and put them at a higher risk for a whole host of conditions."

Trump's proposed budget, release last week, has little chance of being passed by Congress as it currently stands, but is generally regarded as an indicator of policy priorities for a new administration.

Jen Semler contributed to this report.

Lead image via Ciara McCarthy / Patch.