Food Demand At LI Cares Pantries Has Increased 30% Since 2023, Charity Says

LONG ISLAND, NY — The demand for food at Long Island Cares pantries has increased 30 percent since 2023, the food bank shared, following the publication of its "The State of Food Insecurity on Long Island 2024" report.

The food bank collected data from the six food pantries it owns and operates across the island, as well as from the 2023 "Map the Meal Gap" numbers from Feeding America, a nationwide network of 200 food banks.

Map The Meal Gap's 2023 figures — the most recent figure available — estimates there were 240,470 food-insecure Long Islanders that year. Long Island Cares numbers estimate that figure has risen to 313,880 between 2023 and April 2025 — an increase of 73,410 individuals, or 30.5 percent. These figures include children.

For children only, the Map the Meal Gap 2023 figure was 55,000, while the Long Island Cares 2025 total is 71,500 — a 30 percent increase.

Paule Pachter, CEO of Long Island Cares, said there are national and state factors at play that have contributed to the increase in food-insecurity on Long Island.

Federally, Pachter said, a planned 50 percent reduction in federal funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) would reduce federal spending by $500M from $1B. Vince Hall, chief government relations officer for Feeding America, the nation's largest food bank network, said the USDA is reviewing the program and had paused half of TEFAP funding, Reuters reported.

Pachter said potential cuts to SNAP, Medicaid, WIC, and other social safety net programs "could increase the number of people in need of food assistance."

Pachter said proposed tariffs will "once again negatively impact our farmers by reducing their ability to export their products (soybeans, corn, wheat)." He said he believes Congress would be required to offer a bailout to prevent farmers from going out of business.

Pachter said the United States Department of Health and Human Services is already discussing a new initiative to provide produce to Americans struggling with food insecurity called "MAHA food boxes," named after the "Make America Healthy Again" movement spearheaded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., United States secretary of health and human services.

President Donald Trump's proposed budget for next year could see MAHA food boxes — filled with products sourced directly from farmers — sent to low-income senior citizens in lieu of a program called the Commodity Supplemental Food Program, which would be cut, CBS News reported.

On a state level, Pachter cited the "high cost of food and lack of affordable housing," as well as "an increase in our migrant populations" as reasons for increased food-insecurity on Long Island.

Long Island Cares is on pace to distribute 16 million pounds of food in 2025, Pachter said. The food bank distributed 16,014,078 pounds in 2024 and 14,527,093 pounds in 2023.

"The only way to sustain high food distribution is to raise additional funding to support food purchases," Pachter told Patch. "Increase retail rescue food and expand community food drives. Long Island Cares operates on a menu system where we only deliver food that has been ordered by our member agencies. We don’t drop ship any food that hasn’t been requested by our agencies."

Like many nonprofit organizations, Pachter said Long Island Cares will be reaching out to its individual and corporate donors to request increased support.

"We will be increasing our marketing and advertising campaigns to raise awareness of the issue of hunger and food insecurity, and advocating for additional government funding," Pachter said.

Long Island Cares supports 334 community-based member agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, veterans' organizations, homeless shelters, and other programs. The food bank, founded by Harry Chapin, strives to provide healthy foods, personal care products, household supplies and pet care products to those in need.

Of more than 3,400 survey responses between July and December 2024, most people frequent the Long Island Cares Freeport satellite (749), followed closely by Lindenhurst (730). Huntington Station had 572 visitors, according to the survey responses, followed by Bethpage (567), Hampton Bays (504), Valley Stream (208) and the Long Island Cares Mobile Pantry (117).

Of the respondents, 57 percent are Hispanic or Latino; 24 percent are white; 15 percent are Black or African American; and 2 percent are Asian or Asian American, according to Long Island Cares.

More than half of 3,368 of respondents (58 percent) have a household income of less than $25K; while 33 percent have a household income between $25K and $49K; 8 percent have a household income between $50K and $74K, according to the food bank.

Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness in our local communities of hunger, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks and 60,000 local meals programs across the country, estimates that nearly 34 million people, including 9 million children — about 1 in 6 Americans — are living with food insecurity. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.