As Inflation Hurts People's Pockets, NY Nonprofit Feeds Metro Area

NEW YORK — There are more food pantries throughout the United States than there are McDonald’s, according to Lemontree co-founder Kasumi Quinlan. Despite this, people who are food insecure struggle to get access or to utilize the resources available.

Shocked by this knowledge, Quinlan, of Bushwick and Lemontree co-founder, Alex Godin, of Park Slope, founded the nonprofit startup to tackle that issue in 2019 and launched a helpline during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in June 2020.

The organization went from serving 1,500 people per year throughout New York and now serves 1,000 people per week also in Northern New Jersey and Philadelphia, with plans to expand to Southern New Jersey, according to Quinlan.

“We learned that the people facing food insecurity don't access the food available to them,” Quinlan told Patch. “That is in the form of food pantries, soup kitchens and SNAP benefits.”

Quinlan and Godin were stumped at first about why people weren’t using those resources, said the Bushwick co-founder.

“First it is really hard to find food pantries,” said Quinlan. “The information on Google is often incomplete, outdated, or plain inaccurate.”

Before Lemontree, users said that they would show up to soup kitchens only for the doors to be closed, according to the co-founder.

“Some were turned away because they didn’t have some forms of documentation,” Quinlan added. “When you layer on the second piece, it is really hard for people to ask for food help. It’s a hassle in the first place.”

There is also a stigma surrounding the word food pantry too, according to Quinlan.

“We have clients who told us they are living off of a diet of cornflakes and say, ‘can you help me?’” she added. “But when you say there is a food pantry near you, they say, ‘a food pantry is for people who really need it. Sorry to waste your time.’”

People have the perception that the only individuals suffering from food insecurity are those who are unhoused or asking for food on the train, Quinlan added.

“Hunger is not a singular experience, especially nowadays with the inflation and the pandemic,” said Quinlan. “It’s something that can affect a lot of different people. Your kids’ teacher, a bus driver and your neighbor around the corner. You might never see it.”

To tackle the issue, the co-founders launched a text-message line to connect people to food.

“When people sign up for our hotline, we text them two things,” said Quinlan. “We text them information that could put food on the table from food pantries and SNAP benefits, and it is customizable to their situation. We also broach the conversation with empathy and humanity that isn’t found in social services.”

In July, Lemontree launched an online directory, said the co-founder.

“One thing that has always been important to us is the idea of combining the power of information with data and with hospitality,” the co-founder added.

In the Empire State more than 1.8 million or about one in 10 New Yorkers are food insecure, according to the nonprofit Feeding America. Of that number, over 596,000 or one in seven are children.

Nationwide, the inflation rate was 8.52 percent as of July, according to YCharts, an investment guide.

Food prices increased in the New York and New Jersey region by 1.8 percent, according to the U.S. Bureau Labor of Statistics.

Consumer prices went up to 6.1 percent throughout the New York metropolitan area as of April, according to the state comptroller.

There were 36 percent more food insecure New Yorkers in July compared to before the pandemic, CBS reported with data from City Harvest, a nonprofit.

It would cost more than $1 billion to meet the needs of all New Yorkers facing food insecurity, according to Feeding America.

“What we do is welcome people who need assistance, but treat them like food insecurity is not their identity,” Quinlan said.