Elected officials and leaders from the nonprofit No Kid Hungry gathered outside a bright red food truck in Edenwald on July 16 to distribute free meals to children — and sound the alarm about impending federal cuts that will likely leave many Bronx families without enough food.
The truck, stationed inside Haffen Park behind the athletic court, is open seven days per week for anyone under age 18 to stop by and pick up a healthy lunch or snack until school resumes.
A rising sophomore student stopped by on the sweltering day to pick up a snack package that included two oranges, hummus, crackers and chocolate milk. While she told the Bronx Times that having enough food at home isn’t a huge issue, she’s trying to eat more healthfully, and having the truck in the park makes it easy.
“I enjoy that it’s here,” she said. “Now I got some fresh fruit.”
‘The hungriest time of year’
Rachel Sabella, director of No Kid Hungry New York, said that summer is the “hungriest time of year” for many kids who rely on school meals.
Newly enacted federal cuts to SNAP benefits will likely impact at least 300,000 New Yorkers and cut into farmers’ and grocery owners’ bottom lines, according to Sabella: “That’s why programs like this are more important than ever before, to support families during these difficult times.”
Sabella told the Bronx Times that her organization is “devastated” by the federal cuts but will continue working hard to meet rising demand for food. She praised the Department of Education’s summer meals program for working smartly, providing good nutrition, and even recruiting student taste-testers to give feedback on options before they go on the menu.
Schools Chancellor Melissa Aviles-Ramos said that food insecurity affects her and many families in her home borough.
“Our babies can’t learn, they can’t thrive if they are worried about where their next meal is going to come from,” she said.
Aviles-Ramos highlighted the ease and convenience of the summer meals, which require no signup and are available at four food trucks and 1,017 parks, pools, school buildings and libraries throughout the city.
State Sen. Jamaal Bailey said even many adults can’t get by without their morning coffee and sandwich.
“If we can’t drive a car without gas, if we can’t drive an electric vehicle without a charge, how the hell do we expect a child to be able to function without [food]?” he said.
Bailey told the Bronx Times that some New York members of Congress “hurt their very own” by voting to support the legislation that included the food aid cuts, President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill.”
He blasted the “draconian” cutbacks to SNAP and Medicaid, as did Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, who called the cuts “unconscionable” but praised the state legislature for passing universal free school meals, which will help fill some of the gap.
Beyond the DOE’s free summer meals, another program providing direct help to families is the Summer EBT program, now in its second year, which gives eligible New York families $120 per child to help cover groceries and household essentials. The program is expected to provide benefits for more than 2 million children throughout the state.
Other summer meal food trucks are stationed in Prospect Park, Brooklyn and Sara D. Roosevelt Park in Lower Manhattan. For a list of over 1,000 other locations serving free meals for kids, see the DOE website or call 311.
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
