Suffolk County introduced a new grant program, Nourish Suffolk County, to battle food insecurity and support local farmers.
The county is teaming up with Island Harvest Food Bank and local farmers to make it all a reality.
Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine says they’re hoping to end food insecurity by addressing three goals.
"No one in Suffolk County should go hungry,” he said. "One, we want people to eat healthier. Two, we don't want anyone to go hungry. Three, we want to support our farmers."
Island Harvest Food Bank President and CEO Randi Shubin Dresner says the partnership with Suffolk County could bring over 200,000 meals to Suffolk families in need.
"We're starting off with a $250,000 grant,” she said. “We're going to be using those funds to buy good, healthy, wholesome produce from our farmers."
Island Harvest will use the grant money to purchase produce grown by farmers in Suffolk County, including Amber Waves Farms in Amagansett.
Claudine Nayan, from Amber Waves Farms, says they’re happy to participate and help the community.
"[Island Harvest will purchase] our bumper crop of sweet potatoes and squash for the next couple of seasons, for the next three seasons hopefully, per this grant so that we can feed more people in the community,” she said.
The program won’t just distribute food to those in Suffolk County who need it most, but it’ll also help invest in future Suffolk farmers.
"And for this particular grant, we're going to be supporting the next generation of farmers so that they can also see the types of partnerships that they can have within their communities,” said Nayan.
County Executive Romaine says he hopes to be able to expand the program to Suffolk school districts to provide healthier school lunch options.
