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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
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The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA |
Lynn A. Perton, MA, RD, Division of Nutrition, New York State Department of Health, 5 Penn Plaza, Room 407, New York, NY 10001, 212-268-7593, lap01@health.state.ny.us, Lewis H. Clarke, MA, CDN, New York State Department of Health/Division of Nutrition, 150 Broadway, 6th Floor, Albany, NY 10018, and John Krakowski, MA, RD, CDN, City Harvest, 575 Eighth Ave, 4th Fl., New York, NY 12204.
Initiated more than three years ago by the New York State Department of Health, the Policy Committee on New York City Hunger Resources was created to assess current resources provided to emergency food relief organizations (EFROs) and explore potential areas of commonality and opportunities for collaboration. Six major organizations with diverse structures, responsible for seven emergency food relief programs in New York City comprise the Committee. Its early meetings focused on team building and strategic planning, which culminated in the creation of the Committee’s mission, vision, values, key result areas and stakeholder identification. A community stakeholders’ forum was convened to incorporate diverse perspective into planning. This meeting reinforced the direction and activities of the Committee. Two active Subcommittees emerged: Food Safety and Directing Resources. Both have realized unprecedented accomplishments. The Food Safety Subcommittee has coordinated soup kitchen inspections, site monitoring and food safety training and created a universal “Food Pantry Monitoring Form.” The Directing Resources Subcommittee has just developed a universal, citywide web-based database. Both the Committee organizations and local EFROs will be able to enter a wide variety of data, to include monthly service and food safety inspection reports. This Policy Committee has proven to be invaluable in what it set out to do. In times of shrinking budgets and continued increases in demand for emergency food, the Committee continues in its mission, through collaboration and coordination, to maximize resources and produce a more effective emergency food relief system in New York City.
Learning Objectives:
Keywords: Food and Nutrition, Food Security
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.