The GrowNYC Emergency Fresh Food Box program, officially distributed its one-millionth meal on Saturday morning as part of its ongoing efforts to alleviate food insecurity in New York communities.
Since April, GrowNYC has distributed thousands of free emergency food boxes per week to residents in need through partner organizations throughout the five boroughs.
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In New York, 1.2 million residents were experiencing food insecurity before COVID and that number has increased by almost 40% due to the pandemic.
Although Saturday marked a huge milestone, the program has no plans to stop.
Distribution events are scheduled throughout the city and GrowNYC will continue to give out thousands of farm-fresh meals each week to New York City families.
Each box contains a variety of farm-fresh produce such as apples, corn, squash, peppers, eggplant and cucumbers, and is supplemented with a starch or protein such as rice, beans and lentil.
The boxes include enough food for between six to eight meals per household.
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