State Agencies Can do More to Expand Program's Reach, Audit Finds
The Nourish New York program (Nourish NY) was created to help the 1-in-10 New Yorkers facing food insecurity and local farmers by connecting food banks to New York-grown products. However, an audit released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli found the agencies jointly managing Nourish NY may have limited the program's ability to fund certain food bank purchases, and thus benefit fewer area farmers.
“The Nourish New York Program is vital and addresses significant needs in both rural and urban communities to combat food insecurity,” DiNapoli said. “The state’s Department of Health and Department of Agriculture and Markets need to provide stronger oversight to help the program reach its full potential. Greater and clearer guidance to food relief organizations will enable them to get the funds needed to buy New York-made farm products and should help increase the number of participating farms.”
Nourish NY is jointly managed by the New York State Department of Health (DOH) and the New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets (Ag & Mkts). The program launched in May 2020 to help with the pandemic’s food supply chain disruptions. It was then permanently signed into state law in November 2021 and has been allocated $147 million in funding through March 2023.
Regional food banks contract with DOH to receive these funds and allocate them to local soup kitchens, food pantries, food banks and other community-based organizations to purchase New York grown farm products. DOH reviews and approves all claims for payments, relying on verification from Ag & Mkts that purchases made with Nourish NY funds meet program requirements.
DiNapoli’s audit revealed DOH approved $22.7 million in purchases from May 2020 through March 2022, despite not having adequate documentation to support the food products were grown in New York as required under Nourish NY. Auditors noted this often occurred because local food providers only submitted lump sum expenses to the regional food banks, as opposed to a breakdown of products purchased, which was not required of them by DOH.
Ag&Mkts could not always verify the source of the farm products purchased despite this being their responsibility. In a review of 165 food purchases, totaling almost $1 million from distributors, neither the agency nor the food relief organization could provide the required documentation.
DOH also provided little guidance to food relief organizations on what administrative costs NY Nourish funding could cover. As a result, the audit found DOH approved over $8.9 million in administrative reimbursement that could not be verified due to insufficient documentation. Auditors concluded DOH needs to improve its oversight, otherwise, funds could be improperly used for expenses not associated with Nourish NY.
Auditors also found that DOH applied Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program standards to Nourish NY. Applying these more rigorous nutritional standards left food relief organizations unable to purchase certain foods commonly produced in New York, such as honey, maple syrup, and whole milk. DOH’s decision to combine funds for both food assistance programs and not supply adequate guidance of these standards to food relief organizations led to some area farms unable to participate in the program. Further, the audit points out that under the law, Nourish NY does not restrict purchases based on whether products meet certain nutritional standards.
The audit determined vendor participation could be increased in the Nourish NY Program. North County had the fewest participants in the program of any region statewide with 16. Vendor participation was also low in the Southern Tier (28), Mohawk Valley (29), New York City (33), Central New York (36), Western New York (39) and Long Island (39), while the Capital Region had the most participants with 102 followed by Mid-Hudson with 97 and the Finger Lakes with 78 vendors. Ag & Markets officials identified measures taken and planned to encourage farmer participation in the program.
To help improve the program DiNapoli's audit recommends:
- DOH and Ag&Mkts work together to establish criteria for Nourish NY purchases that most effectively balances the needs of its various stakeholders and improve communication of that guidance to food relief organizations and vendors.
- DOH and Ag&Mkts improve oversight of Nourish NY, including reviewing processes to enhance documentation requirements and ensure purchases are from eligible sources.
- DOH communicate guidance to food relief organizations on eligibility requirements for purchases made under the Nourish NY program.
- Ag&Mkts improve vendor participation data collection and reliability, and use this to build the program’s effectiveness and increase participation by farms, producers or processors in the program.
In response, DOH and Ag&Mkts generally agreed with the audit’s recommendations and are looking to improve NY Nourish and their collaboration to further support the program’s mission of helping more food banks and farmers. To date, the program has helped food relief organizations purchase more than 94 million pounds of New York products and supported 4,333 farms and agricultural businesses across the state. The agencies’ responses are included in the audit.
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