Local students volunteer to give out food from Connected Chef in Queensbridge on October 3, 2024. (Courtesy image: Lashawn Marston)
Leaves crumbled under the wheels of her walker as Clovia Thomas traveled from her apartment around the corner to the community center in Queensbridge, the largest housing project in North America, in the neighborhood of Long Island City. Every Thursday, Thomas goes to the farm stand there to get fresh cucumbers, asparagus, cantaloupe and carrots.
Thomas, who has lived in Queensbridge since 1998, is a recipient of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, the federal aid initiative commonly known as the food stamp program, which helps people with disabilities, seniors, and household with income at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level to buy food. But Thomas said she has trouble finding fresh produce at a reasonable price in grocery stores that accept her EBT (electronic benefit transfer) card, the method by which food stamps are delivered today.
“My total was nearly two hundred dollars at the store, but that food doesn’t even cover two weeks,” Thomas said. “I try to get food that will last, but that’s mainly frozen food. I have to make sure I use my money on SNAP carefully.”
Congress increased the amount of SNAP food aid during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the extra benefits ended early last year. On average, food stamp subsidies were reduced by about $95 a person every month, or almost $300 for a family of four. One in four households in Queensbridge rely on food stamps to cover grocery costs.
Obesity rates among Black and Hispanic residents of Queensbridge have risen from 22 percent in 2022 to 27 percent in 2024, almost two years after SNAP benefits were rolled back, according to NYC Health. Rates of heart disease in the same population rose from 23 to 26 percent.
“If your child is really hungry, you’re not going to spend a lot of money on veggies that aren’t going to fill them up and give them enough calories,” said Pam Koch, a professor of nutrition and education at Teachers College Columbia University. “You’re going to get something that’s inexpensive and fill them up, which may not be as nourishing for the long term.”
Compared to the more than 50 stores that accept EBT cards in Manhattan, there are only 28 such establishments in Queens. But a quarter of them are not traditional grocery stores, including pharmacies like Rite-Aid and discount chains like Dollar Tree. Only six stores accept EBT in Queensbridge.
LaShawn Marston, a former resident of Queensbridge Houses, started a farm stand outside the community center in April because many of the food-stamp eligible stores in the neighborhood don’t carry fresh produce. Customers pay on a sliding scale depending on what they can afford.
“I’m right here providing fresh and local food to my community because the city isn’t doing much for us,” Marston said. “I started this so that people didn’t have to go far for good ingredients.”
About the author(s)
Nadia Castro is a first-generation Latina journalist dedicated to amplifying stories of resilience and those overcoming adversity.