Letters to the Editor - May 1, 2025

Local food access: How to speak up, make your voice heard, on behalf of neighbors in need

Widespread hunger and food insecurity continue to be hidden problems throughout the region. A whopping $1 billion in funding cuts, announced by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) in mid-March, have resulted in swift, direct, and devastating local impact. At St. Thomas Episcopal Church in Amenia, our Community of Radical Hospitality hinges on food distribution to neighbors in need—921 of whom visited the Food of Life/Comida de Vida Food Pantry on the last Friday in February. These individuals live in our neighborhoods and work at local businesses; they are the parents of our children’s classmates and contribute to the local community; and, amidst rising inflation and ongoing political uncertainty, they turn to us for assistance because they can’t afford to buy groceries.

As members of the New York Regional Food Bank, the USDA has been our primary source of reliable low- to no-cost protein—including pork, chicken, beef, fish, eggs, nuts and peanutbutter—for the last 15 years. In the wake of drastic and unexpected cuts, the once abundant selection of quality protein is growing smaller and more costly. While we have been spared any weeks without protein for distribution (a blessing due to careful advance planning by our pantry manager), we anticipate availability will continue to plummet. The end of two pandemic-era programs (including the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, which enabled states to buy fresh food direct from farmers and distribute it to local organizations helping communities in need) has revealed a stark truth: the vast chasm between the haves and the have-nots in Dutchess County is growing, and the impending crisis demands immediate attention from the community at large.

Donations of shelf-stable food are not the answer. In an effort to provide well-rounded pantry staples for all, we need to raise dollars and awareness in equal amounts. Money means we are able to expand our relationships with local farmers, through partnerships with Tri Corner FEED (Food Equity, Education, and Distribution) and the Tenmile Farm Foundation, to keep our neighbors nourished. Advocacy equates to contacting your state and federal representatives; voicing concern about barriers to local food access; and letting them know you are a constituent who is asking for action!

Food is a basic human right. While eradicating the myriad barriers to access in our region may not be imminent, it is our collective responsibility to ensure dignity for all. Together, many hands will surely make light work of bringing this issue into the spotlight where—with increased visibility—it can be seen and solved.

The Rev. AJ Stack

Priest-in-Charge

Executive Director, Food of Life/Comida de Vida Pantry

Amenia

Time to save democracy

My father, my grandfather, and probably my great grandfathers, were Republicans in the tradition of Lincoln, Eisenhower, and Reagan, and I am proud of their accomplishments for our country.But they would be truly appalled by how much of what they supported, at home and abroad, is now being destroyed by Trump and his MAGA Republicans.

It is time for traditional Republicans, together with Democrats, independents, progressives, and conservatives,to support our democracyand our Constitution.

We all should rally—with speeches, votes, letters,lawsuits—to Lincoln’s famous words at Gettysburg: …It is for us, the living…that we here highly resolve…that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom…that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Alice Yoakum

Lakeville

For the sake of libraries

I am horrified by the cuts to our Connecticut library system.

As the town with the country’s oldest lending library, let us step forward and fundraise to reinstitute the statewide interlibrary loan system. If each library in Connecticut could raise money it may be possible. We have to try.

I hope that those at Scoville, and the savvy fundraisers among us, can generate some ideas that the community will support. I know that I am not alone in mydesperation for action.

Jill Esterson

Salisbury