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NYC Mayor’s Office of Food Policy Marks Major Milestones to Expand Food Access and Advance Health, Equity, and Sustainability Across the City’s Food System

Mayor’s Office of Food Policy Protects Access to Nutritious, Culturally Appropriate Food for All New Yorkers

Policies and Programs Center Food’s Role in Supporting Public Health and Climate Goals

December 16, 2025

NEW YORK, NY—Mayor’s Office of Food Policy (MOFP) Executive Director Kate MacKenzie today shared key accomplishments made during the Adams Administration that worked toward increasing food and nutrition security for New Yorkers, championed professional development opportunities for food service workers, and uplifted food’s role in achieving public health and climate goals. From the COVID-19 pandemic to a year marked by unprecedented political turbulence that jeopardized New Yorkers’ food security, MOFP worked with City agencies and partners to improve New Yorkers’ access to nutritious, delicious, culturally-appropriate food. This year, MOFP released the FY2024-25 2-Year Progress Report of Food Forward NYC, capturing strides towards enhancing the health, sustainability, and opportunity of New York City’s food system.

“Food plays a central role in our lives. It brings families together at the dinner table and supports the health of our loved ones and community members. It also supports the local grocery stores and, in turn, vitality of the community,” said MOFP Executive Director Kate MacKenzie. “Nowhere is food more important than here in New York City. New York City can be a city where everyone can eat meals that nourish them – improving people’s well-being, connecting them to their culture, and protecting our planet. We’re proud of our accomplishments over the past four years that bring that vision closer to reality for New Yorkers.”

“We took office with a simple promise: to ‘Get Stuff Done,’ and, four years later, our administration can say that we delivered on that promise every day for working-class New Yorkers,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “We drove shootings to record lows and pushed jobs and small businesses to record highs. We rewrote the playbook on homelessness and mental health to finally get New Yorkers living on our streets the help they need, and, after decades of half-measures, passed historic housing legislation to turn New York into a ‘City of Yes.’ We overhauled the way our students learn to read and do math, cut the cost of child care, and forgave medical debt. We eliminated taxes for low-income families, launched free universal after-school programming, and reduced the city’s carbon footprint by expanding the use of plant-based meals. We got scaffolding off our buildings, trash bags off our streets, and opened up new public spaces for New Yorkers to enjoy. The haters may have doubted us, but the results are clear. On issue after issue, we brought common-sense leadership to create a safer, more affordable city, and our work has changed our city for the better; it will stand the test of time because we made New York City the best place to live and raise a family.”

MOFP highlights from 2022-2025 include:

Ensuring New Yorkers’ access to healthy food

  • In 2022, the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) was transformed into Community Food Connection (CFC) program, which was designed to be more convenient and culturally responsive by providing fresh produce and allowing pantries to select the foods they need to best serve their community.
    • Amid rising prices and economic uncertainty, MOFP worked with the Administration to dedicate over $50 million to CFC, funding high quality food for more than 700 food pantries to distribute to people in need. Participating providers saw over 37.2 million visits in fiscal year 2025 (FY25) and provided 47.1 million pounds of food to New Yorkers.
  • During the government shutdown this fall, the City provided $15 million in new funding to CFC, and MOFP and the Department of Social Services (DSS) collaborated with City agencies to promote additional resources enabling New Yorkers to continue to access food when their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits were delayed. MOFP continues to advocate to strengthen SNAP and oppose cuts that would harm the 1.8 million New Yorkers that rely on these essential benefits to put food on their table.
  • Centering our programs in dignity and choice, MOFP and DSS just issued the PantryLink Challenge, calling for a partner to pilot a voucher-based program that allows New Yorkers experiencing food insecurity to buy groceries at participating local stores. Many households’ incomes are too high to qualify for SNAP but, in a city with high costs, struggle to afford healthy food. PantryLink seeks to afford these New Yorkers dignity and choice as well as support local grocery stores.
  • MOFP helped secure $10 million in funding for Groceries to Go, as well as millions for Get the Good Stuff and Health Bucks. These nutrition security programs expand New Yorkers’ purchasing power, enabling them to access healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, and legumes at more affordable prices.
  • As part of the City’s Chronic Disease Strategy, MOFP convened City agencies, community organizations, and academic partners to launch a Food Affordability and Access Workgroup and develop a set of research priorities focused on food prices, food retail, and food choice and behaviors. Priorities outlined in Setting the Table: NYC’s Research Framework to Enhance Food Affordability and Access will deepen our understanding of the city’s food system and help develop innovative evidence-based solutions that increase New Yorkers’ ability to access and afford healthy food.
  • Alongside the NYC Health Department, MOFP released updated NYC Food Standards, evidence-based nutrition standards that raise the bar for the over 220 million meals and snacks served at schools, hospitals, older adult centers, and other City agencies. By eliminating artificial colors, a variety of additives and preservatives, and processed meats that have been shown to be associated with health risks, the new Food Standards are ensuring that all New Yorkers served by the City can enjoy more nutritious, delicious, and culturally relevant meals.
  • Since beginning at Bellevue in 2019, NYC Health + Hospitals’ Lifestyle Medicine Program has expanded to every borough. The seven sites can serve nearly 4,000 patients per year to equip them with resources to form healthier habits. The program has hosted over 10,000 group visits and, alongside cooking demonstrations and recipe booklets, has distributed over 5,000 produce prescription boxes since the program’s launch in February 2024.


Feeding the future and enhancing school meals

  • Launched jointly by MOFP and NYC Public Schools (NYCPS) in 2023, the Food Education Roadmap charts a path to a future where New York City students can develop lifelong healthy habits through access to healthy food, food education, experiential learning, and community involvement.
  • In 2023, NYCPS established the Food Education Grant Program, providing $660,000 to 60 schools to deliver programming including nutrition education lessons, gardening, hydroponics, and family cooking classes. In the 2025-2026 school year, the Food Education Grant Program expanded to 202 schools that received $6,000 each to partner with one of over 50 nonprofits.
  • NYCPS launched “Nutrition Collaboratives,” investing $3 million annually to expand food education through interactive, chef-led tastings of plant-forward dishes. In 2025, 400 meetings were held where 7,800 students, staff, and family members engage with plant-forward menu items and nutrition education. 274 schools received $10,000 each to continue programming for the 2025-26 school year.
  • In the 2024-2025 school year, school culinary staff developed over 40 new plant-forward menu items. 1,662 students taste-tested and approved the new recipes.
  • $150 million was invested in expanding the Cafeteria Enhancement Experience (CEE), which renovated over 200 school cafeterias to make them more welcoming environments for children to enjoy meals in. 


Developing New York City’s culinary workforce

  • Wellness in the Schools (WITS) provided culinary training to nearly 1,200 schools over the past two school years, teaching more than 2,700 NYCPS Office of Food Nutrition Service (OFNS) staff plant-forward and scratch-cooking techniques through the Chefs in the Schools partnership. Culinary training will continue as the Cook Ambassador program, which provided 140 hours of one-on-one support between February and June 2025.
    • In partnership with No Kid Hungry, MOFP and NYCPS have honored OFNS staff selected as Hunger Heroes and, beginning in 2024, Food Education Champions, for their dedication to feeding New York City students.
    • NYCPS’ partnership with WITS has been recognized by the White House Challenge to End Hunger.
  • MOFP secured a $100,000 grant from the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance that facilitated a partnership between NYC Department of Correction (DOC) and Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), and Hot Bread Kitchen (HBK). Ninety DOC and ACS staff received 120 hours of culinary training focused on creating menus and preparing plant-based meals, improving the health and satisfaction of persons in custody, and advancing workforce development.
    • DOC and ACS changed their menus to integrate new low-carbon recipes. Equipped with new skills and resources, culinary staff prepared meals that saw a 15% reduction in both the average emissions per meal and average full week total emissions.
  • MOFP celebrated City food service workers’ tireless commitment to serving New Yorkers at the Culinary Staff Appreciation Reception.

 

Advancing climate-smart food systems

  • In response to the first consumptions-based emissions inventory showing that food is the third-largest source of emissions in the city, NYC committed to reducing food-related carbon emissions 33% by 2030. 
    • Agency efforts to increase purchases and consumption of fruits, vegetables, and plant proteins and reduce consumption of red meat has already cut emissions by 29% and achieved a 40% per-plate (per 100 calories) reduction in emissions. 
  • MOFP released the first-ever NYC Food and Climate Strategy, which spotlights how the City can leverage food as a climate solution. The Strategy provides a comprehensive index of initiatives City agencies are currently undertaking as well as proposes ambitious opportunities to reduce food’s environmental impact and further the sustainability and resilience of New York City’s food system.
  • MOFP and the Department of Sanitation hosted “Maximizing Food,” an event that brought together nearly 100 representatives from City agencies, community organizations, and leaders in technology and infrastructure to discuss how we can better direct our food surplus towards those in need and reduce food waste.


Buying the best food possible for New Yorkers

  • MOFP supports agencies in aligning with Administration goals to prioritize the Good Food Purchasing values of transparency, nutrition, local economies, environmental sustainability, animal welfare, and a valued workforce in food procurement, harnessing NYC’s purchasing power to drive positive change across our local, regional, and global food system.
    • MOFP updates NYC’s Good Food Purchasing dashboard to increase transparency around the over 220 million meals and snacks that City agencies buy, prepare, and serve. Transparency continues to improve as approximately 71% of NYC's food purchases were analyzed in FY23.
    • In FY25, 95% of meals and snacks served at City agencies complied with NYC Food Standards, providing high quality, nutritious and delicious foods in City meal programs.
    • As of FY23, the City more than doubled its purchases of plant-based proteins, including legumes, nuts, and seeds, since FY19, aligning with health and sustainability goals.
    • "New York State Spend" – the total food spent on items grown, processed, manufactured, or distributed by businesses in New York State – more than doubled from FY19 to FY23, as NYC prioritized supporting our local economy.
    • In 2023, MOFP published “Diversifying New York City Food Procurement: How to Increase Contracting Opportunities of M/WBE and New York State Food Businesses,” to provide approaches to building a more diverse and vibrant food procurement network. MOFP invited Minority and Women-owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) that contract with the city to share their experiences at the annual Citywide M/WBE Procurement Fair, enabling M/WBE vendors to be more deeply engaged in doing business with the City.  

For more topline data, see MOFP’s food metrics reports.


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MEDIA CONTACT: NYCFood@cityhall.nyc.gov