Ensuring a Resilient Food System in New York State

Following National Farmers’ Market Week, celebrated during the first full week of August every year, Governor Kathy Hochul today announced that over $1.12 million has been awarded to 25 farmers’ market organizations across the state through Round 3 of the Farmers’ Market Resiliency Grant Program, an increase of more than $870,000 over last year’s awarded funding. Funding for the program was included in the 2024-25 New York State Budget and builds on Governor Kathy Hochul’s commitment to ensuring a resilient food system in New York State. This announcement follows Governor Hochul’s warning to New Yorkers regarding the impact of federal cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program on New York’s agricultural industries and on the State’s vulnerable families. Over 400,000 transactions were made by New Yorkers using their SNAP benefits to purchase fresh food at farmers’ markets in 2024 through the State’s FreshConnect Program, resulting in over $10 million in revenue for participating farmers.

“Our farmers’ markets are some of our greatest assets in getting healthy, fresh, New York-grown food directly into the communities who need them most,” Governor Hochul said. “I’m proud to continue investing in these essential cornerstones of community that not only make a difference to our most vulnerable residents, but are also connecting our hardworking New York farmers to new markets. I congratulate the awardees of this program’s funding and look forward to seeing how much you continue to grow.”

New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets Commissioner Richard Ball said, “Our farmers’ markets are critical community hubs, bridging the gap between urban, suburban, and rural communities, all while providing a market for New York agricultural producers. This program ensures our markets reach more consumers in new, innovative ways, build greater bonds between farmers and their customers, and get more local New York foods onto tables across the state, especially in our underserved communities through critical services like SNAP. I congratulate all the awardees of this program and look forward to seeing all the great work they will do with this funding in the years to come.”

New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance Commissioner Barbara C. Guinn said, “The growth in the use of SNAP at farmers’ markets under Governor Hochul’s leadership has benefited low-income families, farmers, and communities across the state. These grants will strengthen local farmers’ markets, preserving and expanding access to fresh, affordable, New York-grown food while helping to address hunger and food insecurity. We are grateful for Governor Hochul’s continued commitment to building a resilient food supply chain while focusing on the needs of SNAP recipients who count on this assistance to put healthy food on the table for themselves and their families.”

Funding was awarded to 25 farmers’ market organizations across New York State to help strengthen their markets and make local products more accessible to consumers by building out infrastructure, including booths, signage, and electronic infrastructure like website development, including online sales capabilities. This round of funding is awarding the greatest number of projects to date, with an increase of 19 projects over the second round of the program.

The awarded recipients include:

Capital Region:

• City of Rensselaer – $50,000

• Schenectady Greenmarket Inc – $50,000

Central New York:

Finger Lakes:

• City of Geneva – $50,000

• Village of Victor – $50,000

• Otsego 2000/Cooperstown Farmers' Market – $49,339

Mid-Hudson:

• Common Ground Farm Inc – $50,000

• Our New Way Garden Inc – $50,000

• Rivertowns Village Green – $44,997

• Town of North Salem – $38,981

• Woodstock Farm Festival – $30,400

• Cold Spring Farmers' Market Inc. – $25,000

Mohawk Valley:

• Schoharie County Council of Senior Citizens, Inc. – $50,000

• Boonville Area Chamber of Commerce – $32,220

New York City:

• RiseBoro Community Partnership Inc – $50,000

• Uptown & Boogie Healthy Project – $50,000

• Young Men's & Young Women's Hebrew Association of the Bronx – $50,000

North Country:

• Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jefferson County – $50,000

• Gardenshare Inc – $34,180

• The Adirondack North Country Association – $25,375

Southern Tier:

Western New York:

• City of North Tonawanda – $50,000

• Providence Farm Collective – $50,000

• St. Luke's Episcopal Church – $49,950

• Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor Commission, Inc. – $45,000

View a complete list of the awarded recipients and descriptions of their projects.

Farmers’ Market Federation of New York Executive Director Jack Riffle said, “Congratulations to the recipients of the Farmers’ Market Resiliency Grant Program! New York continues to show its commitment to strengthening local food systems by investing in farmers' markets around the State. Investments like this have meaningful impacts beyond the organizations receiving funding. So hooray to the organizations receiving this support—your projects will help the bottomline for your vendors and improve the quality of life in your communities. I look forward to seeing how the funded projects might offer inspiration to other markets around the State.”

Funding for the Farmers’ Market Resiliency Grant Program is a part of Governor Hochul’s strong investment in New York’s agricultural and food industries, aimed at boosting demand for New York agricultural products, bolstering New York's food supply chain, ensuring all New Yorkers can access fresh, local foods, and creating a resilient food system that can withstand extreme events. Funding programs for farmers’ markets is even more critical now than ever, particularly as New York State faces federal funding cuts to SNAP programs across the board.

Slashing families' grocery budgets would reduce revenue for thousands of businesses, with ripple effects throughout the food supply chain. If states are forced to end their SNAP programs, in addition to increasing hunger and poverty, grocery stores in rural areas will struggle to stay open, people in agriculture and the food industry will lose jobs, and State and local economies will suffer:

• Lost SNAP sales and matching dollars will have a critical impact on local economies and the more than 18,000 retailers that accept SNAP in New York State, including grocery stores, local shops and more than 400 SNAP-authorized local farmers’ markets and farm stands that can be found in every county in New York selling New York agricultural products to the people in their local community.

• SNAP sales in the farming community have dramatically increased since 2019, providing New York consumers access to healthy, farm fresh foods and providing our farm communities additional economic development dollars.

• As the State matches SNAP dollars spent at farm markets through the FreshConnect Fresh2You program, the hit to farms of decreased SNAP funding is doubled.

According to a report from the Office of the State Comptroller, between 2019 and 2021, approximately 10 percent of New Yorkers, or approximately 800,000 households, experienced food insecurity and struggled with food affordability. New York State—through the Department of Agriculture and Markets, Department of Health, Office for the Aging, and Office of Temporary Disability Assistance—continues to prioritize increasing access to food for all New Yorkers through a number of programs and initiatives that help low-income families, seniors, and Veterans access fresh, healthy food at participating markets, such as the enhanced FreshConnect Fresh2You initiative, which allows SNAP recipients to use their benefits at participating farmers’ markets, and the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Programs. Find out more about those programs here.

In addition to the Farmers’ Market Resiliency Grant program, New York continues to support several groundbreaking programs that focus on improving access to locally grown foods, including the Nourish NY program, the 30 Percent NYS Initiative for school meals, and the Farm-to-School program. Additionally, this year’s Budget included the third round of funding as part of the Regional School Food Infrastructure Grant Program, which provides $50 million over five years to support regional cooking facilities that will advance the use of fresh New York State farm products in meal preparation for K-12 school children. Governor Hochul also recently awarded $10 million through the State’s Food Access Expansion Grant Program to nine organizations across the state to support the development and expansion of supermarkets, food cooperatives, permanent farm stands, mobile markets, and other retail food stores in underserved regions while also increasing markets for New York farmers.

Farmers’ markets, farm stands, and mobile markets are crucial components to a healthy food system. Today, New York has more than 400 farmers’ markets, 250 farm stands, and 10 mobile market operators. They provide outlets for agricultural producers to meet the rising consumer demand for a variety of fresh, affordable, and convenient products grown directly from the farm.