Cloey Callahan reports in the Times Union that Sarah Salem of Dutchess Outreach, the county’s largest food access organization that has operated for nearly 50 years, called passage of the Nourish New York legislation “transformational” for food banks and farmers. The program started at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to help with surging demand at food banks across the state, and also address the financial hardships facing farmers affected by supply chain disruptions. The program sends surplus agricultural products to New York’s network of food banks. Local State Senate Agriculture Chair Michelle Hinchey backed the bill making the program permanent. Since the program started at the beginning of the pandemic, 21 million pounds of surplus agricultural products have been purchased from at least 4,000 New York farms and delivered to more than 1.3 million New Yorkers in need. “As health disparities and food insecurity persists and worsens in our community, the need to increase access to healthier foods has never been greater,” said Salem. “Thanks to Nourish New York we have been able to do that on the frontlines in Dutchess County.” Read more about this story in the Times Union.