Month: June 2022

On June 27, 2022, the New York City Council Committees on Contracts, Economic Development, and Oversight and Investigations held a joint hearing on the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP). NYHealth Senior Program Officer Julia McCarthy submitted the following testimony highlighting additional opportunities for implementing GFPP:

Chairpersons Won, Farías, and Brewer, as well as the distinguished members of the Committees on Contracts, Economic Development, and Oversight and Investigations:

The New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) is grateful for the opportunity to submit testimony on the Good Food Purchasing Program. NYHealth is a private, independent foundation that works to improve the health of all New Yorkers. Our Healthy Food, Healthy Lives program seeks to advance policies and programs that connect New Yorkers with the food they need to thrive.^[1] Supporting healthier, culturally responsive food in public institutions—including schools, Head Start programs, senior centers, and homeless shelters—is a core strategy of this program.

NYHealth Has a Long-Standing Commitment to the Good Food Purchasing Program
The Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP) is a leading model for food systems change, guiding public institutions to make purchases that align with nutrition, local economies, environmental sustainability, valued workforce, and animal welfare. At the State level, NYHealth has invested in efforts to make it easier for municipalities, including New York City, to purchase better quality food—food that aligns with GFPP. At the City level, we are supporting the New York City Mayor’s Office of Food Policy (MOFP) to dramatically shift food purchasing for the approximately 240 million meals City agencies serve each year. Currently, NYHealth funds are enabling MOFP to work with a consultant with a deep understanding of the City’s procurement processes to help implement GFPP across the City’s many food procuring agencies.

New York City Has Taken Important Steps to Implement the Good Food Purchasing Program
In 2021, through its 10-Year food plan, Food Forward NYC, the City identified key strategies to implement GFPP.^[2] That same year, a baseline assessment overseen by MOFP helped to determine agencies’ food procurement practices. This year, Executive Order 8 formalized the current administration’s commitment to implement GFPP.^[3]

To turn these public commitments into action, MOFP is working behind the scenes to develop a detailed workplan that aligns agencies’ actions, looking at specific regulations, bidding processes, and infrastructure for each City agency. This workplan, to be published in the next year, will include recommendations for:

• Regulatory language that agencies can use to designate preference for products from local farmers and Minority and Women Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs);
• Ways to simplify solicitation language and accelerate review;
• Contractual terms that are more inclusive of smaller businesses, including local farmers and M/WBEs;
• Methods to effectively communicate with smaller vendors about potential contractual opportunities; and
• A model to ensure GFPP monitoring and enforcement are consistent across agencies.

The City Should Continue to Invest in Good Food Purchasing Program Implementation
Changing the procurement practices for the more than 240 million meals served each year through New York City public agencies will be no small feat. For MOFP to implement the GFPP workplan and its recommendations, it will need the City’s long-term support. To support MOFP in this endeavor, the City Council should:

• Codify the City’s commitment to implement GFPP.  Shifting more than $500 million in food purchases is likely to take longer than a single Mayoral term. Executive Order 8 has the full force of law under this administration, but subsequent Mayors or City Councils could revoke the City’s commitment to implement GFPP. The Council could provide a stronger safeguard to ensure that agencies working to overhaul their procurement practices have the time they need to do so successfully.

• Ensure that MOFP has the resources it needs to coordinate GFPP implementation. NYC’s public school system serves 200 million meals each year, more meals on any given day than any other institution in the United States besides the military. Coordinating with the New York City Department of Education on school meals alone would be an enormous undertaking, but MOFP will be responsible for working with multiple City agencies, as well as with external parties also interested in GFPP. To successfully coordinate and potentially monitor and enforce GFPP across these numerous entities, MOFP needs adequate funding and staff.

• Establish a mechanism to help ensure agencies’ contracts comply with GFPP. The aforementioned workplan will propose a mechanism to monitor and enforce GFPP across agencies. The City’s public procurement processes are already time-consuming and cumbersome. Any mechanism adopted must strike a realistic balance between the huge volume of food contracts that the City processes each year with fidelity to GFPP’s five value categories. And adequate resources should support whichever body (for example, the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy) is responsible for this monitoring and enforcement mechanism.
• Continue to educate State lawmakers on the need for greater flexibility in food procurement.  Public agencies paying the lowest cost for paperclips may make sense, but purchasing the lowest cost food may negatively impact the public’s health, environment, workforce, local economy, and animals’ wellbeing. State law currently makes it difficult for municipalities like New York City to purchase better quality food. City Council members can join efforts led by New York City advocates to educate State officials on the need for more permissive public procurement laws for food.

Ultimately, harnessing New York City agencies’ food purchasing power and practices can help to transform the food system. NYHealth is grateful for the City Council’s shared recognition of the important role that GFPP can play in promoting food security and dietary health. We look forward to continuing to partner to strengthen City agency meals.

---

^[1] New York Health Foundation. Healthy Food, Healthy Lives. June 2022. https://nyhealthfoundation.org/what-we-fund/healthy-food-healthy-lives/.

^[2] N.Y.C. Office of Food Policy. Food Forward NYC: A 10-Year Food Policy Plan. February 2021. https://www1.nyc.gov/site/foodpolicy/reports-and-data/food-forward.page.

^[3] N.Y.C. Office of the Mayor. Executive Order 8: Commitment to Health and Nutrition: Food Standards and Good Food Purchasing. February 10, 2022. https://home3.nyc.gov/office-of-the-mayor/news/008-002/executive-order-8.

On June 17, 2022, the New York City Council Committee on Veterans held an oversight hearing on veterans’ access to health care. NYHealth Program Officer Derek Coy delivered the following testimony highlighting the importance of ensuring high-quality care and services for veterans through both the VA and community providers:

Thank you, Chairperson Holden and members of the Committee for the opportunity to provide testimony at today’s hearing focused on how veterans access health care in New York City.

My name is Derek Coy, and I am a Program Officer at the New York Health Foundation, a former sergeant in the United States Marine Corps, and veteran of the Iraq War. The Foundation is a private, independent, and statewide charitable organization dedicated to improving the health of all New Yorkers—including the more than 200,000 veterans who call New York City home.

We have used grants, policy analysis, convenings, and advocacy to build a robust network of community-based services and prepare health care providers to understand veteran culture and meet their unique needs. Understanding and addressing the health-related needs of New York’s veteran population and strengthening and expanding community resources for veterans throughout the State is a core part of my role at the Foundation.

I also have direct experience accessing health care from a variety of sources since transitioning out of the United States Marine Corps in 2008 after four years of service on active duty. As a service-connected disabled veteran who received an honorable discharge and has had some level of private insurance coverage after leaving the military, I am fortunate to have access to Veterans Administration (VA) facilities in addition to private options. I have used them both.

Living a stone’s throw away from the Bronx VA for nearly a decade, while working equally close to my non-VA primary care provider, has allowed me to choose whichever provider was most convenient at the time. Having options about where to get my care has given me more control over my health care decisions.

My experience is reflective of what most veterans prefer. Multiple studies show that most veterans choose between VA and private providers based on practical reasons: their family already receives care at one location, one option is more convenient, or they prefer the quality of one provider compared with another. We also know that post 9/11 veterans are split nearly evenly down the middle when given the option between accessing care at a VA facility or at a non-VA community provider.

Despite this desire for options among veterans, a number of factors create challenges and barriers.  I’ll share a few factors that offer important context for today’s hearing:

• According to recent reports, only about half of the veteran population is enrolled in the VA health care system because of a variety of archaic and evolving eligibility standards.^[1] And about two-thirds of those eligible will actually use this care each year. This is also true in New York, where only about 225,000 of the 370,000 New Yorkers who are eligible for VA care will receive services there in any given year.^[2]

• It is well established that the quality of care at VA is often on par or better when compared with private providers.^[3] VA facilities nationwide outperform community hospitals in key areas of patient experience, according to a survey conducted by the Medicare Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems.^[4]
• Studies have also shown that veterans who use VA health care still rely on private options for 70% of their health care needs.^[5] And VA outsources nearly 1 out of 3 of its appointments to the private sector.^[6]
• Finally, choosing a private provider can come at the risk of receiving services that do not take the military and veteran experience into account. Research by the RAND Corporation, funded by NYHealth, shows that less than 3% of private providers in New York State meet the qualifications for providing high-quality, culturally competent care to military veterans.^[7] Because of evolving health needs in the veteran community, lacking this experience can have grave consequences.

Veterans deserve both a strong VA and high-quality community-based options so that they receive the best care possible, regardless of where they choose to access care. Providing health care should not be the responsibility of one sole entity—be it VA or private providers. The onus should be shared, considering the veteran community relies heavily on both for their health care needs. Providing veterans with options is the right thing to do and is reflective of what this community has expressed that it prefers. Veterans themselves need to have a prominent seat at the table in ongoing research and discussions. Regardless of the final results, the restructuring process simply cannot be successful if the voices of veterans—whose health care will be directly impacted by these decisions—are not heard and listened to.

We respect and share the Council’s commitment to New York City’s veterans. I hope you will look to the New York Health Foundation as a resource for your important work. Thank you.

---

Watch the video of the hearing (Derek Coy’s testimony begins at 1:33:02).

 

^[1] RAND Corporation, “Balancing Demand and Supply for Veterans’ Health Care,” June 2016, https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1165z4.html.

^[2] Department of Veterans Affairs, “New York State Summary,” September 2017, https://www.va.gov/vetdata/docs/SpecialReports/State_Summaries_New_York.pdf.

^[3] RAND Corporation, “Balancing Demand and Supply for Veterans’ Health Care,” June 2016, https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1165z4.html.

^[4] U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, “Hospital Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Patient Survey Report,” March 2022, https://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=5773.

^[5] RAND Corporation, “Veterans’ Health Insurance Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act and Implications for Repeal for the Department of Veterans Affairs,” 2017, https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1955.html.

^[6] Congressional Budget Office, “The Veterans Community Care Program: Background and Early Effects,” October 2021, https://www.cbo.gov/publication/57583.

^[7] RAND Corporation, “Ready or Not? Assessing the Capacity of New York State Health Care Providers to Meet the Needs of Veterans,” 2018, https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR2298.html.

 

 

 

On June 15, 2022, the New York City Council Committee on Education held an oversight hearing on school food. NYHealth Senior Program Officer delivered the following testimony highlighting the need for universal access to high-quality school meals:

Chairperson Joseph and distinguished members of the Committee on Education:

My name is Julia McCarthy, and I am a Senior Program Officer with the New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) in the Healthy Food, Healthy Lives program. I am grateful for the opportunity to testify today on the topic of school food in New York City.

NYHealth is a private, independent foundation that works to improve the health of all New Yorkers. Our Healthy Food, Healthy Lives program seeks to advance policies and programs that connect New Yorkers with the food they need to thrive.^[1] Supporting healthier, culturally responsive food in public institutions, like schools, is a core strategy of this program.

NYHealth Has a Long-Standing Commitment to Improve School Meals
NYHealth has a long, successful history working to improve both access to and quality of school meals. For example, in 2017, NYHealth’s support to Community Food Advocates helped to secure universal free school meals for New York City’s 1.1 million public school children. We have backed successful efforts to increase State funding for farm-fresh, local products in school meals. And currently, we are working with the New York City Mayor’s Office and State officials to enable municipal agencies, like the New York City Department of Education’s Office of Food and Nutrition Services (OFNS), to purchase better quality food—food that aligns with the Good Food Purchasing Program (GFPP). GFPP is a leading model for this change, guiding public institutions to make purchases that align with nutrition, local economies, environmental sustainability, valued workforce, and animal welfare. We are also supporting an advocacy campaign that would expand free school meals for all students statewide, building upon New York City’s success.

School Meals Reduce Hunger and Increase Dietary Health
School meals have been a signature issue for NYHealth because these meals reduce hunger, increase food security, and increase healthy eating. The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed just how critical school meals are. Research from our Foundation shows that during the initial months of the pandemic, school meal programs were the most-used food access points for New Yorkers in need.^[2]

Prior to the pandemic, one in ten New York City residents was food insecure, meaning they had limited or uncertain access to nutritionally adequate and safe foods.^[3] Data that our Foundation published early in the pandemic shows that statewide, rates of food insecurity for Black and Hispanic New Yorkers and for families with children were even higher during the last two years, with up to a quarter of these families reporting food scarcity.^[4] More recent data from a soon-to-be-released NYHealth poll conducted in late 2021 found that more than half of food-insecure New York City families with children reported that children in their household were hungry, but they couldn’t afford more food. Nearly 80% of these families reported that it was “sometimes” or “often” true that they couldn’t afford to feed their children a balanced meal. To make ends meet, 83% relied on low-cost foods to feed their children.

National research has shown that school meals can improve dietary quality for children at risk of hunger. School nutrition standards strengthened at the federal level have succeeded in reducing the risk of obesity for children in poverty; without these standards, obesity rates among this cohort would have been 47% higher.^[5] New York City has set an even higher bar with nutritional standards that exceed the federal ones. Now, students who eat school meals every day have better diets than students who do not. They eat more fruits, vegetables, fiber, and whole grains, reducing the long-term health effects and health care costs of diet-related diseases.^[6] Equally important, these students also see improvements in academic performance and behavior.^[7]

OFNS Can Formalize Lessons Learned During COVID-19 School Closures
NYHealth applauds OFNS’s continued focus on the role that school meals play in maintaining students’ health and preventing disease, especially in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. School nutrition staff worked tirelessly to serve millions of meals that met New York City’s high nutrition standards during school closures, keeping many students and their families from going hungry.

Despite OFNS’s herculean efforts, looming federal policy changes will create barriers to school meal access. With federal waivers set to expire June 30, 2022, OFNS operations will revert to pre-pandemic operations, limiting the manner in which the agency can serve meals. We recommend that OFNS, in collaboration with the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy, develop a plan for future school closures. This plan should consider planned closures like winter and summer breaks, as well as emergencies like the COVID-19 pandemic.

Research conducted by the Laurie M. Tisch Center for Food, Education & Policy at Teachers College, Columbia University, funded by NYHealth, provides insight into how OFNS can continue to improve school meal distribution. In focus groups, more than 100 parents explained that while they were grateful for the meals provided, certain changes could help improve access to and participation in school meals during future school closures. Parents reported that they were more likely to continue to participate in school meals even when cafeterias closed if: 1) pick-up locations were close to their homes; 2) menu options were clearly communicated; 3) meals served were consistent with communicated menus; and 4) a variety of meals, including hot meals, were available.

To inform a plan for future school closures, parents recommended that OFNS:

• Offer flexible pick-up times in welcoming locations. Many parents stopped participating in school meal programs because the time or location was inconvenient for daily pickup. Offering meals at convenient community locations all year round, as the summer meals programs already do, could help ensure students continue to access needed meals.
• Strengthen communication about meal availability. Parents suggested that increasing signage at meal distribution sites, providing information in multiple languages on site, and communicating changes in real time via social or other media could help to strengthen awareness of and participation in meals when schools are closed.
• Increase the variety of meals offered. Many parents want more meals that are hot, meet their religious or dietary needs (including allergies), and reflect the cultural variety of New York City.
• Ensure consistent implementation. Parents noted that their experiences differed depending on the specific site, suggesting that certain schools had less appealing options and less variety over time.

New York City Council Can Support OFNS’s Ongoing Efforts
OFNS has worked tirelessly to make sure that students have the food they need to succeed in school. Additional support from the New York City Council could help to ensure that children are well-fed and ready to learn. Specifically, the City Council can: 

• Provide additional City funding. Local funding could help mitigate the impact of higher food prices and help OFNS hire additional school food staff. Additional school food managers would enable OFNS to better serve school communities, implement appealing menus, provide professional development, partner with school leadership to create positive meal experiences, and increase participation in the school meals programs.
• Advocate for school meal waivers to be made permanent at the federal level. Federal waivers made meal provision to students easier during the pandemic, enabling OFNS to serve additional sites across the City and serve in bulk. Early research from the Tisch Food Center and other national partners suggests these measures, if made permanent, could increase participation in school meals programs.

• Support efforts, like the push for universal school meals, at the State level. Statewide universal free school meals build upon New York City’s work to expand school meal coverage and could provide economies of scale across the State, including to OFNS. In the absence of federal action, New York State can still provide healthy school meals for all students. New York City Councilmembers can voice their support for free school meals for all statewide.

NYHealth is grateful for the shared recognition of the important role school meals play in promoting food security and dietary health. We look forward to continuing to partner with the City and with anti-hunger organizations to strengthen school meal programs and support New York students’ health.

---

Watch the video of the hearing (Julia McCarthy’s testimony begins at 1:56:45).

 

^[1] New York Health Foundation. Healthy Food, Healthy Lives. June 2022. https://nyhealthfoundation.org/what-we-fund/healthy-food-healthy-lives/.

^[2] New York Health Foundation. Food scarcity in New York State during the COVID-19 pandemic. October 8, 2020. https://nyhealthfoundation.org/resource/food-scarcity-in-new-york-state-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/#introduction.

^[3] U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Center. Definition of food security. April 2022. https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-u-s/definitions-of-food-security/.

^[4] New York Health Foundation. Food scarcity in New York State during the COVID-19 pandemic. October 8, 2020. https://nyhealthfoundation.org/resource/food-scarcity-in-new-york-state-during-the-covid-19-pandemic/#introduction.

^[5] Kenney et al. Impact of The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act on obesity trends. Health Affairs. 2020;39:7. https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/full/10.1377/hlthaff.2020.00133.

^[6] Au et al. Eating school meals daily is associated with healthier dietary intakes: The Healthy Communities Study. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2018; 118(8):1474-1481. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6064655/.

^[7] Hecht et al. Impact of the Community Eligibility Provision of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act on student nutrition, behavior, and academic outcomes: 2011–2019. Am J Pub Health. 2020; 9: 1405-1410. https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/AJPH.2020.305743.