Feeding New York City in a Disaster

A discussion about feeding New Yorkers
in the aftermath of disasters like
Superstorm Sandy.

This event explored the strengths and weaknesses of New York City’s food supply system after a disaster.

Speakers included:

• 
Irwin Redlener Director, National Center for Disaster Preparedness, Columbia University
• Michael Hurwitz Director, Greenmarket Program

• Kate MacKenzie Director, Policy and Government Relations, City Harvest

Additional Resources

Selected Readings

• Food and Agriculture Organization. Food Security in Complex Emergencies: building policy frameworks to address longer-term programming challenges. 23-25 September 2003, Tivoli, Italy Workshop report.

• Forster T. A Tale of Two Storms: Fragility and Resilience in the Food Supply of New York. Food Systems Network of NYC. November 9, 2012.

• Redlener I, Reilly MJ. Lessons from Sandy–preparing health systems for future disasters. New England Journal of Medicine. 2012;367(24):2269-71.

• Rose D, Bodor JN, Rice JC, Swalm CM, Hutchinson PL. The effects of Hurricane Katrina on food access disparities in New Orleans. American Journal of Public Health. 2011;101(3):482-4.

• Silver S. Superstorm Sandy Disaster Relief Information. Office of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. Updated November 16, 2012.

• Tucker EH. Planning for Food After a Disaster. University of Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service. No date

Selected Organizations

• The National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University School of Public Health. Focus areas include: system readiness, disaster recovery, citizen engagement and vulnerable populations.

• GROWNYC operates NYC farmers markets, new farmer development training programs and initiatives to increase access to healthy food and increasing composting. Played a key role in getting fresh food to communities affected by Hurricane Sandy.

• City Harvest is a food rescue organization that provides food and nutrition education to individuals and organizations. It played a lead role in bringing donated food to communities affected by Hurricane Sandy.

• USDA Disaster Assistance describes the various United States Department of Agriculture’s disaster relief programs operated by the Food and Nutrition arm of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) including Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance (D-SNAP, or disaster food stamps) and reports on lessons learned and best practices after previous disasters.

• Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security features an on-line search tool for reports on community-driven risk reduction and adapting to climate change in urban areas from a variety of international organizations.