ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) — The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, in collaboration with Assemblymember Phil Steck, is unveiling a state-of-the-art training kitchen Monday. This facility is designed to be a vital resource for culinary training, nutrition education, and fundraising efforts to combat food insecurity in the Capital Region.
The kitchen aims to support food bank agency partners, enhance food safety education, and broaden community outreach. Assemblymember Steck has secured $500,000 in state capital funding for the project.
During the unveiling, the food bank will host a Hunger Prevention and Nutrition Assistance Program training session to demonstrate best practices in food handling and distribution. This initiative is particularly timely as the food bank faces federal cuts that could result in the loss of 8 million pounds of food.
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Tom Nardacci, CEO of the Regional Food Bank, said,
One of the program cuts the USDA is a program that money passes from the federal government to the state and then that money comes to the food banks and for us it’s about a million dollars a year and it’s a program that allows us to buy produce or products from New York farmers and producers.
From 2023 to 2024, there was a 52% increase in people receiving assistance from pantries in the Capital Region. Food insecurity affects more than 12% of residents in the area, including nearly 16,000 people in the 110th Assembly District.
The unveiling of the training kitchen is scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York.
Also helping combat food insecurity in Schenectady, the Guyanese Community Center is celebrating the grand opening of their new food pantry at 3 p.m. and will operate Sundays from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.- with additional days to be added. The Guyanese Community Center and Food Pantry is open to all residents in need, with no requirements beyond a simple registration process.
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