Schumer, Gillibrand Deliver Funding To Buffalo's African Heritage Food Cooperative To Increase Food Accessibility & Bring Desperately Needed Fresh, Affordable Healthy Food Options To Buffalo's East Side And Underserved Communities In Western New York

Press Release

Following his direct advocacy to increase food options for Buffalo's East Side, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer and U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand today announced that Buffalo's African Heritage Food Co-op will receive $200,000 from the United States Department of Agriculture's (USDA) Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI). Last week, Schumer wrote directly to USDA Secretary Vilsack requesting the feds work with local community leaders in Buffalo and increase support for programs meant to boost options for low-access food areas. During a Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry hearing in May, Gillibrand pushed Secretary Vilsack on ways to combat food deserts in communities like Buffalo. During their exchange, Vilsack confirmed the HFFI program is the best way to help underserved areas increase access to healthy food and grant assistance. Since then, USDA has announced that it has heeded Schumer and Gillibrand's call and will increase funding to the HFFI by $155 million for forthcoming grant cycles. Specifically, today's funding will help Buffalo's African Heritage Food Co-op to upgrade their Niagara Falls location for improved retail operations and modernize their site on Buffalo's East Side to serve as the flagship location for the food cooperative.

"Access to fresh, affordable, healthy food is a basic right that has been constricted for neighborhoods across Buffalo's East Side for far too long. Community leaders, like Buffalo's African Heritage Food Co-op, have long worked to address these challenges and I am proud to deliver this USDA investment to Buffalo's African Heritage Food Co-op to uplift community-led efforts that will directly tackle food insecurity caused by years of racially discriminatory policies," said Senator Schumer. "When I fought alongside community leaders years ago to open the Tops Market on Jefferson Avenue, I had no idea how this supermarket would one day become such a neighborhood hub. While the community continues to mourn and heal from the horrific evils of the racially-motivated, mass shooting, I hope that today's investment can serve as small beacon of light for a brighter future for the East Side. I will not stop fighting to deliver more federal investment to give Buffalo's families the fresh, affordable food and peace of mind they desperately deserve."

"Long before the tragic shooting that took the lives of 10 innocent people in Buffalo, the East Side community was already battling the persistent problem of food insecurity and lacked accessible and affordable food," said Senator Gillibrand. "I was in Buffalo fighting for this funding on Monday and now, I'm proud to be delivering it. This is an important step to put an end to hunger in our state and I will keep fighting until every child, every family, and every community in Buffalo and across our state has access to the healthy, nutritious meals needed to thrive."

"We are elated by the commitment of the USDA to fund an organization lead by the very community it's serving and look forward to a long meaningful partnership" said Alexander J. Wright JD Founder/General Manager African heritage Food Co-Op.

Schumer and Gillibrand explained that the African Heritage Food Cooperative was formed in 2016 to increase access to nutritious and affordable food in underserved Western New York communities, generate sustainable economic benefits by providing local employment and vendor opportunities, and encourage community ownership and involvement through cooperative participation. In 2016, AHFC opened a store in Niagara Falls, which operated as an indoor retail space until the pandemic when the store transitioned to deliveries-only to distribute food to underserved neighborhoods. In 2020, AHFC acquired a new location on Buffalo's East Side which had previously sat vacant for 19 years. Today's USDA investment, which Schumer called for in his push to USDA to work with Buffalo community leaders to increase investment, will go towards essential upgrades at the Niagara Falls location and retrofitting the Buffalo East Side site to serve as the flagship location for the food cooperative as they continue their mission to bring affordable and fresh food options to WNY's underserved communities.

Schumer has a long history of fighting to uplift and increase food accessibility on Buffalo's East Side. Schumer played a critical role, alongside community leaders including then County Legislature Majority Leader Crystal Peoples-Stokes, to bring the Tops Friendly Market on Jefferson Avenue to the East Side, which they accomplished in 2003.

This Monday, following her exchange with Secretary Vilsack, Gillibrand visited Buffalo pushing for action to address food insecurity in the underserved East Side neighborhood of Buffalo and called for robust funding for the HFFI program. In addition to volunteering with FeedMore WNY at the Resource Council of Western New York to support their efforts during her visit, Senator Gillibrand also called for full funding of FEMA's Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP). The EFSP was originally established in 1983 in order to respond to food insecurity and homelessness brought on by crises, and is being utilized today in Buffalo by organizations like FeedMore WNY in order to serve Buffalo community members affected by the Tops grocery store attack.

In addition to today's funding, the senators said that the $155 million increase for the Healthy Food Financing Initiative that came after his urging to the USDA will create more opportunity for greater investment to boost affordable access to healthy food in underserved areas for both Buffalo and across New York and the country. Schumer and Gillibrand said that investments like this will increase access to healthy foods by providing new market opportunities for farmers, stabilizing small and independent retailers, and creating good-paying jobs and economic opportunity for communities that need it most. The senators said that while the horrific tragedy has highlighted these food access challenges on the East Side of Buffalo, this problem is not new or unique to the East Side, and it is time the feds step up to help the over 13.5 million people across the U.S. who lack critical access to fresh food options.

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