CONGRESSMAN PAT RYAN JOINS REGIONAL FOOD BANK, COMMUNITY PARTNERS, SPEAKS OUT ABOUT STATE OF HUNGER IN HUDSON VALLEY

Congressman Pat Ryan Joins Regional Food Bank, Community Partners, Speaks Out About State of Hunger in Hudson Valley

The Regional Food Bank’s 2026 State of Hunger report shows that more than 12% of their service area – which includes Dutchess, Orange, and Ulster Counties – is food insecure, including 1 in 6 children

The report comes amid the fallout from several harmful Trump Administration actions, including the largest cut to SNAP in history, cost-raising tariffs, and cuts to TEFAP which forced the foodbank to serve 2 million fewer meals in 2025 than 2024

Ryan joined food bank representatives, local electeds, and partner organizations to discuss his work in Washington to bring down food costs, support local farmers, and hold the Trump Administration accountable

NEWBURGH, NY  –  Today, Congressman Pat Ryan joined local advocates, partners, and electeds at the Regional Food Bank to discuss the State of Hunger in the Hudson Valley. The 2026 report, informed by new research by Feeding America’s annual Map the Meal Gap study on food insecurity, paints a grim picture of growing food insecurity in the Hudson Valley amid harmful Trump Administration policy.

Among the report’s most alarming figures is that 53,390 (1 in 6) children in the Hudson Valley lack access to adequate nutrition. That is 5,000 more children than in 2025. It follows more than a year of cost-raising policies and actions from the Administration, including the largest cut to SNAP in history – which is ripping food assistance from more than 40 million Americans, including up to 70,000 in the Hudson Valley, as well as placing financial strain on farmers – and as prices continue to rise across the board due to Trump’s war in Iran. 

Standing with the gathered community Ryan advocated for his bipartisan Lower Grocery Prices Act, and discussed his recently introduced Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act, which breaks up greedy monopolies that jack up prices on hardworking Americans and push out small businesses. When a harmful Trump Administration policy cut two million meals at the Regional Food Bank – and slashed a critical income source for Hudson Valley farmers – Ryan immediately rallied with the community and hosted a Community Speak Out demanding the cuts be reversed. 

“Hudson Valley families have to spend way too much of their income just to put food on the table. There are real people behind the data in this new report – children who aren’t getting the nutrients their growing bodies need, seniors pinching pennies to feed themselves, and families on fixed incomes worrying they won’t be able to afford new groceries this week. Especially after thousands lost their SNAP benefits because of Trump’s USDA cuts and as grocery prices continue to rise, I’m so grateful to our exceptional food bank’s  tireless work, helping meet this unprecedented demand in our community,” said Congressman Pat Ryan. “One of my top priorities is making life more affordable, and I’ll keep fighting to pass my Lower Grocery Prices Act and to protect SNAP benefits until no one has to go hungry in the Hudson Valley.”

“The challenges we are facing as well as our partners in the charitable food industry have faced in recent months, are truly unprecedented,” said Tom Nardacci, CEO of Regional Food Bank. “With federal cuts to the USDA, the SNAP crises and increasing inflation, our more than 1,000 partner agencies are witnessing longer lines and greater demand. The generosity of industry partners, businesses, groups and organizations, volunteers and our neighbors allowed us to hold the line of food insecurity rates among adults at 12%, but we need more help from our community to meet the demand for our children.”

Last year, Congressman Ryan stood with the food bank and community members in fighting back against the Trump Administration’s cut to The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) – which partners local farms with food banks to serve food insecure populations. Trump cut the program by 50%, eliminating crucial business for local farmers and forcing the Hudson Valley branch of the Regional Food Bank to provide 2 million fewer meals in 2025 than 2024.

Hudson Valley families have also been dealing with skyrocketing grocery costs due to the President’s tariffs back in April 2025. In January, following polling that showed 87% of Americans were dealing with increased grocery prices under Trump, Ryan conducted a community inquiry. More than 99% of respondents said they were feeling the burden of higher grocery costs, with 75% of them citing Trump’s tariffs as the main driver. 

Congressman Ryan’s bipartisan Lower Grocery Prices Act would require the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) to analyze the price of groceries over the last 20 years, provide effective solutions on how to lower costs, and develop a national plan to combat the high prices and ease the affordability crisis. Ryan originally introduced the legislation after the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) released a report in March 2024 which detailed how large grocery companies exploited the high-price environment caused by the pandemic to jack up their prices and pad their profit margins, unfairly raising prices for consumers as well as snubbing smaller competitors’ profits. 

Most recently, Ryan introduced the Family Grocery and Farmer Relief Act, landmark legislation breaking up greedy monopolies and ending unfair pricing practices that raise costs for American families and box out local farmers and ranchers.

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