ALBANY – The Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York has purchased more than 1.1 million pounds of surplus food from New York farmers since the launch of the Nourish New York initiative in early May.
Hudson Valley farmers and growers are among those that have provided food for families in need. Those include Hudson Valley Fresh in Poughkeepsie, Hudson River Fruit in Milton, Brey’s Eggs in Jeffersonville, Lynn-ette & Sons in Kent, and Green Valley and A. Gurda in Pine Island.
“Our 10 family farms are honored to partner with the Regional Food Bank to provide fresh, local dairy during this current crisis as a way to help absorb excess milk in the market and provide it to those in need,” said Sam Simon, a founding farmer of Hudson Valley Fresh.
Daniel Brey, president of Brey’s Egg Farm, is a third-generation farmer. “There used to be 150 egg farms here 30 years ago. Today, we’re the only one.”
He said they sell mostly to restaurants and food service suppliers so they lost 80 percent of their business overnight when COVID-19 hit. He needed an outlet for 60,000 dozen eggs each week. Since the Nourish NY program began, Brey has been able to sell over 141,000 dozen eggs from the regional food bank.
