NYC’s Met Council expands reach to national kosher, halal food program

One of New York City’s best known charities is going national.

The city-based Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, known simply as the Met Council, serves people of all denominations and has drawn the biggest names in New York politics to its events and fundraisers. Now it’s extending its reach to the federal government in an effort to increase the variety of kosher and halal foods offered in food pantries nationally, according to CEO David Greenfield.

Of the 200 food products the federal government provides to food pantries across the country, only eight are kosher or halal — meaning the food is prepared according to Jewish or Muslim guidelines. And during the height of the pandemic, 20% of requests for food in New York City alone were for kosher or halal products, according to a Met Council study. Rising food prices have also boosted demand for food pantries in the city and nationally.

“Nothing is more vulnerable than someone who is struggling to feed themselves and their family,” Greenfield said in an interview. “When you walk into a food pantry and you don’t see any items that you can eat, that’s very disheartening.”

There are roughly 1.6 million Jewish people living in New York City, the largest population of any city in the world, UJA-Federation of New York CEO Eric Goldstein said in November. As of 2016, nearly 800,000 Muslims resided in New York City, which also boasts one of the highest concentration of mosques in the world, according to the Institute for Social Policy and Understanding.

In May, the Department of Agriculture announced it is “increasing commercially available kosher and halal foods that are priorities for Jewish and Muslim program participants” in its feeding programs as part of a national strategy to combat antisemitism in the country. In the study’s foreword, President Joe Biden wrote that the study was the result of “repeated episodes of hate — including numerous attacks on Jewish Americans” since neo-Nazis rallied in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017.

Greenfield — who once represented parts of southwest and south-central Brooklyn as a member of the City Council — attended a meeting with officials from the Department of Agriculture in late June and said his group will be helping the U.S. government develop the program. He said it’s not a matter of cost so much as knowing where to source foods that meet these religious requirements.

“Providing low-income identifiable Jewish and Muslim Americans with kosher and halal food is a way for the government to say: ‘You are welcome here in America and we care about your needs,’” Greenfield said. “And I think that’s incredibly powerful.”

The national reach for Met Council, which boasts the largest kosher food pantry program in the U.S, is also indicative of its growth. Last year, the organization reached 305,000 people – its highest number to date. The political background of its CEO – as well as other members of its leadership – mean that the food pantry organization is taking serious steps toward lobbying and policy changes both locally and nationally.

“There are Jews and Muslims everywhere across the United States,” Greenfield said. “And like every American population, some of them are struggling and they deserve that – when the government is giving help – that help is religiously and culturally appropriate so they can actually receive the help they need. We view this as a national movement.”