Jack Motz on Apr 16, 2025
The directors of the Springs Food Pantry, the Sag Harbor Community Food Pantry and Heart of the Hamptons agree: Food supply is shrinking even as need is growing on the South Fork.
Each faces its own hurdles, with the directors citing federal funding cuts, tariffs on Chinese goods and rising food prices. In the meantime, the food pantries have sought ways to adapt.
Last week, the Springs Food Pantry served 383 families, totaling around 1,700 people; the Sag Harbor Food Pantry served 106 families, equating to around 500 people; and Heart of the Hamptons served around 500 families most recently, totaling around 2,500 people.
For the Springs Food Pantry, that number is a record high, Director Holly Wheaton said.
“It seems like every week now we’re feeding more and more recipients in Springs,” she went on. The food pantry served 32 percent more families last week than last year at this time.
Demand for Heart of the Hamptons has grown at a similar clip. At this time last year, the organization fed about 320 families — that is, it served around 36 percent more families last week.
Recently, the Springs Food Pantry launched a fundraising campaign, hoping to raise $150,000 by mid-May.
The organization’s annual budget is $1.2 million, Wheaton said. As food costs have increased, so, too, have the number of families relying on the food pantry’s services. So, the organization has a “need for more monetary donations” right now.
“Springs is basically home to a lot of the service workers, meaning the landscapers, the contractors, people like that,” Wheaton said. At this point in the year, those groups haven’t “hit capacity” with job opportunities. As summer approaches — and jobs abound — Wheaton hopes to see the need for the food pantry decline.
In Springs, 90 percent of those who rely on the food pantry are working people, Wheaton said. “These are all hard-working recipients,” she said.
As for federal funding, the Springs Food Pantry hasn’t “seen a cutback yet,” but the recent bout of tariffs has caused some concern for Wheaton.
Through a volunteer, the food pantry found a bag supplier willing to donate “heavy duty, recyclable” plastic bags. In the past, the food pantry paid around $200 per case, and it went through two cases per week.
However, Wheaton recently discovered that the bags are made in China, so “I can’t expect that that’s going to continue for very long in our current climate.”
The food pantry tries to give each person four eggs per week. With foot traffic frequently reaching 1,700 people, “it’s a lot of eggs that walk through our door.” The food pantry had to “cut it down to three eggs apiece, because the pricing just got crazy.”
On top of that, the Springs Food Pantry has begun alternating eggs and yogurt: One week a family will get three eggs; the next, a container of yogurt. However, the food pantry bases food quantities on family size, so a family of seven, for instance, could get two containers of yogurt.
During the pandemic, the Springs Food Pantry discovered that it was the last stop for the two main food banks — which receive federal support — on Long Island, and “there was not a lot left by the time we ordered and obtained our food product.”
So, with food bank funding in limbo, the Springs Food Pantry was prepared.
The short supply in the past prompted it to adapt, and “that’s why we do so much fundraising.” On top of that, the people who frequent the food pantry want fresh food — “just like the rest of us” — so the organization tries to supplement canned food and boxed pasta with fresh produce and dairy.
The Springs Food Pantry is run entirely by volunteers, and Wheaton said it just rolled out a new website, so people can “hop on to see what we’re all about.”
As for donations, 92 percent of the money given goes directly to purchasing food, while the remainder goes to rent and utilities.
At Heart of the Hamptons, Director Molly Bishop has seen similar trends.
“Even at the height of COVID, we didn’t have weeks like this,” Bishop said, referring to the demand. Talking to restaurant workers, a lot of recipients said their hours were cut this winter, and businesses stayed closed for longer.
Heart of the Hamptons gets its supply from the two Long Island food banks, Long Island Cares and Island Harvest. The former, Bishop said, maintains contracts with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which has sparked some concern about federal funding cuts.
Recently, Long Island Cares has not received bulk foods, Bishop said, which the pantries would normally pick up and distribute locally.
“The last time I went to order, the only thing I think they had on the menu was green beans,” Bishop said. “Normally, that menu is full of things that the USDA has purchased and passed on to food banks.”
Heart of the Hamptons is “fortunate,” though, because New York State is looking to invest heavily in programs to combat hunger, Bishop said. Despite this, “federal funding is definitely going to have a major impact on our program.”
In the interim, the food pantry has been picking up supplies that Long Island Cares has “rescued” from grocery stores that “need to get rid of before it goes bad.” Recently, that’s helped “bridge the gap.”
For Easter, Heart of the Hamptons acquired an extra bag of food for each family, “so that families can really celebrate a nice Easter holiday.” In addition, the organization threw in some pieces of candy “to add to kids’ Easter baskets.”
Sag Harbor Community Food Pantry Director Evelyn Ramunno also has plans for Easter, having been saving up for the past few months to provide turkey and pork for families.
For her organization, “things are pretty tight,” she said. Right now, Long Island Cares “doesn’t seem to have too much to offer,” and the “menus are very skimpy.” Island Harvest seems to be doing a bit better, though, she said.
“The main thing is meat,” she said. “We have no meat, no rice, no beans, no cereal, and we’re all looking for the same thing.”
Ramunno agreed with Bishop, stating that the food banks have been hit with federal cuts, so “they can’t provide as much for us as they have in the past.”
“Who do I blame it on?” she said. “That’s the thing. It’s tough all over, I guess. And we have a lot of families who are struggling. A lot of people are struggling just to put food on their tables. The rents are so terrible. Gas is high. They’re trying to make ends meet, and we’re trying to help them, but it’s a little difficult. Even if we could provide the basics, that would be a great thing.”
In the meantime, Ramunno has been purchasing rice and chicken from King Kullen, and with that, she said, Sag Harbor Community Food Pantry has been doing “a lot better” than some of the surrounding pantries.