Life in New York has not been easy for the Martínezes of Brooklyn.

Margie cannot work because she suffers from high blood pressure, but also because she must stay at home to care for her eight children, who range in ages from six and 13. Her husband Raúl is also unemployed.

“Although we receive $200 in food stamps, that does not provide us enough to eat,” explained Raúl Martínez, who also suffers from high blood pressure, diabetes and a pancreas deficiency, as well as depression, all of which does not allow him to hold a steady job for long.

To be able to survive, they take to the streets every day, no matter how cold or hot it is, and walk throughout the city looking for the food their children will eat that day.

“We do it by asking everyone we see. Sometimes we get canned and dry food in the food pantries and sometimes they give us fresh meat. We often share that with others – older people in the building where we live – because they have no one to look for food for them,” said the 50-year-old Puerto Rican.

Margie Martínez confesses that “it breaks her heart” every time they cannot give their children what they want. “You know how kids are: they want the same things – like video games – that other kids their age have. But we remind them we don't have much money. At first they are sad, but later they understand,” said the 41-year-old mother.

The Martínez' situation is repeated in thousands of households in the Big Apple. According to the New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH), one of every six New Yorkers does not have sufficient food on the table, a number that translates into the reality of 1,256,000 persons.

“In a year in which the Stock Exchange went through the roof and the number of multimillionaires doubled, it is inconceivable that 1.3 million New Yorkers do not have enough to eat,” stated Joel Berg, executive director of the Coalition.

A report published on November 10 by the New York City Coalition Against Hunger showed that from 2003 to 2005, the number of persons without “secure food” – the federal term for hunger – grew to 15.4 percent, or 112,000 more hungry people than in the period from 2000 to 2002, when the number stood at 14 percent.

This increase can be measured by the number of people who use the services of food kitchens and food pantries, which according to the Coalition study, rose by 11 percent in 2006.

The data was corroborated by New York City Human Resources Administration Commissioner Verna Eggleston.

“I believe there is a growing demand, especially since I know that many of the employees of my agency have recourse to the food kitchens between paychecks,” admitted Eggleston.

The study points out that the groups with the largest increase in the use of food kitchens and food pantries are families with children, the elderly, and immigrants.

Although Mayor Michael Bloomberg said yesterday that 1.1 million New Yorkers receive food stamps, the NYCCAH stated that hundreds of thousands more are eligible but do not receive them.

Berg recognized the mayor's efforts to resolve the situation – for example, the establishment of a breakfast program in school cafeterias – but he pointed out that there is still much to do, especially on the part of the federal government.

“Not only should funds be increased to support food pantries and food kitchens, but a new and comprehensive effort ought also to be launched to help families to make their way out of poverty,” he concluded.

Facts about hunger in New York City

* There are 1,256,000 people without “secure food.”

* There are more than 1,200 food pantries and food kitchens in the city.

* Meals served in the food pantries and food kitchens rose to 322,816 from September, 2005, to August, 2006.

* Forty-six percent of the food pantries and food kitchens indicated that the number of employed people who use their services has risen.

* 1.1 million – the estimated number of persons who were refused a meal in these places because food supplies had run out.

* Although the food pantries and food kitchens of Manhattan are in a better situation than their counterparts in other boroughs, 43 percent of them said they were unable to distribute enough food.

Source: New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH)