Specifications include, but are not limited to: The Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) is requesting applications from eligible organizations for the provision of nutrition outreach and public education services to NYS residents who are at-risk of nutrition-related health problems due to food insecurity. According to the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service (USDA-ERS), food insecurity is “a household-level economic and social condition of limited or uncertain access to adequate food” due to a lack of available financial resources, competing demands for those resources, and the cost of acquiring food. The goal of these outreach and education services is to increase participation in federal and State-funded food assistance programs including but not limited to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), the School Lunch and School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program, Child and Adult Care Feeding Program, and Special Supplemental Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC). Originally established in 1987, the Nutrition Outreach and Public Education Program is authorized under Article 8-A of New York’s Social Services Law. Based on the clear correlation between adequate diet and good health, and the finding that a significant portion of eligible New York residents do not participate in existing federal food assistance programs, the NYS Legislature established a community-based program of nutrition outreach and education program to ensure maximum participation by eligible persons in federal and state food assistance programs.
