State Assemblyman Phil Goldfeder discusses community concerns with southern Queens seniors. Photo courtesy Assemblyman Goldfeder
Grocery shopping is very different for shoppers using food stamps in the Bronx.
The assemblyman fired off a letter to USDA head and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, calling on the agency to use its power administering food stamp benefits at the national level to provide online grocery delivery services to zip codes in southern Queens and Rockaway. The service has been part of a pilot program the USDA launched this year to allow for online purchases of groceries using Electronic Benefit Transfer cards, which shoppers use to make purchases with their SNAP benefits – or food stamps. Goldfeder’s letter said southern Queens and Rockaway were home to a large senior
population, and allowing residents to use their EBT cards to order groceries online would be a great relief to seniors unable to make it to the supermarket.“I use an oxygen tank and live on the third floor, so I can’t get down the stairs alone to get to the grocery store,” said Roseanne D’Angelo, an Ozone Park senior and food stamp recipient. “Using my EBT card online would mean greater independence. I could grocery shop whenever I wanted without relying on my family all the time.”
In 2012, the USDA, in partnership with the city and the online grocery delivery service Fresh Direct, unrolled a similar pilot program for select zip codes in the Bronx to allow food stamp recipients to use their EBT cards to make online grocery purchases through Fresh Direct. Goldfeder stressed in his letter that his constituents, many of whom struggled to reach open supermarkets in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, would benefit greatly from this program.
“Superstorm Sandy highlighted the many difficulties faced by our most vulnerable senior populations in accessing food options,” Goldfeder said. “We need to ensure that our seniors have every tool to live healthy, independent lives and allowing for online grocery purchases would go a long way in doing this.”
