Food

Hand sanitizer, disinfectant, plexiglass, and more, it all adds up and in a very big way. Small businesses, especially restaurants, have had to play a balancing act between the decreased revenue and increasing costs due to COVID-19.

The good news is there is relief coming from the federal government. The $28.6 billion Restaurant Revitalization grant program was included in the American Rescue Plan.

Food is big business in Western New York, and according to the November issue of Buffalo Spree, women are playing an increasingly important role. In this week's Press Pass with WBFO's Mark Scott, Spree editor Elizabeth Licata says women are well-represented across the industry.

Buffalo Public Schools prepare 28,000 lunches, 25,000 breakfasts and 5,000 snacks a day. Activists are calling for legal changes to allow greater variety in school food and easier ways to buy food produced locally.

One of Buffalo's many historic sites has been renovated.

The December issue of Buffalo Spree is all about food, from the latest in kitchen gadgets to the best ethnic cuisine in Buffalo. 

Empire State Development approved funding for two upstate food and agriculture related measures in their meeting Friday.

Farmers and foodies are urging Governor Cuomo to ban hydraulic fracturing in New York State right away. Groups across the state are expected to meet today and into next week to alert the public that fracking is a threat to the state’s agricultural viability.

Our food system has changed more in the past 40 years than in the past 400-thousand.  That was just one of the comments made during a panel discussion on problems surrounding the production and distribution of food to American tables.

Over the past 40 years, farms have consolidated.  Farm subsidies often determine both the type and the amount of food to be produced.  Improved transportation allows food to be further distributed, but often times people living in lower-income neighborhoods don't necessarily have quick access to healthier choices.