ALBANY-Sen. Borrello, ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, shared the number 20 spot on the Ag Power 50 list with his colleague, Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz. The pair crossed party lines and joined forces to champion Nourish NY.

“Thank you to City & State for including me on their ‘Agriculture Power 50’ list,'” Sen. Borrello said. “It’s an honor to be recognized and share the Number 20 spot with my friend and colleague, Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz. We fought for Nourish NY because it’s the right thing to do for New York’s farmers and families struggling with food insecurity. Our legislation to make Nourish NY permanent unanimously passed both houses of the Legislature and is waiting for Gov. Hochul’s signature. We will continue to advocate to make Nourish NY permanent and recurring so farmers can plan, and food banks can budget, with confidence.”

Cruz also called on Gov. Hochul to sign Nourish NY into law.

“I am honored to have been recognized by City & State’s ‘Agriculture Power 50 List,’ alongside my colleague, Sen. Borrello,” Assemblywoman Cruz said. “We began this as a bipartisan effort to benefit all New Yorkers statewide, and we have worked tirelessly on making Nourish NY a permanent program. Nourish NY has proven to be a fiscally-responsible success in addressing food insecurity, assisting our farmers and connecting the upstate and downstate economies. I urge Gov. Hochul to sign the bill as soon as possible, as districts like mine and Sen. Borrello’s continue to struggle to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.”

In January and August, Sen. Borrello visited Assemblywoman Cruz’ Queen’s district and helped deliver donated food to needy families. This week, Assemblywoman Cruz will visit Sen. Borrello’s 57th Senate District to tour farms and agriculture sites.

“This is what public service is all about, working together to help all New Yorkers,” Borrello said. “Although there are issues Assemblywoman Cruz and may not agree on, we do agree that we are, first and foremost, servants of the people. I want to thank her again for her incredible advocacy.”

The Nourish NY program distributes surplus agriculture products to food banks. Nourish NY prevents food from being wasted while helping the food insecure. The program was initially launched as an emergency measure during the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020.

“Because of Nourish NY, 4,000 New York farms provided nourishing, New York-produced food to over 1.3 million households in need during the pandemic,” Borrello said. “This isn’t a rural versus urban issue. This is making sure food gets to the tables of New Yorkers in need. Nourish NY also helps to ensure that we will never again see farmers dumping milk or leave crops to rot in the field because they can’t bring their product to market. Nourish NY helps farmers and agricultural producers, one of our most important industries, and those struggling to feed their families. It’s a wonderful program and I am grateful and very proud to be part of making it reality.”

To view City&State NY’s Agriculture Power 50 list, please visit: https://www.cityandstateny.com/power-lists/2021/09/agriculture-power-50/185206/.