Hunger activists headed to the state capital to ask lawmakers for more funding.
Representatives from the Food Bank for New York City boarded buses for Albany to ask for $51 million dedicated to food banks and soup kitchens in the next executive budget.
The current proposal calls for $34.5 million.
"We've looked at how need has changed in the state since the recession. We've looked at how food prices have gone up. Those dollars aren't buying as much as what's needed by communities in need across our city and across our state," said Triada Stampas, vice president of research for the Food Bank of New York City.
The group says charities and other organizations have been picking up the slack left behind by cuts to the Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, or SNAP.
An estimated 261 million meals have been lost since 2013.