Poll Shows Households With Veterans In NYC Worried About Affording Food

NEW YORK (AP/CBSNewYork) -- According to a new poll, about one in four New York City households are worried about their ability to buy food.

WCBS 880's Marla Diamond On The Story

The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion poll found that nearly one in three veterans in New York City were concerned they would have to turn to food stamps or government assistance.

The poll was released Thursday. It was commissioned by the Food Bank of New York City.

The study found that about one in 10 veterans didn't have enough money to buy food in the past year.

"Survival was supposed to be about getting home safely from Iraq, from Afghanistan and this is showing that now, no, survival is about what happens when you come home," Margaret Purvis, President and CEO of the Food Bank for NYC, told 1010 WINS. "How are you able to feed yourself and your children?"

The poll randomly surveyed 827 households by telephone. Ninety-two of those were households with veterans.

"This is a difficult group to serve because dignity is very high, their pride is very high, as you would imagine," Purvis said. "They are our heroes. It's very difficult for them to turn to a program or to even admit some of the things that they are going through."

Purvis adds there are a number of services to assist veterans including Food Stamp Outreach and EITC (Earned Income Tax Credit).

"There needs to be more coordinated efforts across the city to make sure that this is not happening to our service me and women," Purvis said.

The veterans' data has a 10.2 percent margin of error.

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