New York farmers have donated a million more pounds of food to local food banks this year than last year.

The Harvest for All program is a competition between state farm bureaus to see who can donate the most money, volunteer hours, and pounds of food per year, and in 2020, New York placed second in food donations. 

Farmers across the state donated more than 8 million pounds of food to 10 community food banks, only being beaten out by the state of Florida. 

One farmer Spectrum News talked to says that, even before COVID-19, farm workers were keeping our communities strong and well fed regardless of circumstance.

"I take immense joy and pride in being able to bride that gap and being able to feed nutritious food to my community — friends, family, strangers — because we all need food. It's the great equalizer, and to be able to fill that need and be essential every day, pandemic or not, is real. We're the front lines of the food system," said 

The Harvest for All program has been around for 16 years, and in that time New York farmers have given away more than 114 million pounds of food, the equivalent of 90 million meals.