As New Yorkers across the state continue experiencing food insecurity, the state’s Health Department released a report showing just how many adults in the Empire State face the threat of hunger.

“The report that states one in four adult New Yorkers are struggling with food insecurity... is not a surprise," said Susan Lintner, director of community impact for the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern NY. “People are struggling with the rising cost of living."

Lintner serves on the front lines by trying to help people.

“We serve 23 counties of Northeastern New York," Lintner said. "I oversee our strategic implementation of our strategic plan, where we are trying to equitably meet the meal gap for food insecure individuals in the communities we serve.”

What she’s seeing is “a dramatic increase of the amount of people who are food insecure," she said.

The report recently released by the state’s Department of Health shows the rate of adult New Yorkers who’ve experienced food insecurity by county. It estimates it by calculating a percentage of adults who report that they were always, usually, or sometimes worried about having enough money to buy nutritious meals over the last year.

According to the report, the counties with the highest rates of food insecurity in upstate are Herkimer and Oswego in Central New York. Rockland County in the Hudson Valley is third.

Counties with the lowest rates are Wyoming in Western New York, Columbia in the Hudson Valley and Lewis in the North Country.

“When reports like this state one in four New Yorkers is struggling with food insecurity, it means we need state support for programs like that," said Lintner.

As the governor’s State of the State address nears and the state budget season gets underway, Lintner believes programs like Nourish New York and SNAP should receive more funding.

“We’re asking for funding at the HPNAP program to be increased to $64 million per year," she said. "And asking for funding for the Nourish New York program at $75 million."

She called food a basic human right.

"It’s something no one should have to struggle with, providing food for their family,” Lintner said.

You can find the entire report on the state DOH website.