By: Pamela Honey

TFFJ and Assembly Member Anderson Bring Students to Albany for a Day Inside the Legislative Process

Twenty-three students from The Scholars’ Academy in Far Rockaway, Queens, traveled to the State Capitol on May 7 with Teens for Food Justice for a day inside the legislative process, hosted by Assembly Member Khaleel M. Anderson, who represents Assembly District 31.

Over a year in the making, what started as AM Anderson’s idea for a small Capitol visit grew into a full day of constituent meetings, legislative discussions, and direct testimony from students about food access in their communities.

The day began with a Queens Chamber of Commerce meeting, where students sat in as AM Anderson and Senator James Sanders Jr. met with constituents, including hospital administrators, small-business advocates, and nonprofit leaders, who presented budget priorities and operational challenges facing Queens organizations.

Senator Sanders explained the realities of budget decisions: “Somebody is going to win, somebody is going to lose.” 

Students speak on food access

Amanda J., a student from The Scholars’ Academy, spoke directly to what lawmakers in Albany need to understand about food insecurity in the Rockaways:

“One thing I would like lawmakers in Albany to understand about food insecurity in my neighborhood is that it’s very easy to overlook certain aspects of food insecurity. Food insecurity is not just the matter of being full or going hungry, it’s also the matter of whether you have enough energy to go to school and actually do your school work and come back home and do all your responsibilities, compared to going to work and coming home to kids and a family and having to take care of those as well.”

She continued: “Food is not a luxury; it’s a basic human right that everyone should receive, and that should not be up for discussion. Regardless of how old you are, regardless of where your education came from or how educated you are, we all know that food is something that everyone should have access to, regardless of your social status, your race, your ethnicity, or anything in between.”

This is the kind of testimony that changes how legislators understand their districts. Amandadidn’t ask for help. She named a structural problem and told elected officials what they needed to know.

Civic literacy as an advocacy skill

Another student, a member of the Student Government Team, raised a concern about the decline in civic literacy across New York City schools. “A lot of kids just don’t know how our government works,” she said. “I just wanted to know if there’s anything that’s come up in your meetings about how people are trying to fix these issues.”

Her question connected directly to why students were in Albany that day. You can’t advocate for food justice if you don’t understand how laws come to pass, how budgets are allocated, and who holds decision-making power.

AM Anderson pointed to a solution he built himself: a monthly program called Let’s Get Civical, where students learn from judges, legislators, and members of the governor’s team. Students continued asking questions about how the legislative process actually works: how long does it take for a bill to become law? Anderson told them it could take a day or 40 years, pointing to Universal Health Care as an example of legislation that has passed the Assembly multiple times since the 1980s but never cleared the Senate.

Honoring student leadership

The group toured the Capitol building before AM Anderson presented NYS Assembly Certificates of Merit to students who have led in TFFJ’s farm program: Araya A., Amanda J., Alayna K., and Taskina J.

TFFJ students don’t just grow food in school-based hydroponic farms. They learn how policy shapes who eats and who doesn’t. This trip placed them directly in front of the lawmakers who control food access across New York State and gave them a clearer picture of how to use their voices now and what kind of power they’ll hold when they turn 18 and can vote.❦

Pamela Honey is the Communications & Content Coordinator at Teens for Food Justice.