§ 452. Nourish New York program. 1. The commissioner shall, to the extent permitted by state or federal appropriations for such purpose, facilitate programming that ensures surplus agricultural products are provided to food relief organizations at competitive wholesale prices.

2. The commissioner shall provide technical assistance and information about the program to food relief organizations, producers of surplus agricultural products and the public, including, but not limited to, information posted on the department's website.

3. The commissioner shall provide means, which may include posting on the department's website, for producers to make available surplus agricultural products and for food relief organizations to access surplus agricultural products.

4. The commissioner, in consultation with the department of health, shall review the current funding structure, funding adequacy and current service levels of the hunger prevention nutrition assistance program in all regions of the state. Review of current service levels shall take into account the size of the service area, the population in need of such hunger prevention nutrition assistance program and the need for additional facilities within a region in order to address increasing food insecurity and hunger. Following such review, the commissioner shall make and report any recommendations, including but not limited to, increasing the maximum amount of money each food pantry may be allocated by such program, whether such program funding should be indexed for inflation annually, and any structural and funding adequacy changes deemed necessary.

5. The commissioner shall review and report on the need to establish a grant program to fund the purchase of cold storage equipment for regional food banks, food pantries and other emergency food organizations. Such grant program shall prioritize regions of the state that have the highest demand for emergency food and regions of the state where regional food banks and pantries have determined the need for more capacity to safely store perishable food before such food is distributed. Such report shall be completed and submitted to the governor and the legislature no later than February first, two thousand twenty-two.