Staff and volunteers at the Hungry Monk food pantry prepare and distribute fruit and vegetables to local residents at their church in Queens, New York on March 26, 2022. – The Hungry Monk pantry, which aims to address food insecurity and homelessness through the distribution of free food and medical supplies, is one of many across New York facing abrupt cutbacks of around 75 percent as the city’s temporary Pandemic Food Reserve Emergency Distribution Program (P-FRED) is scaled down. (Photo by Ed JONES / AFP) (Photo by ED JONES/AFP via Getty Images) Opinion by Levar Stoney and John Giles for CNN Business Perspectives Editor’s note: Levar Stoney is the Democratic mayor of Richmond, Virginia, and serves as the chair of the U.