Most of the 22,000 New Yorkers who were kicked off their SNAP benefits under new work rules imposed by the Trump administration are younger than 35, according to city officials.

Department of Social Services Commissioner Erin Dalton said each one of those individuals represents an opportunity for the city to connect them with career and work opportunities and get them requalified for the federal food assistance program.

“ These are folks that I'd really love to engage in the broader education training and employment opportunities,” Dalton said during a Tuesday night forum on tackling the food affordability crisis, hosted by WNYC and Gothamist at BEM books & more in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn.

Dalton joined food pantry leaders, a bodega owner and a SNAP recipient for the first in a five-part community event initiative from WNYC and Gothamist called “In Conversation: The Affordability Series.”

The series aims to bring together policymakers, advocates, small businesses and New Yorkers from all walks of life to discuss the city’s affordability crisis and talk through solutions that work for the whole community. The monthly live events will run through November with future panels focused on housing, childcare, transit and healthcare.

In Tuesday’s discussion, emergency food advocates said they’re trying to secure more food to distribute, anticipating even higher demand in the coming months. But they made clear pantries and soup kitchens couldn't make up for lost SNAP benefits; for every meal a pantry provides, SNAP provides nine.

“ The stereotypes that people think of what hunger looks like is a fallacy. It is everyone you see on the subway. It's everyone, people in this room. It's our community,” Greg Silverman, CEO of the West Side Campaign Against Hunger, said during the event.

Silverman said many of his food pantry’s workers are spending more time helping New Yorkers navigate the new work requirements, rather than focusing on feeding the 100,000 people served by the pantry.

SNAP recipients are now required to prove they are working, volunteering or in school under expanded work rules passed by congressional Republicans and the Trump administration, as part of a broad initiative to cut federal taxes, financed partly by reduced spending.

The changes eliminated a waiver for work rules long held by New York state and added more groups of people who now need to comply, such as veterans and homeless people.

Trump officials say the changes are meant to curb waste and fraud, but city officials have warned they're just a way to push people off a federal entitlement program that helps them afford groceries.

“ There's just not enough household income to pay rent, utilities, childcare, transportation, and still put food on the table,” said Jilly Stephens, CEO of City Harvest, the city’s largest food rescue organization. “Food is often viewed as an elastic expense. We're seeing more people who are working probably more than one job.”

Stephens added, “We hear stories of people who are perhaps dispatching older children to other pantries, maybe outside of the immediate neighborhood.”

Other panelists included Marlyn García, a SNAP recipient, and Francisco Marte, founder of the Bodega and Small Business Group. The panels were moderated by Sean Carlson, host of WNYC’s "All Things Considered."

The next event will be held Aug. 20 at the HANAC Harmony JVL Older Adult Center in Astoria, Queens, and focus on housing.