Inflation Squeezes Food Banks Along With Americans Who Depend On Them

ACROSS AMERICA — Long lines are back at many of the nation’s food banks as near record-high inflation sparks double-digit increases in the cost of groceries.

At the same time, donations to food assistance programs are down, according to Feeding America, the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization. A monthly pulse survey of its 200 member food banks showed nearly two-thirds of them (65 percent) reported more demand for emergency food assistance in June, compared with the previous month.

Nearly all (90 percent) reported “increased or steady demand” for services as food prices soar. The member food banks serve and supply 60,000 food pantries, kitchens and meal programs across the country.

“The problem we’re seeing is that food banks are not immune to these inflationary pressures,” Feeding America president and chief operating officer Katie Fitzgerald said in a statement. “So while they’re dealing with longer lines at distributions, they face soaring costs and other challenges to their operations.”

Feeding America said an earlier survey of member food banks found 70 percent saw declining donations, and about 95 percent said they were paying more for both food and transportation, forcing them to operate at deficits.

“This is not a sustainable situation,” Fitzgerald said.

Food prices increased 13 percent from July 2021 to July 2022, according to the latest Consumer Price Index report. It was the largest 12-month increase since the one-year period ending in March 1979.

Many staples in Americans’ diets saw even bigger increases, with cereals and bakery products cost 15 percent more than they did at this time last year, and dairy and related products costing 14.9 percent more. Fruits and vegetables cost about 9.3 percent more.

The pandemic ate away at gains in easing food insecurity, throwing millions of America into food insecurity in 2020 as they lost their jobs due to business shutdowns to slow the spread of COVID-19. At the time, Feeding America estimated 54 million Americans were living with food insecurity — 17 million more than before the pandemic.

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There’s no question the situation has improved since the beginning of the pandemic. But for 38 million Americans — 12 million of the children — hunger and food insecurity are still gnawing problems.

Who Is Most Effected?

Food insecurity is most keenly felt among people of color, according to a new poll conducted by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with Harvard University and NPR.

Almost 40 percent of Native American, 32 percent of Black and 30 percent of Latino people, compared with 21 percent of white adults, said affording food is a serious concern. These groups also reported serious financial difficulties overall, including problems paying off credit cards and loans, making their rent or mortgage payments, and affording health care and prescription drugs.

“These poll findings are a reminder that while everyone is impacted by today's inflation and economy, we’re not all feeling the same pressures in the same ways,” Alonzo Plough, the vice president for research and evaluation and chief science officer at Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, told Bloomberg.

The poll findings are an indication that food insecurity is worsening among people of color. The U.S. Department of Agriculture said that in 2020, 22 percent of Black households and 17 percent of Latino households experienced food insecurity, compared with about 7 percent of white households. Native American households weren’t broken out in the USDA report.

Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap research also shows extensive disparities by race and geography.

What You Can Do

Fitzgerald, the Feeding America executive, said hunger is a persistent but solvable problem. The issue isn’t that there’s not enough food, she said, pointing to food wastes in the tens of billions of pounds every year in the United States.

“We need everyone to be part of that solution — the government, private sector, food donors and folks who can contribute and raise awareness about his solvable but really difficult problem,” Fitzgerald said.

Here are five things Feeding America says people can do right now:

1. Donate directly to Feeding America, which leverages donations by buying in bulk.
2. Call representatives in Congress and ask them to fully fund the Emergency Food Assistance Program and other federal nutrition programs.
3. At the same time, make it known you want the Agriculture Department to “take any and all actions at their disposal to increase the availability of federal commodities.”
4. Get involved in local food rescue movements; people in the food industry should reach out to Feeding America or local food banks for ways to contribute.
5. Volunteer your time at a local food bank, food pantry or meal program.

Hunger In America

Patch has partnered with Feeding America since 2020 to help raise awareness of hunger in our local communities, a persistent national problem exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Feeding America, which supports 200 food banks across the country, estimates that 1 in 8 people face hunger. This is a Patch social good project; Feeding America receives 100 percent of donations. Find out how you can donate in your community or find a food pantry near you.