minnesota, new york

Holiday Hunger

More American families rely on food banks as high prices squeeze budgets

November 23, 2023

Geoff Bennett:There has been some good news of late when it comes to inflation. Data out from the federal government last week showed inflation eased through October. And according to the Farm Bureau, the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner actually decreased slightly this year to about $61.But as special correspondent Fred de Sam Lazaro reports, stubbornly high food prices are still squeezing some families this holiday season.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:More than an hour before it opens, the line starts to grow outside Today’s Harvest in the St. Paul suburb of Oakdale. Some have used the food pantry for year. Others are visiting for the first time.All are welcome, no questions asked, which, in a still challenging economy, means demand has gone through the roof.
Jessica Francis, Executive Director, Open Cupboard:Before the pandemic, we were serving about 420 families a week on average, and we’re now serving more than 4,000.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:Jessica Francis is executive director of Open Cupboard, the nonprofit that runs Today’s Harvest.The organization’s food comes from grocery store donations and food banks. And it relies on volunteers to keep everything running.
Jessica Francis:We have faith every day that it’s going to work out and that we’re going to have enough food for everybody that’s going to come through our door today. And, every day, it does. But there are days, probably, that — where we stretch that faith a little bit.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:Thirty-seven-year-old Lisa Milhoan relies on Today’s Harvest for fruits, vegetables, and meat.Are these just outside of your budget in a typical grocery store?
Lisa Milhoan, Mother:Oh, yes. They charge a ridiculous amount per pound. And it’s like, well, one pound is good for a meal.(Laughter)
Fred de Sam Lazaro:Milhoan has struggled to afford housing and spent seven months in a homeless shelter with her son. She’s been sober for three years and has focused on her mental health and eating better.
Lisa Milhoan:I envision being independent from all of this and being able to help people with it instead. But, right now, I need the help to be able to get to a point that my cup is full, so I can help other people.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:Across Minnesota, visits to food pantries, also known as food shelves, have skyrocketed from about 3.6 million in 2021 to more than 5.5 million last year. And that number is expected to reach seven million this year.
Colleen Moriarty, Executive Director, Hunger Solutions Minnesota:It’s just not an emergency food system anymore. It started out to be that. But now it is the way many, many families make it through the month.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:Colleen Moriarty leads the St. Paul nonprofit Hunger Solutions. She points to inflation driving up the cost of food coupled with the rollback of federal benefits like SNAP, once known as food stamps, which were temporarily increased during COVID.
Colleen Moriarty:Not being able to count on the fact that you’re going to have enough money and the cost of food to replace whatever it is that you need is — it’s just simply unattainable for many people.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:Despite explosive growth in food shelf use here, Minnesota is actually relatively well off when it comes to food security. Many other regions of the country are seeing far greater need.In East Harlem in Manhattan, New York Common Pantry had already been a big provider of food assistance before COVID, supplying grocery packages every two weeks and a daily hot meal for those in need. Like in the Twin Cities, the easing of the pandemic has not meant reduced demand.Stephen Grimaldi is the executive director of New York common pantry.
Stephen Grimaldi, Executive Director, New York Common Pantry:Before the pandemic, we were serving about 6.3 million meals a year. We’re on pace to serve about 11 million meals this year.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:About 40 percent of each package given out is fresh fruits and vegetables. The Pantry supports nearly 200 locations around the city, but this is its biggest location and the line stretches all the way around the block. The organization is distributing 6,000 turkeys this Thanksgiving.
Dolores Martinez, New York Resident (through translator):The turkey and the other goods that I get today.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:Dolores Martinez started coming to New York Common Pantry in January. She immigrated from the Dominican Republic and lives with her son in Manhattan. She has big plans to share the food she’s getting today with her extended family.
Dolores Martinez (through translator):I’m taking the turkey and other items we will need from this cart, because they don’t have much money either. This is a great, great help.
Stephen Grimaldi:So we’re seeing increases from almost every group, every demographic. There is a big spike in demand from asylum seekers. Last year, we saw a good number of asylum seekers. But we’re at a pace about a 600 percent increase this year.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:Since last spring, more than 126,000 asylum seekers have arrived in New York City. And, as of last month, more than 64,000 were currently being housed in city shelters. One of those shelters is a former jail around the corner from New York Common Pantry housing up to 500 people.The influx of asylum seekers comes as New York City was already facing disproportionately high levels of food insecurity. An estimated 14.6 percent of New York City residents experienced food insecurity in 2022. Nationwide, the figure is almost 13 percent, which is up from just over 10 percent in 2021; 74-year-old Clarence Allen lives on a fixed income and has been coming here to stretch his budget since the onset of COVID.Like one in five New Yorkers, he also relies on SNAP.
Clarence Allen, New York Resident:Well, food stamps ain’t enough. All right. And, after three weeks, I ain’t got no food. But when I come down here, they give me enough to make it through the month.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:Like in Minnesota, Grimaldi says the rollback of pandemic era benefits and inflation have been hurting everyone.
Stephen Grimaldi:You have got folks who now can’t afford to buy the fresh food that we serve here. And a challenge, of course, for emergency feeding programs is that we also have to pay for them as well. So it’s the double whammy, where we don’t have enough, enough resources, but we have to buy more food to help folks who are really struggling.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:That struggle persists nationwide and year-round.
Colleen Moriarty:I really admire all the efforts to bring more attention to hunger at this time of year, because, certainly, when you sit down to a huge meal and you think of someone having nothing, that’s a problem. And the donations go up at that time of year, and then they fall off.So what I want to say is this. Hunger can strike anyone.
Fred de Sam Lazaro:And those tackling this problem don’t expect it to ease anytime soon.For the “PBS NewsHour,” I’m Fred de Sam Lazaro in Oakdale, Minnesota.
Geoff Bennett:Fred’s reporting is a partnership with the Under-Told Stories Project at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota.

Food Banks Feel the Squeeze

and inflation doesn’t help

There’s been some good news of late when it comes to inflation. Data from the federal government last week showed inflation eased through October, 2023. And according to the Farm Bureau, the average cost of a Thanksgiving dinner actually decreased slightly this year. In this report we examine how stubbornly high food prices are still squeezing families this holiday season.