Food banks face inflationary battle with surging demand: ‘We’ve never seen anything like this’


Despite providing emergency aid to families during the Great Recession and Hurricane Sandy disaster, a food bank in New Jersey spent more money than this to feed many whose wallets were hurt by inflation. He says it won’t.

“It’s the same story,” New Jersey community food bank president Carlos Rodriguez told FOX Business’s Lydia Hu on Friday. much more expensive. [kids] go to school And of course, they hit another high cost when they go to the grocery store.”

Rodriguez said nonprofit food banks are spending 40% more to buy the same amount of supplies they did last year, which provided 85 million meals.

But Rodriguez fears the 20% increase in meal recipients will force the organization to defer donations through the rest of 2022.

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Rodriguez said, “I haven’t seen anything like this since the Great Recession when I had the opportunity to serve, not through Sandy.

Carlos Rodriguez, chairman of the Community Food Bank of New Jersey, said the charity “has never seen” the impact of inflation on hunger and poverty at Barney & Co. Friday, July 29, 2022. (Getty Images)

Several charities told Fox Business that high inflation is increasing the financial burden on poor families, making it more difficult for food pantries to provide relief to such families. Food banks across the country are feeling a similar impact. Demand has surged, combined with higher prices, expiring benefits and lower donations due to the pandemic, and the group expects levels to remain high in the short term. I’m here.

“Meals on Wheels America has seen increased demand in the field and we expect demand to remain high,” Meals on Wheels America spokesperson Jenny Young previously told Fox Business in an email. said in “Eight out of 10 people are still serving more home-delivered meals and seniors than they did pre-pandemic, according to the latest research on local Meals on Wheels programs.”

Fu said in the report that some cities are facing “explosive” demand growth, with populations growing 78% in Phoenix, Arizona and 58.4% in Alameda County, California.

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A community food bank in New Jersey fears it could be “overwhelmed” as the latest economic data show the US economy is slipping into recession.

A senior White House official told Fox Business that the president’s top priority remains inflation, with the U.S. unemployment rate dropping to 3.6% from 10.2% since taking office. It pointed to programs such as a $500 million effort to lower fertilizer costs that it is pushing to keep prices down, and blamed supply chain disruptions and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine for the high prices.

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Thomas Catenacci of FOX Business and Associated Press contributed to this report.



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