Inflation in the food trade and the end of government aid put pressure on local food banks

The federal government's pandemic-era food aid ended earlier this year, and inflation also took its toll. These are just two reasons why visits to local food banks have increased sharply, WMRA's Ayse Pirge reports.

Lee Sinclair is the communications and public relations manager for the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank. He says visits from guests, people who rely on the food pantries and food bank programs, have increased by 30 to 50 percent this year.

Courtesy of Blue Ridge Area Food Bank

LEE SINCLAIR: Last fiscal year, we had… an average of 127,500 guest visits per month in the region. And over the last six months, we've averaged 153,000 guest visits per month. So we can't release our final numbers for the fiscal year yet. But that growth alone – an average of 30,000 additional guest visits per month – is pretty significant.

Food-insecure households often struggle to obtain adequate food and access food in socially acceptable ways, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). In other words, they may have to resort to scavenging or rely on emergency supplies.

Feeding America says the impact of food insecurity on individuals can also include health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Food banks like the BRAFB are nonprofit organizations that store and distribute food to places like local food pantries. They receive food donations from a number of sources, including private individuals, grocery stores and restaurants, as well as large corporations and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The BRAFB serves a large portion of Virginia, including much of the Shenandoah Valley, as well as cities from Charlottesville to Lexington to Winchester. Among local counties, Bath, Page and Shenandoah have the highest rates of food insecurity, according to data from Feeding America's 2022 Map the Meal Gap.

And what makes the problem even worse is that people who suffer from food insecurity may also not be eligible for SNAP, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Sinclair says SNAP helps provide food to nine people for every person a food bank helps. While the program benefits many people, some may not know they are eligible for the program. SNAP also presents some hurdles to receiving the aid, including filling out a lengthy application form. That's why BRAFB has a SNAP benefits coordinator to help people overcome those hurdles and trains partner food banks so they can help more people receive SNAP.

Sinclair said food price inflation was not only a challenge for individuals and families on tight budgets, it was also putting pressure on food banks' balance sheets.

SINCLAIR: Our strategy is actually to do what we always do, which is to make sure we have enough food… and everybody should have enough food. And that's pretty much it. Our strategy is to make sure that if our donations go down or the USDA isn't providing as much food as they used to, we buy more food. And that impacts us too. Because we're paying more, even though we're operating at scale, we're still paying more for our food. I'll give you an example: before the pandemic, we spent about $1.8 million on food… Last year, we spent over $5 million on food… to replace the food that's not being donated.

He says another trend that is actually good for large grocery stores and chains is creating an additional challenge for food banks. Retailers are increasing their efficiency, which means food banks are getting less from them.

SINCLAIR: …They're very efficient and they're getting better at not producing waste. Normally we would get leftovers or surpluses and things like that. But they're so efficient that that number is going down. So when that number goes down and demand goes up, we have to buy more food.

And then… there is politics.

SINCLAIR: …Some people in the legislature want to cut some of these programs. But what we're seeing…from a food bank perspective, is that the number of people who are food insecure is growing, and the demand, the number of people coming to our food banks is growing exponentially. And cutting those funds means we have to buy more food, and that food now costs more. And those challenges are compounded.

Despite all these challenges, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and other nonprofit providers continue to do their best to alleviate food insecurity.