Inflation hits food pantries

Across the country, inflation has surged to a four-decade high, leading to a decline in donations to food banks that serve lower-income residents already facing a squeeze on their wallets due to the high cost of food, it has been reported.

That’s not a good situation for food banks, such as the Jackson County Ministerial Alliance’s New Hope Center Food Pantry, to be in, according to Sarah Bahner, food pantry manager, who said that high inflation rates are forcing more families to utilize the food pantry.

“Every week, we see a few more people coming in,” Bahner said. “During COVID-19, it kind of slowed down, and I’m not really sure why, but things are starting to increase quite a bit… It has to be due to high inflation.”

JCMA Secretary Joyce Immenschuh reported that the food pantry has been seeing “a slight increase each month” in recent months, with 59 households being served in July, including 69 adults, 34 children and 39 senior citizens.

And Janice Schweigen, who oversees Harvesters’ monthly food distribution events in Holton, which serves about 300 families a month, and Netawaka, which serves about 200 families a month, said more people have been lining up for food disbursements in recent months as inflation sends grocery prices higher.

“We’re definitely seeing an increase,” Schweigen said.

Vicki Gilliland, who oversees Hoyt’s monthly Harvesters distribution — the most recent of which occurred on Monday — also said numbers are up in the southern Jackson County community’s distributions, which handles about 280 families a month on average.

While efforts have been made to keep the New Hope food pantry’s shelves and freezers stocked — including the Jackson County Farm Bureau Association’s recent “Filling The Freezers” initiative, which turned the purchase of a steer at the Jackson County Fair into a sizable donation of ground beef to the pantry — Bahner said more donations are needed to keep local families from going hungry.

“When people go shopping, if they just pick up one extra item and drop that off, it all helps,” she said. “Peanut butter, macaroni and cheese, pasta noodles, spaghetti sauce, dry goods you can keep on the shelf — we’re looking for everything.”

Farm Bureau Financial Services of Jackson County recently teamed up with the Jackson County Farm Bureau Association to purchase a market steer at the Jackson County Fair’s livestock sale, paying the steer’s floor price and premium, according to Donna Ashcraft, county Farm Bureau coordinator.

The steer was processed and meat packaged by Cassey Shupe and her employees at Holton Meat Processing, Ashcraft noted, and the meat — totaling about 450 pounds — was delivered to the food pantry on Monday, Aug. 15.

“Farmers and ranchers know how important it is for all families to have access to safe, nutritious food,” said Garrett Holaday, Jackson County Farm Bureau president. “We are excited to be a part of the solution.”

“We are happy to be a part of helping end hunger in our community, and we encourage everyone who can to join us in this endeavor,” added Rob Wareham of Farm Bureau Financial Services of Jackson County.

Bahner agreed, saying she was “really surprised” to note that Farm Bureau, which had made a similar donation last year, repeated the donation this year, making it possible to give out more ground beef, and not just canned meats like chicken or tuna, to those who utilize the pantry’s services.

“I just thought it was amazing, just fantastic,” she said. “And I have to say that our community is wonderful. It’s amazing what this little town can do.”

But while the pantry’s cupboards aren’t totally bare, she said that rising inflation rates have resulted in a slowdown in the amount of food donations received.

The pantry has some funds set aside for food purchases, she said, adding that “we try not to dip into our cash to buy food unless we have to.”

“We’re finding now that we have to dip into our cash to buy food because the donations are down,” she added. “But people are still getting plenty of food, because we’re still getting food from the government, too.”

Regarding the Harvesters program, Schweigen said that during monthly food distributions in Holton — held on the first Tuesday of each month — more than 300 food packages are distributed on average each month. Harvesters also holds monthly food distributions in Netawaka on the third Monday of each month and in Hoyt on the fourth Monday of each month.

The high number of families taking advantage of the Harvesters program has risen since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, she noted, adding that with inflation adversely affecting the price of groceries, more families have started to trickle in during recent months.

The New Hope Center Food Pantry is located in the First Christian Church basement at Fifth and Wisconsin streets in Holton and is open on Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. A drop box for food locations is available at the center and is checked daily, Bahner said.

For more information about Harvesters food distribution in Holton and Netawaka, contact Schweigen at (785) 986-6653; for information about Harvesters distributions in Hoyt, call Gilliland at (785) 986-6209.