RICHMOND, Va. – Many families struggle to keep food on the table as we head into the New Year.
The inflation rate may be down, but food prices are still rising. That means many of our neighbors have to make difficult choices between buying food or paying the bills.
“This year our food banks have seen on average an increase of 5% to 10% people coming for food assistance, and that may not sound like a lot, but it adds up to 10s of thousands of more people,” Eddie Oliver, the Executive Director of the Federation of Virginia Food Banks said.
As Oliver says, those on the front lines of feeding the hungry see many having to choose between keeping the lights on or getting a nutritious meal.
“Families have to make a really difficult budgeting decisions,” Oliver said. “And you’re going to start with things like your rent, and your car payments and your hospital bills because if you don’t pay those, you’re going to lose things or you’re going to have collectors coming after you so the thing that families, unfortunately, can most often cut back on is food.”
Over the past year, nearly 1 million more Americans have qualified for SNAP or food stamps, and WIC is also seeing record enrollment levels.
“Food banks are really prioritizing healthy food and fresh produce, meat and dairy because that we know is what food insecure families are missing out on most often,” Oliver said.
He says they saw a huge dip in food insecurity a year into the pandemic because the government temporarily loosened restrictions on assistance.
“So we know those things work,” Oliver said. “That’s why we continue to advocate for a stronger safety net so that fewer families are falling through the cracks.”
Oliver said if you’re considering reaching out for help, you can find help on vafoodbanks.org or call 211 to find help in your local community.
Click here to view the report by our friends at 12 On Your Side.
