Food pantries eye rising food costs

From higher prices for ground beef and peanut butter to focusing on kitchen necessities, Madison-area food pantries and food banks are contending with and making some adjustments to rising costs for food nationally.

Inflation, supply chain problems and labor shortages are driving up the price of groceries across the country. With a still-increased need for food caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin is purchasing more products and at higher prices.

“It’s costing us more to do what we do, and the only way to meet that need is to raise more money,” said Kristopher Tazelaar, spokesperson for Second Harvest. “We’ve been so incredibly lucky that the public has been very generous with us that we’ve been able to keep up with those rising costs in order to maintain the elevated need for more resources.”

Before the pandemic, Tazelaar said, about 80% of the food Second Harvest sourced was from donations — either from individuals, corporations or grocers — and 20% was purchased. The balance has since shifted to about 60% donated and 40% purchased.

“That, in combination with the rising prices, is truly significant,” Tazelaar said.

The River Food Pantry has considered decreasing the variety of food offered at the North Side pantry and through its other programs because of growing food costs, said Helen Osborn-Senatus, director of operations, but it has not reduced the quantity provided to the 1,000 households fed by The River each week.

“If we talk again in a couple months, who knows,” she said. “The rising food costs are making us look at what we purchase and how we purchase it.”

As an example, Osborn-Senatus said The River would typically purchase from one particular vendor four or five pallets containing six to seven food items. But given cost increases, Osborn-Senatus expects the next order to be three or four pallets with three or four items instead.

But the higher prices won’t affect The River’s mission, she said.

“We have great partners that we’re not going to run out of food,” Osborn-Senatus said. “We’ll still be able to serve everybody who is facing food insecurity in Dane County.”

Ellen Carlson, executive director of Middleton Outreach Ministry, or MOM, said her organization is keeping an eye on costs. But MOM hasn’t had to change operations to its food pantry, which is visited by 60 to 100 families each of the three days a week it’s open.

She said the stability is largely due to partnerships with organizations like Second Harvest that donate food, reducing the need to directly purchase products.

“The community is so generous that it always comes together,” Carlson said. “I don’t really worry that we’re going to run out of our budget, necessarily. It’s more that we may have to start getting a little more creative as to where we’re able to get food.”

Tazelaar said the cost of some food, such as dairy products and eggs, has remained pretty stable. But the costs of other categories, particularly meat and canned goods, have grown significantly, he said, adding the price of ground beef — even at wholesale — is up 44%.

“Those are big categories,” Tazelaar said. “We go through a lot of meat. We go through a lot of canned goods.”

Those most affected by higher grocery bills are people who already visit food pantries, he said, and the increased costs at the grocery store can mean further relying on pantries or turning to inexpensive, unhealthy food options.

Second Harvest saw a 60% increase in people needing food assistance at the height of the pandemic. While the number has dropped, the need still remains 22% above pre-pandemic levels, Tazelaar said. In addition to higher costs, the food bank has been contending with supply chain disruptions, Tazelaar said. In one example, he said an expected three-week delivery of a truck of peanut butter instead took three months.

The River is seeing a drop in the amount of food it recovers from grocers and retailers when products near their best-by or expiration date, Osborn-Senatus said. In the past several months, the nonprofit has received, on average, 7,000 pounds less in recovered food than it normally would from the 110 weekly stops it makes at retailers in the Madison area, she said.

“With the rising food costs, the retailers are — based on feedback from them — they’re being more conscious of how much they have to donate, and so we’re seeing a significant decrease in the amount we’re recovering,” Osborn-Senatus said. “This is where donations come in, so we can continue to serve our community members the way they deserve to be served.”

MOM would consider substituting food items, such as a less-expensive protein option if the price of a particular meat product went up, before providing fewer groceries, Carlson said.

“If we have to lean different directions for different periods of time based on pricing to make sure we don’t have to reduce variety, we will before we would say, ‘You can have less,’” she said. “That is the absolute last resort, and I can’t imagine a picture where our community will allow that.”