HALETHORPE, MD — Anyone who's been to a grocery store recently has most likely noticed higher prices on just about everything from meats and dairy to baked goods and canned goods.
Rising inflation not only puts a strain on household budgets it also hurts organizations that help feed families in need like the Maryland Food Bank.
The Maryland Food Bank is quite an operation, with a team of staff members, volunteers, and distribution partners all working together to help those in need put food on their table.
One of those partners is Zelda Johnson. Her team came to the food bank to pick up food supplies to distribute to her west Baltimore community through the People’s Church of Baltimore Baptist.
“People are just coming out just to get food because they’re actually in need of it and they really can’t afford to go to the market on a regular basis,” Johnson said.
The high price of groceries has more and more people turning towards the Maryland Food Bank for help to make ends meet but the food bank also is not immune from inflation.
“I was in the market the other day and the price of sugar is went from like two dollars up to almost 5 dollars for three pounds of sugar,” Johnson said.
Maryland Food Bank president and CEO Carmen del Guercio said “prior to covid, we would buy about 12 million pounds of food, and we’d pay about $0.45 a pound. Today, we’re buying 25 million pounds of food in response to increased demand, and we’re paying nearly $0.88 a pound. So, it’s nearly four times our costs. Over $20 million a year that we’re paying for food that we weren’t paying three years ago.”
Del Guercio is grateful for the support, time and money the community provided throughout the pandemic, although it has dropped since inflation hit.
“Donors are feeling the pinch as well, I mean when your budget goes up by over $400 a month, regardless what your budget is, some accommodations and trade-offs have to be made. And so, for some folks that’s food, for our donors it might be that they may not be able to provide as much financial support,” del Guercio said.
The food bank has the buying power to buy food supplies in bulk.
Meanwhile, del Guercio analyzes data from a U.S Census Pulse Survey to anticipate how much more is needed for the food bank. He recognizes the demand for assistance doesn't appear to be decreasing anytime soon.
“The number of households in Maryland who were indicating that they’re struggling to make ends meet was 24% in December. In May that went to 32%. And in September now, it’s over 40%,” del Guercio said.
It's numbers like these which keep Johnson on her volunteer mission of 21 years of helping others.
“It’s God’s work, and we love giving and helping people in need,” Johnson said.
“With us giving out food, it helps people have a better sense of hope,” Johnson added.
The issue of food insecurity is a year round need not just during the holidays. the people at the Maryland Food Bank would like to help end hunger by focusing on the root causes and finding solutions.
“We truly believe that if we want to end hunger, it’s going to take more than just distributing food. We need to start figuring out ways to address some of the root causes of hunger, that are driving people into our food pantries in the first place,” del Guercio said.
“So, we want to take much more active role in try to bring those solutions into our communities, whether that’s workforce development, transportation, child care, healthcare, services that are causing people having to use our food bank pantry partners,” del Guercio added.
