Downturn pressures pantries

By Jane DeGeorge
Eagle Reporter
Published: July 24, 2008

As the economy slows, many Madison County families are struggling to keep food on the table.

Rising costs have put low-income families in a crunch – forcing many to reach out for assistance from local organizations. 

“Normally during the summer months the demand [for food] increases,” said Madison Emergency Services Association (MESA) Director Norris John. But this year, the nonprofit organization – which provides families with emergency food, clothes, shelter and financial assistance – has seen the requests for items from its food pantry skyrocket.

“I suspect because of the economic situation, it’s really spiked this year,” John told The Eagle.

The Madison County Department of Social Services is also dealing with increased food assistance requests. Between June 2007 and June 2008, social services saw the number of residents requesting food stamps rise by 30 percent, according to Nan Coppedge, the department’s director.
Coppedge says that the department had “really been juggling since the first of the year” but that she didn’t realize how significant the increase was until she sat down and punched out the numbers.

The social services director believes the jump in food stamp requests is directly related to the current economic downturn as she has dealt with multiple people who have asked for assistance after recently losing their jobs, she said. The department has also seen a recent increase in requests for Medicaid and childcare assistance, according to Coppedge.

The rising costs of groceries and gas has hit residents’ hard – especially low-income families, the social services director added.
“Someone who makes $15 per hour can deal with the increased expenses more than someone who makes $7 per hour – they just can’t absorb that,” she said. 

Caring Friends Pantry in Aroda – a food pantry funded by Oak Grove Mennonite Church – has also watched its patrons steadily increase during the past nine months, according to the pantry’s bookkeeper, Anna Mae Yoder.

“The families that are coming in are bigger – we’ll see six, seven, eight, nine, even 11 in a household,” Yoder told The Eagle.

The Aroda food pantry representative suspects that the housing crisis, job market slump and overall economic downturn have forced some families to move in together, she said. Multiple families will often travel together in one car to pick up their food from the pantry each week likely due to high gas prices, according to Yoder.

Now that the pantry’s participation has grown (it currently serves about 75-100 people per week), the Madison County-based food provider is able to purchase food items for half price from Charlottesville-based Blue Ridge Area Food Bank Network, the pantry’s main supplier, Yoder said.

At the moment, the variety of items the pantry normally receives from the United States Department of Agriculture – given to the pantry for free through the food bank network – has declined.

For the past month, the only item the food pantry has received from the USDA is grapefruit juice, Yoder said. USDA items typically include beans, canned vegetables and some grains, she said.

The dip in available USDA items has been attributed to a rise in food prices in recent years, according to news media reports. The Food, Conservation and Energy Act of 2008 will reportedly increase money for emergency food assistance programs, however funds will not be available until the fall – following summer’s typical spike in food assistance needs.

Although the MESA director said he has no statistics to back it up – he believes the heightened summer requests are for children who, during the school year, receive free or reduced lunches, but lack affordable meals outside of the program.

With MESA’s food pantry shelves emptier than usual, the Main Street organization is at the point where it may need to reduce the amount of food it provides families in order to deal with the swell in requests, according to John.

MESA is supported mainly by local donations from residents, churches, businesses and other groups. The organization hopes to secure additional donations of food items including, peanut butter and jelly, cereal, canned meats and stews, hearty soup, pancake mix and syrup, to help cover the county’s increase in food needs.