A Run on Banks: Food Charities Feel the Pinch

[question everything]

The Wall Street Journal

A Run on Banks: Food Charities Feel the Pinch
By KRIS MAHER
March 20, 2008; Page A1

Add another institution to those getting squeezed by America's economic crunch: soup kitchens. Across the country, groups that provide food to people in need are scrambling to make up for a loss of government-provided surplus items as commodity prices have soared. Surpluses have dropped as some commodities, like corn, are being turned into alternative fuels and others are going overseas as the weak dollar makes U.S. exports more palatable to other countries. At the same time, food banks and soup kitchens say that people struggling with mortgage woes, rising gas prices and layoffs are increasingly turning to them for help. To cope, food banks are being forced to purchase more food, cut back on the amount they provide or even trade local produce with other food banks. United Food Bank in Mesa, Ariz., recently got volunteers to pick oranges, grapefruits and lemons, some of which were swapped for potatoes from food banks in Idaho.


Municipalities are offering tax breaks to food wholesalers and retailers that donate food. Local donations can come with culinary challenges: What exactly does a soup-kitchen chef do with a fragrant citrus fruit called Buddha's Hand? A big hit to food banks has come from cuts in fresh produce and canned food supplied through the U.S. Department of Agriculture's surplus-commodity program, designed to help farmers. Such donations dropped to $58 million worth of food last year from $242 million four years ago. Donations from food manufacturers and retailers have remained steadier. The government provides an additional $140 million annually to food banks through a mandatory program, but that program is purchasing less food as prices have risen.

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When his family ran out of food last week, Daniel Wheelus went to Prodisee Pantry, in Spanish Fort, Ala., for the first time. He received a full shopping cart, including a ham, that he said would last a week for himself, his wife and three children, ages 16, 12 and 10. "They even gave my boy some clothes for school," he said. "They really, really helped." Mr. Wheelus, 39 years old, earns $13.60 an hour working in an oil field 45 miles from his home. But it costs him $30 a day to fill up the Dodge Dakota pickup he drives to work. His utility bills have doubled to $400 a month from last year, he says. He says he lost his house in October after missing mortgage payments following knee surgery and now owes back taxes.

A number of corporations have stepped in to help food banks. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., already a large food donor, delivered a tractor trailer of food to a food bank in each state in December. Yet in many cases, food banks say they are forced to buy from brokers... The East End Cooperative Ministry in Pittsburgh is relying more on daily deliveries from a nearby Whole Foods store, as weekly deliveries from an area food bank have gotten smaller. The ministry group prepares meals in a church basement... Mr. Hereth never knows what ingredients he will get each day. On a recent day, he prepared sloppy Joes made from ground beef donated by a nearby congregation, onions and peppers from Whole Foods, government ketchup from the food bank and buns from a Giant Eagle Inc. supermarket. He also served minestrone soup from a local Olive Garden restaurant, along with donated apple pie and tangerines.

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[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. It is getting tough

Wonder if gardeners with surplus produce this summer will consider donating to food banks? Might be worth it for them to have radio stations put out a PSA in the summer.

[knitter4democracy]

4. Our local food bank asks for it every year.

They got a lot last year, though not as many tomatoes, as it was a bad tomato year. We still have a lot of people who garden here and grow more than they can put easily. Our local food bank even takes homecanned items, though I wonder how they know if the food's safe or not.

[Warpy]

2. I've upped my donations this year

because the price of food is just plain insane, especially the good stuff we need to eat to stay healthy. Trash hasn't gone up as much as fruits, veggies, dairy, grains and meats.

[Adsos Letter]

3. Time to take the tax money being given to "faith-based" programs

and put it where it should rightly be...in government subsidized food programs run by government, or non-sectarian private, entities.