The troubled U.S. economy is forcing tens of thousands of people to visit food pantries for the first time. But as the demand rises, donations to those pantries are drying up and some places have run out of food entirely, even in the nation’s breadbasket.
Although Kansas’ Johnson County is one of the richer counties in the United States, a food pantry there run by the local Catholic Diocese had to close last week.
Ellen Jones, director of Catholic Community Services, says she was stunned.
We have a vibrant outreach ministry that includes a food pantry and we are having a hard time getting food….the need is great.
Here in northern Indiana, we have been able to buy meat from local markets, which has been frozen on the “date of expiration” required by the FDA; the markets are glad to sell it in bulk, they do not want to sell it at discounted retail (because they wind up competing with their own fresh meat display) and we buy beef, pork, and chicken cuts for a flat and very discounted price. This meat is delivered to pantries outside of the immediate market area of the store(s) selling it to us, and everybody wins – -especially the poor, who need the help always.
That’s the truth. We have a pantry at my parish church, and for the first time since we’ve started it, we’ve had to turn some people away because the intake of food has stayed the same, but the need has doubled, thanks to the recent economic downturn. We’ve literally run out of food for the month for first time ever.