Foodbanks running on empty - Vermont Foodbank

November 06, 2007

Foodbanks running on empty

By Mel Huff--Times Argus

BARRE – The Vermont Foodbank is reporting empty shelves at some food pantries around the state and is urging Vermonters to donate food and money.

"We are seeing increased requests for food services all around the state – from Burlington to Brattleboro," said Doug O'Brien, the foodbank's chief executive officer.

The Vermont Foodbank, which last year distributed 6.5 million pounds of food through its network of 270 food shelves and other agencies, reports that its own inventory "is substantially depleted, with current food stocks nearly 50 percent below 2006 levels."

O'Brien said the low inventory is affecting the entire charitable food network. In a recent study, 64 percent of Vermont food shelves identified the foodbank as their most important source of food.

"We're having trouble getting the stuff that we need. It's that time of year," said Jim DeRose, a volunteer with the Central Vermont Community Action Food Shelf. "Their list of available stuff is smaller than it has been. It all trickles down to us because we order our stuff from them, and if they don't have the availability, then we can't get as much, even if we do have the need for it."

The decrease in food inventories is coming at a time when visits to food pantries are on the rise as a result of seasonal jobs ending and energy costs rising. A Vermont Agency of Human Services study reports that the number of people served by food shelves has increased in 12 of the state's 14 counties, the Foodbank noted. It esti-mates that 14,000 low-income Vermonters will visit a food shelf this week.

"There's more of a demand right now for food," said Winnie Mundinger, who runs the Onion River Food Shelf in the state capital region. "There's more hungry people, so it seems like our shelves really go low very fast and we're not always able to buy everything we need from the food bank. This last month we couldn't get cereal," she said.

The Onion River Food Shelf serves East Montpelier, Plainfield, Calais, Marshfield, North Montpelier and Cabot.

"Mainly, we're living off of donations," Mundinger said. "When we can't buy the stuff from the Foodbank, we have to go to the stores, and then we're hurting. We're always out of peanut butter and cereal – we try to give peanut better out because it's high in protein. Spaghetti sauce goes quick. Tuna fish goes quick."

She said a class at Twinfield Union School collected about 200 pounds of food for the food shelf through trick or treating, but they only got two boxes of cereal. Mundinger noted that cereal has become very expensive.

Victoria King, director of the Montpelier Food Pantry, echoed Mundinger's observations. "The Foodbank has a poor selection now," she said. "There hasn't been cereal in a long while. It trickles down – when they're out of good stuff, we're out of good stuff."

O'Brien said the Foodbank has contacted the state's congressional delegation. Although the U.S. Farm Bill now in Congress will increase Vermont's allocation of United States Department of Agriculture commodities by 80 percent, the commodities won't become available until spring.

"In the meantime," O'Brien said, "we have an urgent need for food donations now."

The Foodbank is asking Vermonters to donate food directly to their local meal sites and food shelves because they are the first to respond to people seeking food. Non-perishable meat, fish and poultry, canned vegetables, canned soups and chili and peanut butter are in especially high demand.

November 06, 2007

Press Room