Cost of food, housing, fuel ‘particularly alarming’ as pantries struggle to fill needs of families

Middletown Salvation Army is serving twice as many families compared to 3 years ago.
Barb Martin picks an order at the Salvation Army emergency food pantry Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 in Middletown. Martin averages over 100 hours a month of volunteer time at the food pantry. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

Credit: Nick Graham

Credit: Nick Graham

Barb Martin picks an order at the Salvation Army emergency food pantry Thursday, Nov. 7, 2024 in Middletown. Martin averages over 100 hours a month of volunteer time at the food pantry. NICK GRAHAM/STAFF

At a time when groceries, gasoline and housing are costing consumers more, local foodbanks and food pantries are seeing an increased need for their services.

Shared Harvest Foodbank, the Fairfield-based organization that supplies local food pantries, and its affiliates distributed food to more than 49,000 residents throughout southwest Ohio in October, said Executive Director Terry Perdue.

He said based on current trends, it is expected in the coming months, that this number may increase by an average of 1,000 people each month through the end of the year.

Jane Fiessinger, coordinator of the Middletown Salvation Army food pantry, said it serves about 1,000 Middletown, Monroe, Trenton and Madison Twp., families a month. That number has doubled in the last three years as some of the families are first-time clients, she said.

The overall rising costs of food, housing, fuel, and other essentials are impacting the ability for families to afford basic necessities, Perdue said. Those impacted most are seniors on fixed incomes and families with young children, he said.

This is “particularly alarming” as food pantries are already struggling to keep food on the shelves to meet the growing demand, he said.

There are 27 food pantries in Butler County, 13 in Warren County and four in Preble County, according to a listing on the Shared Harvest web site.

Members of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce help at a Shared Harvest food drive. SUBMITTED PHOTO

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Food insecurity is defined by the U,S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) as the lack of access to enough food for an active, healthy life due to limited financial resources.

In 2022, the most recent data available, overall food insecurity increased from 10.4% in 2021 to 13.5% in 2022, according to the USDA. That change reflects the largest one-year increase since 2008, which amounts to 44 million people, or one in every seven.

Founded in 1983 by Tina Osso, Shared Harvest, which serves Butler, Warren. Preble, Darke and Miami counties, is seeking donations of food to support families throughout the winter, according to Perdue.

Most needed items are canned vegetables, combination foods such as soup, mac & cheese, canned raviolis, proteins such as peanut butter, beans, and canned meats such as tuna and chicken.

Additionally, Perdue said, a $15 sponsorship will help provide a holiday meal to an average family of four.

Shared Harvest’s mission is to find, rescue, and distribute food to people living in poverty through an efficient network, utilizing the public and private sectors and to raise awareness of the impact of poverty.

The Middletown Salvation Army pantry is open Monday through Friday and it doesn’t limit how many times clients can receive food, Fiessinger said. She described the assistance “as needed” to get families “over the hump.”

It all comes back to simple math, Fiessinger said. While inflation has doubled, assistance hasn’t doubled.

She said some families are “desperate” for food.

“They depend on us,” she said.

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