Food banks struggle to stock shelves as food prices soarExBulletin

Scott Simon, Host:

Food prices are rising, and some products are hard to come by. This is starting to affect food banks as more Americans need it. The number of people relying on food banks has more than doubled since the start of the pandemic. A food bank in Oakland, California has to spend an extra $60,000 a month to feed its customers. Reggie Young is CEO of the Alameda County Community Food Bank and joins us from Oakland. Mr. Young, thank you very much for being with us.

Reggie Young: Thanks for having me.

Simon: Sixty thousand dollars is an extra amount that you can afford. How can you do that?

Young man: Yes. And that actually means a lot to us as an organization, especially as a nonprofit. We have to be constantly prepared for disasters, and thus everything from earthquake to fire. We’ve been fortunate that our community has been able to kind of support us to make sure we have enough reserves in times like these.

Simon: Have you been running out of food, or is that looming if things don’t change?

Young: We had to make a lot of really hard choices. So one of the things we see is that for our staples, they all went up in price from about 3% to 17%. So we have to be very cognizant of what kind of product we offer, how much of that product we have and basically try to increase the dollar as much as possible to ensure the families in our community have the food that they need.

Simon: Well, give us some details, if possible, of some of the options you’re wrestling with.

Young people: For items like fruits, vegetables, canned meat, proteins, etc., these are places where we can’t get a certain type of item, we can replace it with another item. So one of the things we’ve been struggling to get by is canned tuna. Well, thankfully, we recently got a grant from Costco where we were able to buy items like canned tuna, as well as things like canned chicken etc, to make sure we still had enough protein to give to our families.

Simon: We see stories every day about problems in the supply chain. I suppose this affected you. Can you tell us how you noticed it and how it builds up?

Young: Yes. So there are two things really that we’ve seen as they relate to the supply chain. The first is that food costs are significantly higher for us. But the second is mainly the lead times. And so in the last year, we’ve been able to get things going for about two to three weeks. However, today we have to double that time frame in which we order the products. So there is much longer time. And quite frankly, we’re not always sure we’ll get the food we ask for.

Simon: The holidays are coming, a time of plenty. And I know it’s important to have some celebration there, too. Will you be able to do that?

MY: I think one of the things that we know is that the pandemic is not over yet, that the struggles families face on a daily basis are continuing. Food is one of the things that people enjoy during the holidays on a regular basis. And so we will do everything in our power to make sure that people have this food on the table and that they can enjoy the holidays, as anyone should.

Simon: What you’re doing is important work. It seems to me that it is becoming more urgent. Is it fair to say?

Young: It’s fair to say that. I would say that in our county specifically, we’ve seen a significant increase in food insecurity. We continue to see unemployment rates within Alameda County double what they were before the pandemic began. And so one of the things we always try to repeat is that we’re still in the middle of a disaster. I came here from Houston. And the way I think about recovery is from a hurricane’s point of view. And so when a hurricane comes, you can see it, you can experience it, and then it disappears. The storm hasn’t gone away in Alameda County and throughout our country, and so we shouldn’t treat it like it is.

And even when we are in recovery, the truth is that there has been no just recovery. And so we have to be very conscious about how we are going to ensure that all families within our communities have what they need.

Simon: Reggie Young is the CEO of the Alameda County Community Food Bank. Thank you very much for being with us, sir.

Young: Thanks for having me.

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