The Executive Office of Health and Human Services said there is "an epidemic" of hunger in the Commonwealth.
1 in 10 children live in poverty in Massachusetts.
There are 550,000 Massachusetts residents who do not know where their next meal is coming from.
Local and national food pantries are dealing with issues of food price inflation, declining donations, as well as increased demand and are therefore having difficulty keeping their shelves stocked?
Gov. Deval Patrick said "The middle class is one month away from being poor and deeply anxious about it ... one paycheck away, one serious illness away."
More than 1 in 10 Americans live with what the Census Bureau calls "food insecurity" -they're forced to skip meals.
Families are prioritizing which bills to pay, most often at the expense of their food. This phenomenon is known as "Heat or Eat" dilemma. In a recent poll, it was found that nearly 1 in 3 people are cutting back on food.
Donations to private food banks are off by a minimum of 9% and up to 60% in some areas.
The Walk for Hunger supports many of our food banks. They raised $3.5 million this year which is $500,000 more than last ... but it will feed the same amount of people because of inflation. $750,000 of these funds goes to putting on the walk. The food banks help the food pantries on a limited basis.
Food drives also help to stock the shelves, but they are not enough. Much of the food collected in the postal food drives is expired.
Although many food items stocked in the food banks are donated, some food pantries purchase food supplies with grant money from the state. Because of rising costs, they are buying less.
Local and national food pantries are dealing with issues of food price inflation, declining donations and increasing demand and therefore having difficulty staying stocked.
Grocery stores can no longer give the food pantries surplus food because they themselves are only ordering what they can sell.
