“We’re Fighting Day by Day”: Supply Chain Crisis Threatens to Leave Americans Most in Need Without Enough Food

(CNN) – The free food delivery that happens to Beth Greenlee’s doorstep each week is much more than an end point in the US supply chain. It is your lifeline.

This 61-year-old woman has stage 4 endometrial cancer and a low income. For eight months, he has relied on food from MANNA, a nonprofit that provides free meals to more than 1,200 of the sickest people in Philadelphia.

“I’ve even gained a few pounds despite my illness,” says Greenlee. “God only knows how grateful I am for the meals.”

But a crisis looms over MANNA. Their food costs are up 40%, they say, and in December they will likely have to stop accepting new customers, perhaps hundreds of them.

“That will break our hearts,” said MANNA CEO Sue Daugherty. “But we couldn’t have planned this in a million years.”

As families across the country grapple with the wide-ranging repercussions of the crisis in the supply chain – from late furniture to rising car prices – others face a more serious problem: finding enough to eat.

A poll Published in September by Impact Genome and The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed that 23% of Americans experienced eating problems in the past year, and 37% received some form of food aid from non-profit organizations. or the government.

Right now, schools and nonprofits are grappling with rising food prices and shortages.

Experts say there is a lot of food, but with the cargo ships held, manufacturers are losing materials. And the labor and truck shortages it is making it more difficult and expensive to pack food products and transport them where they need to go.

Consumer prices are rising at the fastest rate in 12 months since 2008. The number of products that were sold out for sale on the internet has increased 172% compared to January 2020, according to Adobe Analytics.

Difficulties in food banks

Food banks across the country are facing a decline in donations.

“What we see is that our food banks have to increase purchases, which, of course, costs them a lot of money to get the food they need for their communities,” said Feeding America COO Katie Fitzgerald. “Even donated food is shrinking due to the rising cost of food. So, for example, manufacturers can give us less because they can sell that food on the secondary market, due to its higher value.”

At El Pasoans Fighting Hunger, a large food bank in El Paso, Texas, demand has quadrupled since the start of the pandemic. Now, the food trucks do not reach the desert community.

“We are struggling every day to find a suitable supply,” said CEO Susan Goodell. “We are totally dependent on manufacturers, suppliers, middlemen, retailers, etc. So, in the end, we don’t control our destiny when it comes to the amount of food available.”

The Texas food bank is already dealing with a labor shortage, which forced it to close three of its five locations, causing some families to have to travel long distances to get their food.

In Philadelphia, the supply at Mission House is the lowest it has been in the 27 years Annette Glover has run the food pantry. Your concern carries over to Thanksgiving, with the price of turkeys on the rise and stagnant donations.

“The biggest fear is that we don’t have enough food to feed people,” he said. “If they don’t come, I’ll use my money to buy them turkeys so they can have a nice Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Hit the schools

Problems in the supply chain have also affected schools, with food deliveries constantly delayed or canceled.

In June, the Philadelphia School District food supplier abandoned them, blaming the supply chain and worker shortages. District requests have been unpredictable throughout the year.

“It’s really about the vendors not making the products,” said Amy Virus, manager of administrative and support services for the district. “We are really working behind the scenes to make sure we have something for the student menu.”

Different items are missing from their schools each week. Right now, they are running out of paper trays. The district is making daily menu changes, even with its food staff reduced by more than 20%.

The district insists that the quality and quantity of its meals have not changed. But Stefanie Marrero started preparing lunch for her four children out of concern about nutrition.

“Every day they came home hungry and wanting a full meal as soon as they walked through the door,” Marrero said, adding that lunches have become a financial burden on her family.

A school problem at the national level

School districts across the country face the same supply problems.

“Our suppliers do not have enough manpower to produce all the food and supplies that we have ordered, and the distributors do not have enough truckers to deliver merchandise to us,” said School Nutrition Association President Beth Wallace. “So our school nutrition professionals are having to go to great lengths to get healthy food for all of our students every day.”

Cincinnati public schools miss up to 20 meals each week. Denver schools can’t find enough milk. And Dallas public schools are adding more finger foods, like fried chicken, because they can’t get enough utensils.

In Prince George’s County, Maryland, the public school district, citing the supply chain, canceled take-home dinners, which greatly benefit children from low-income families.

Oscar Rivera has two children in the district, and is currently unemployed. Her family now spends more on groceries and turns to food banks to serve dinner.

“We can no longer say ‘let’s go out and have fun’ because we have to buy food first,” Rivera said through an interpreter. “Food is the most important thing in a home. Toys don’t matter, going out doesn’t matter, but food does matter.”

The United States Department of Agriculture is sending US $ 1,500 million to schools to combat food shortages. The government is also granting waivers that allow schools to find quick substitutes when more nutritious food items are not available.

However, districts are reporting an increase in food budgets. That includes Philadelphia, where the extra spending hasn’t brought stability.

“I have some sayings in my office and that’s one of them: ‘what’s the crisis this week,'” said Amy Virus of the Philadelphia school district. “We are getting good at this, but it is really a hassle and we need some stability in the supply chain.”

With information from Matt Egan.