Food bank sees more hungry

The tightening economy and rising food prices are starting to show up on the doorstep locally, as Carrie Applegate of Ashland noticed when she underwent the "humbling" experience of loading her cart with free groceries from the Ashland Emergency Food Bank.

"It's very humbling, because we try our hardest and we know there are lots of people less fortunate than us, who can't afford an apartment like we have," says Applegate. "It's hard to come here and ask for free food, but we can't afford the grocery store. It's outrageous now."

The groceries she put in her car — bread, milk, eggs, cereal, soup, beans, pasta sauce, hot dogs and tuna — would have cost $125 to $150, she estimates, "but yes, we're desperate. The reality is there's nothing left in the cupboard for the kids' breakfast tomorrow."

"Emily" of Talent, also feeding a family of four, notes "going to the grocery store is rough. This food bank helps a whole lot. Soup used to be under a dollar and now it's about $3. It's bad. It started to change about eight months ago. "We used to think other people needed the food bank, then you find out you're the people who need it."

Business has picked up considerably since last year at the food bank and that's not good, says AEFB President Mark Dennett, holding up a card that says it served 775 people in March this year compared to 495 in the same month last year. For February, it was 395 last year and 731 this year. For January, it was 517 last year and 763 this year.

"These are not homeless people. Only 5 percent of our users are homeless or transient," said Dennett. "These are the working poor, trying to make things balance in this poor economy."

Food Bank manager Brad Woodring said, "The cost of food and gas is a big one-two punch. Elderly and young people are struggling to make it through. Some people are embarrassed, but we do our best to treat everyone with dignity and respect. It's not a crime to be poor and hungry."

The Ashland Food Bank (which is not associated with the recently closed Interfaith Care Community) is all-volunteer, uses no government or United Way funds and gathers food from member faith communities and generous local bakeries and grocers, whose foods may have been near expiration, damaged or overstocked.

Just in the last day or two, notes food bank board member Ann Marie Hutson, Our Lady of the Mountain Church brought in 26 pounds, Temple Emek Shalom donated 68 pounds and Havurah Shir Hadash dropped off 22 pounds. And local Maranatha Nut Butters dropped off 10,257 pounds of peanut butter in April, making up half the weight of donated foods for the month.

Still, Hutson points to nearly empty intake shelves, saying the food is going out as fast as it comes in.

"Our numbers are climbing because of the economy and these people are the canary in the coal mine. Still, the community has matched our numbers with donations," says Hutson.

Food drives have been run by many Ashland-Talent organizations, including Rogue Federal Credit Union, Curves, Ashland High School, Ashland Middle School, Ashland Community Hospital, ProTool, Albertson' and the city of Ashland — with the Postal Service running the year's big drive this Saturday. It keeps the Food Bank flush for about three months, Woodring says.

The 21 food banks operated around the county by ACCESS report an increase of 5 to 6 percent in food boxes. Last fiscal year, they served 37,000 boxes and the number is on track to jump by 1,800 this fiscal year, says Philip Yates, nutrition program manager.

"We're seeing skilled workers, electricians, construction workers who couldn't make ends meet between seasons, but it's difficult with gas prices going up," says Yates.

Aside from retail prices, ACCESS is seeing a decline of 50 to 60 percent in commodities from the U.S. Department of Agriculture during the last three or four years.

"The cost of food rises but the federal funding remains stagnant," Yates says, adding that much food has been diverted to Hurricane Katrina and other disasters. As a result, ACCESS, which used to give out a five- to seven-day supply of food, now gives boxes that get you through three to five days, thus making for a seemingly smaller rise in the number of boxes.

Another factor driving food supplies and costs are food exports and the increasing use of farmlands to grow corn to make ethanol for gasoline, for which the government provides incentives, said Yates, noting that grocery stores, responding to an increased need for efficiency, are donating less.

The numbers tell the tale, he adds, with ACCESS giving out 2.1 million pounds this fiscal year (projected), 2.2 million pounds last year and 2.4 million the year before.

"There's a real despondency (among clients). Sometimes people don't know how to get themselves out of the situation and provide for their whole family. A minimum wage doesn't cut it. You need two minimum wages to afford the minimum — and if an additional expense comes along, like medical bills, you're really cast into a difficult situation."

Long-term, the solution is not food banks, said Yates, but a shift to community "farmability" and sustainability, because "reliance on global food commodities is going to be very expensive In a global economy we're not necessarily going to have enough food to feed everyone."