Food banks from California to Virginia are on the front lines as surging food prices and supply chain issues take their toll on family budgets.
“The purchasing product is starting to get a little difficult because of the break in the supply chain,” said Ryan Foltz with CBN’S Operation Blessing in Virginia Beach.
At some food pantries, staples like peanut butter cost double what they did a year ago and are in short supply. Odds are not good there will be enough stuffing and cranberry sauce for Thanksgiving and Christmas in some places.
“The increase in food prices is a real challenge for meeting the needs of people who are struggling to put food on the table across the country,” explained Katie Fitzgerald of Feeding America. “Our food banks are seeing prices that are two to three times what they were just nine months ago.”
The combination of supply chain disruptions, lower inventories, and labor shortages are spiking prices even more than anticipated in October.
“So, labor shortages tied up with logistics challenges, I think, are probably the sort of proximate causes for most of the price increases we’re seeing,” noted Ethan Ligon, an economist at the University of California, Berkeley.
The Consumer Price Index, which includes a range of products from food and rent to health care is up 6.2 percent from a year ago, exceeding the 5.4 percent rise in September.
Fuel prices soared more than 12 percent last month alone, part of a 59 percent increase over last year.
“We’re looking at all the tools in our arsenal. We’re very concerned about the impact of high energy prices on consumers, especially as we enter the colder months. And so, we’re continuing, like I said, to monitor the situation,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Deputy Press Secretary.
Wages are also up 4.9 percent on a year-to-year basis. But economists say Americans simply cannot get as much for their money as they did one year ago on just about everything.
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