From the Director – Spring 2022
By Laura Skelton, Interim Executive Director

Spring is a time of renewal, and we are so glad to see sunnier days. While the COVID pandemic isn’t over (and we continue to grieve for those we’ve lost during this time), I’m certainly seeing more people out and about. For many of us, there is a feeling that life is returning to normal.

Unfortunately, food prices have not returned to pre-pandemic levels. If you feel like trips to the grocery store have gotten more expensive, you’re not imagining things! The USDA consumer price index for food indicates a 10% increase overall for grocery store prices in the past 12 months. Meat prices have increased most dramatically.

We rely on our grocery store partners (as part of our Retail and Food Partnership Program-RAFP) for much of our meat and other fresh (and costly) items. The RAFP program helps get surplus food items that would otherwise go to waste on to our store shelves and out to families. These are typically perishable and prepared foods that are close to their expiration dates or not expected to sell. Five days a week, volunteers go to our local grocery stores and bring back to the food bank produce, meat, dairy items, prepared foods, and sometimes even flowers. We are grateful to all of our grocery store partners, especially for enabling us to have a selection of meat for our shoppers!

We also recognize that grocery stores are facing challenges right now, including supply chain issues and a transition to operating on leaner inventory. That means stores have less fresh foods to pass along to food banks. Much of the produce we are now receiving is spoiled upon arrival, resulting in IFCB volunteers having to compost several thousands of pounds of food each week.

This all brings us to the bottom line. Our food purchasing budget was already predicted to be higher in 2022 than it was last year. In the first quarter of 2022, we realized our increased budget was still going to fall short of current food costs. We are on track to spend 120% more on food in 2022 than we did pre-pandemic and certainly more than any year in IFCB’s history.

IFCB is committed to providing healthy food. That translates to spending $5,000-6,000 per week on fresh produce alone. We want to provide as much fresh, high nutrient food as possible for community members who shop at our market or receive groceries delivered to their homes.

We’re so grateful to be part of a compassionate and generous community, one that continues to meet the needs of our neighbors who struggle to buy basic necessities. Thank you for stepping up to help our community thrive!