- Farm Share says it has been forced to make adjustments due to supply shortages the agency is experiencing.
- The agency typically hosts 20 distributions per month in North Florida.
- Watch the video to hear about the challenges feeding neighbors in the Big Bend.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Despite the challenges that food inflation causes for local food banks and resources — they're staying resilient.
"Whether it lasts for another 3, 4, 5 years, we are going to be here."
I'm Alberto Camargo in the Southeast Tallahassee neighborhood.
Getting a closer look at how demand for these food resources continues to grow — and why that demand is getting harder to meet.
ABC27 has covered how rising food prices has affected Second Harvest of the Big Bend.
It's a similar story for Farm Share, which operates around 20 monthly distributions in North Florida.
I stopped by one Wednesday morning at Anderson Chapel AME church in the Griffin Heights neighborhood.
The end of it, actually, because food ran out in a matter of hours.
"I was here at 7:15 and at 7:30 people were lining up."
Marilyn Carter and Gloria Miller volunteer to run the distribution.
Miller says over 10 pallets of food served nearly 200 families.
Carter says the speed at which they got the food out shows how in-demand these resources are.
"Food prices are so high that it really doesn't matter to them what we're giving them, as long as its some food."
But the cost of running these distributions is growing — and causing problems.
"A truck to sponsor one of our distributions, it runs about $5000. It's a hefty truck when you talk about the amount of food on it per pound, at about 6 dollars per pound."
Dr. Samuel Carter is a distribution coordinator with Farmshare — working the North Florida area.
He says food inflation mirrors the inflation of operating costs like gas and drivers for trucks.
Carter also says Farm Share gets its food from local growers and grocery stores — meaning shortages there trickle down and affect their resources.
"Grocery stores are low on product as well, so that means we can't get in the stuff they would normally give away. Our farmers are some in a situation where their crops aren't coming in as it needs to be."
Carter says despite demand increasing, supply shortages have actually forced Farm Share to cut back on distributions in the last year — but they remain committed to doing what they can.
In Southeast Tallahassee, Alberto Camargo, ABC27.
Want to see more local news? Visit the WTXL ABC 27 Website.
Stay in touch with us anywhere, anytime.
