OREGON
A8 — THE OBSERVER
THURSDAY, MARCH 24, 2022
Skyrocketing food prices are pinching budgets
Federal government
has increased some
subsidies, but has
not kept up with
inflation
By LYNNE TERRY
Oregon Capital Chronicle
SALEM — Oregonians
and some state agencies
are grappling with soaring
food costs.
According to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statis-
tics, retail food prices have
jumped 8.6% in a year,
including a 1% uptick in
February. Anyone who’s
gone shopping has had
sticker shock. Those who
rely on public food benefi ts
are especially vulnerable to
rising prices.
The federal govern-
ment increased the amount
awarded to recipients of
the Supplemental Nutri-
tion Assistance Program,
SNAP, in October, but not
by much. School districts
also have received some
extra funding from the
U.S. Department of Agri-
culture, which oversees
school food programs.
But the state Depart-
ment of Corrections,
which spends $1.1 million
a month on food, has not
received any extra funding.
Offi cials have adjusted
as best they can.
Higher fuel costs, rising
freight charges and supply
chain issues have driven
up the cost of food over
the past two years, offi cials
said.
“Everything is driving
the cost up,” said Ashley
Mumm, public relations
manager at the Oregon
Food Bank.
A few examples:
In
, MBA
October, a truckload
Rachel Alexander/Salem Reporter, File
Soaring food prices have hit schools, the Department of Corrections and low-income Oregonians.
of canned chicken cost
$76,000. Now the price is
$95,000, Mumm said. Last
June, a truckload of vege-
table oil cost $30,000. Now
it’s $64,000.
The number of people
seeking food aid also
jumped dramatically once
the pandemic hit. Nor-
mally, the Food Bank
spends $1 million a
month on food. But it had
to spend more to meet
demand.
“At the peak of a pan-
demic, we were spending
upwards of $1 million a
week on food purchases
because of the disrup-
tions to our regular food
sourcing channels, cou-
pled with the signifi cant
increase in demand for
food assistance,” said Jason
Stephany, the Oregon Food
Bank’s communications
director. “We witnessed
unprecedented demand.”
The Food Bank received
more than $14 million for
food for the 2021-2023
budget cycle through
the state Department of
Human Services. A total
of $12 million came from
federal American Rescue
Plan funds awarded during
the pandemic. The Food
Bank was also allocated
an additional $8 million
during the recent legis-
lative session. It will use
that money for food and to
strengthen its infrastruc-
ture, including renovating
some warehouses to make
them more effi cient.
Mumm said that the
agency has been able to
meet demand in part thanks
to donors.
“We had 25,000 new
donors last year,” Mumm
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said. “The community is
defi nitely stepping up.”
Besides the Oregon
Food Bank, which serves
a network of 21 regional
food banks that serve 1,400
food pantries and other pro-
grams, the other food assis-
tance programs in Oregon
are sponsored by the U.S.
Department of Agriculture
and administered by the
state Department of Human
Services.
Last fi scal year, from
October 2020 through Sep-
tember 2021, the federal
government gave Oregon
$18 million for a program
that provides food to fam-
ilies with incomes of no
more than about $3,400 a
month for an individual
or nearly $7,000 a month
for a family of four. The
USDA also gave Oregon
nearly $800,000 to pro-
vide monthly boxed allo-
cations of food to those 60
and older.
Money from the fed-
eral government has been
fairly stable, according to
Jake Sunderland, press sec-
retary for the Department
of Human Services. He
doesn’t expect it to rise in
the future.
SNAP benefi ts
increase
With the economy
opening up and people
going back to work, the
number of households
receiving government food
aid has dropped — from
more than 426,000 in Jan-
uary 2021 to nearly 378,000
a year later. Average aid per
household rose, however,
from about $240 a house-
hold in January 2021 to
$280 in January 2022. Most
of them received emergency
food aid, which bumped up
average household benefi ts
from nearly $400 a month
in January 2022 to nearly
$465 a month.
The state has no ability
to increase benefi ts more
than that, according
to Sunderland.
“The federal govern-
ment has designed these
food programs so that we
can only provide what is
approved by the federal
government,” Sunderland
said in an email. “It’s also
important to acknowledge
and understand that SNAP
is designed by the federal
government as a program
to supplement a family or
individual’s food budget.
This means it is, by federal
design, not enough to sup-
port an individual’s or fam-
ily’s food needs.”
The agency doesn’t
track food costs and has
not acted to help low-in-
come Oregonians cope with
more recent infl ationary
food costs. But there is a
federal program connected
to SNAP that is adminis-
tered through Oregon State
University called SNAP
Ed that off ers classes in
stretching food dollars.
“We try to help with
teaching new strategies,”
said Anne Hoisington,
nutrition education coordi-
nator for the program.
Specialists teach classes
and demonstrate recipes
in food pantries, shelters,
senior centers and else-
where, though the pro-
gram shifted online during
the pandemic. Hoisington
said traffi c to the program’s
website, FoodHero.org,
increased nearly 20% from
September 2019 through
June 2020.
The site off ers tips to
help stretch dollars, like
buying in bulk when prices
are lower and freezing por-
tions. The current monthly
newsletter has instruc-
tions on how to freeze veg-
etables by blanching them
fi rst. More tips: plan meals
and shop with a list. The
site lists dozens of low-cost
recipes, including many
designed to appeal to dif-
ferent ethnic and racial
groups.
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