Area food banks are grappling with the same high prices and lack of essential food items as national grocery stores, as supply chain woes continue across the country as America enters the holiday season.
A shortage of turkeys is even prompting the nonprofits to scramble to make sure the Thanksgiving bird is on local tables.
“The food chain crisis is very, very complicated for us and everyone else,” Julia McGee, spokeswoman for Community Food Share, said. The nonprofit provides food for families as well as food banks in Boulder and Broomfield counties. “Not only is there unpredictability as far as food costs but also when it comes to shipping and when products get here.”
Community Food share could purchase a semi-truck load of peanut butter for $45,000 in 2020. Now, the same haul is $52,000, McGee said. “And that’s just a price rise from just over the past two months,” she said.
Shipping delays are now commonplace and freight costs have gone up from 20-to-100% in just the last few months, she said. A shipment of food from New York has gone up from $3,000 to $6,000.
There is even a lack of turkeys for Thanksgiving and Christmas, she said.
“It’s making us nervous,” McGee said. “We constantly have to adjust our budget to make ends meet. Our fundraising team is working harder than ever to keep up.”
“But with the continued unpredictability of the supply chain, it means we could have some gaps in services,” she adds.
Supply chain issues prompted a meat shortage at the OUR Center food bank for about a month, Marc Cowell, executive director, said. That prompted worries that the facility would not have enough to give out for Thanksgiving.
The community is pitching in, Cowell said. “Daily, we are receiving donations of turkeys and other holiday food items that are helping us to keep up with increased community needs during the holidays,” he said.
“It is our hope that the donations we receive will continue to keep pace with the demand through the holidays,” Cowell said.
There is also a meat shortage at The Round Pantry at Longmont’s Westview Presbyterian Church, said Vickie Kintzel, who helps the volunteer efforts at the church.
“There is always a meat shortage every fall, that’s fairly typical. But this year it is worse than ever,” Kintzel said.
Still, volunteers and donations help provide a grocery cart of essential items for people who are hungry, she said.
“If they are hungry, they will get food,” Kintzel said. “There also isn’t any paper work.”
CORRECTION: The original text for this story was incorrect. The new text covers the plight of local food banks during the supply chain crisis.
