Bay Area food pantries are getting hit with rising food costs due to inflation and increased demand during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Samaritan House gives away hundreds of meals every day, but it's only this time of year the cars actually block traffic.
"There are people that have been double lined up here since we opened and we already have a traffic jam," said CEO Bart Charlow, who told KCBS Radio that demand for food doubled during the coronavirus pandemic.
It barely abated over the summer but then shot up again after the eviction moratorium expired. "A lot of people (are) out of work, a lot of people don't have full income. They need this food," he added. The average food bill is up about 12% over the last few weeks.
Charlow estimated between 800 and 1,000 in-need visitors to The Samaritan House just this week.
A volunteer working at The Samaritan House in San Mateo loads food into a vehicle.Matt Bigler/KCBS Radio
One of those people is Lisa Trevigne, a caregiver with a modest income and big expenses like rent – especially food bills due to inflation.
"It's awful," she said. "I'm glad it's just me because I only have to feed myself."
Those rising food costs are also rough on the San Francisco-Marin Food Bank, which said rising food and transportation costs, plus the ongoing national supply chain crunch, pose a "significant obstacle" in providing meals this holiday season and beyond.
