ADDISON TOWNSHIP, Ill. (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A local food bank is facing criticism for poor food quality.
Tuesday's DuPage County Board meeting included criticism of a local food bank as Addison Township Supervisor Dennis Reboletti held up images of moldy food.
"We have been getting rotten produce from our partner, the Northern Illinois Food Bank," Reboletti said. "It's not edible by anybody."
Reboletti explained that Addison provides food to more than 200 families a week, but a good portion of their supply is going to waste.
"May 23 of last month, I threw out about 2,500 pounds of food that all of us as taxpayers paid for," he said. "The following week, another couple hundred dollars worth of mangoes were thrown out."
Northern Illinois Food Bank President and CEO Julie Yurko said in response that unfortunately, that's the reality of dealing with fresh produce.
"We are distributing food as quickly as we can once it hits our warehouse out to our agencies based on their delivery schedule," she said. "We know that at least 10% of that produce is going to have to be discarded."
Yurko told board members the NIFB is dealing with a double edged sword: a supply shortage and an increase in demand.
"Our government food is down from the Department of Agriculture, so we are purchasing more food," she said. "We used to purchase about 9% of our food. We're now purchasing 25% of our food."
The Northern Illinois Food Bank is also serving more households nowadays than at the height of the pandemic.
Despite the criticism from Addison Township, Yurko told board members the food bank is getting overwhelmingly positive reviews on its program which serves 24 agencies.
Related
Listen to our new podcast Looped In: Chicago
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!