USDA Increased Allotments Mean Better Nutrition for Food Pantry Clients
May 4, 2010
When you are hungry in Illinois, where do you turn? For over 11,000 families in the Oak Park and River Forest (OPRF) area, that place of sustenance is the OPRF Food Pantry. As part of the Illinois Emergency Food Assistance Program, OPRF Food Pantry steps in to feed local families in their time of crisis. Like most member agencies, we provide families with an emergency ration of food, striving to supply enough for three days worth of meals.
In 2009, we set a goal of boosting the nutritional make-up of the food we provide. Specifically, we committed to including two dairy products and two frozen meat products to all families as part of their 3-day supply of food. Yet providing even that minimal amount became more and more challenging as the year progressed. By June, 2009 we had served 4961 families. For the same time period in 2008 we had served 2913 families. Could we continue to supply meat and dairy to exponentially increasing numbers of families? Not without help.
Fortunately, the USDA provided a much needed boost. In July, our allotment of USDA commodities leaped from an average of 7499 pounds to 12,137 pounds due to ARRA funds. So while we ended 2009 with a 63% increase in client visits, we also ended 2009 with a 58% increase in USDA allotments. The USDA allotment increase enabled us to continue providing quality, nutritious food to everyone in need who came to us for help. Without those extra commodities, we would have been forced to eliminate dairy and meat products in favor of less costly cans of vegetables and soup.
The extra nutrition content of our food has not been lost on our clients. One of our clients recently remarked that “it helps people in need like myself have the food I can’t afford to buy. The foods are very healthy for the body.” Another noted “I am receiving food stamps, but I find it very hard to eat three meals on less than four dollars a day.” Yet another commented that “the Pantry means a meal or no meal at all—and when you have odds and ends, the pantry helps fill in to make a meal for my family.”
We could not have afforded to continue providing significant amounts of nutritious food to all our clients in 2009 without the increase in our allotment of USDA commodities. One of our clients says it best: “Bless you and all the workers. I can sleep at night because my stomach is full.”
Paula Berg, Pantry Shift Manager Michele Zurakowski, Director of Operations Kathy Russell, Executive Director Oak Park River Forest Food Pantry www.oprffoodpantry.org February 25, 2010