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Rising Costs at U.S. Food Banks Mean People Who Need It Most Are Getting Less

Budget constraints mean that food banks and pantries are having to pull back at a time when hunger is increasing.

Food banks and pantries across the U.S. are suffering with soaring operating costs.

Food banks and pantries across the U.S. are suffering with soaring operating costs.

Photographer: Andi Rice/Bloomberg

In Omaha, the Food Bank for the Heartland is having to slash its food-spending budget, resulting in about 2 million fewer pounds of food for the people in the 93 counties it serves. The Open Door pantry in Eagan, Minnesota, is handing out 4 pounds less per person, on average. And for the first time in its 35-year history, the West Alabama Food Bank is having to cap the amount of food it gives out.

Food banks and pantries across the U.S. are stretched so thin by soaring operating costs that they’re having to ration what goes out to feed the nation’s hungry.