KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Food prices increased by nearly 10% last year, making it the largest annual increase since the 1980s, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).
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USDA predicts consumers will see an overall price surge of 5.8% in 2023.
Simply put, this is due to rampant inflation, global supply issues, unpredictable weather and diseases, like the most recent bird flu.
But despite increasing prices, food is a necessity. KSHB 41 News passed the mic to Kansas City area nonprofits, experts and a family to see how they are budgeting and staying afloat.
Cross-Lines Community Market & Nourish KC
A report by the U.S. Joint Economic Committee showed inflation disproportionately harms poor and middle-class Americans.
Staff at Cross-Lines Community Market, where demand is up 25% since the first of the year, said they've seen the trend in action. Compared to this time last year, demand for the pantry is up 50%.
"There was so much more assistance available during the pandemic. It is way more difficult now than it was three years ago,” said Susila Jones, executive director of Cross-Lines Community Market. “People who were already on a limited budget and knew how to make that dollar stretch just can’t stretch it any longer.”
Marlen Hernandez shops for the food pantry. She said fewer donations are available from community partners and wholesalers are charging more for the same items.
Because of high demand and low inventory, clients who were allowed to come once a month now have to wait two months before another trip.
“First, I have to see the things that are a need versus a want,” Hernandez said. “You have seen me sometimes at Walmart emptying their shelves because I cannot order online as much as I need.”
Nonprofits across Kansas City are now working together to build buying power.
KSHB 41 News also visited Nourish KC, a nonprofit that relies on donations of excess food from community organizations. The nonprofit then cooks the donated food and feeds the neighborhood.
The lack of donations has led to less variety as well, something Nourish KC has always been proud to provide.
“People are finding solutions to keep things around longer than an expiration date. So, whereas food that would come to us that's nearing an expiration date, we’re not seeing as much of it come through,” said Mandi Jean-Retter, executive director of Nourish KC.
Another challenge Nourish KC is facing is a lack of manpower to meet demand. But with more of its budget going toward buying food, it means less money for potential new hires.
“It all just comes down to dollars and cents,” Jean-Retter said.
Byers family
Dollars and cents are something Regina Byers never had to worry about, up until the last few years. Byers and her late husband were successfully self-employed, buying and flipping homes for profit.
She said without him, she no longer has a sufficient income. With five mouths to feed, including the family pet, she found herself at a food pantry — like many other families — for the very first time.
“[If] I continue with this in six months ... I won’t be homeless, but I could be destitute,” Byers said. “If you need the help, ask. You know, it’s better to ask than to go and just shut the door and you be suffering when you don’t need to suffer.”
Byers said a sacrifice she may have to make in the future is cutting her expensive Eczema medication.
Lula Southern Cookhouse
Bradley Gilmore is a co-owner of Lula Southern Cookhouse in the Crossroads Arts District.
He said he's aware every dollar means a little more to families these days, so restaurants like his have less room for mistakes when it comes to customer satisfaction.
Gilmore said Lula has been navigating the balance between where food costs land and how much to charge customers. Market prices for ingredients fluctuate every day, which means his menu has to stay flexible.
“Just literally last week, had a conversation of maybe we should pull the crab legs off the menu for a little while, maybe we should take a few of these extra offerings that we offer off the menu because it’s just costing us so much money to buy them,” Gilmore said.
His priorities are to keep his employees paid and customers fed, but if the price of food continues to rise, Gilmore said something will have to give.
Kansas City-area chef-turned-community-activist
Chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant believes she needs to meet people where they are, which is why her nonprofit's instructors teach students not only nutrition and cooking but also how to stretch a dollar.
“We have like a course that we do on the community — eating on four dollars a day,” McAfee-Bryant said about her nonprofit, The Prospect KC.
Many of her recipes and course curricula are built around ingredients someone might receive at a food pantry.
She said when money is tight, people should make the bulk of their meals with what they have and then supplement the rest with their personal budget — creativity and flexibility are important.
“The challenge for a lot of people isn’t that they don’t want to eat healthy. For some people, they simply do not know how," McAfee-Bryant said. "They’ve lost that skill set or they never learned it."
Student Seniyah Crowder said when she is at The Prospect KC, she learns more than how to cook.
“If you give a man a fish, he doesn’t know how to fish, but if you take him to a lake and teach him how to fish, then he can feed himself for a lifetime," Crowder said. "So having the tools when someone's not there and you’re down on your luck, but you have the skills to keep going forward."
McAfee-Bryant said as prices increase, the nonprofit is brainstorming how to best reach the community next year. Outreach could include educating community members on how to grow and forage their own food at home.
For anyone who wants to learn how to maximize what they have, The Prospect KC will host community classes. Courses start back up in January.
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