Food banks are struggling with higher prices for food and fuel

With inflation at its highest rate in decades, food banks are beginning to struggle.

Gleaners CEO John Elliott said the higher price of food, the cost of fuel for its fleet of trucks, and higher wages all take away from the food budget, which impacts families in need.

With the cost of consumer goods climbing, the annual inflation rate in the United States reached 6.2 percent in October -- a 31-year high. Elliott said food banks are responding the same way many families are.

“We are shopping harder for bargains. We are doing everything we can to be thrifty on everything we spend, but in the end, we don’t have a choice of not purchasing food or fuel for the trucks,” Elliott said. “We do have to spend.”

Elliott said Gleaners is trying to get the message out to donors that economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic will take multiple years and the need continues for the families the organization serves.

Contact WFYI Morning Edition newscaster and reporter Taylor Bennett at tbennett@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @TaylorB2213.