GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Shirley Dutcher lives in Kentwood, but makes the weekly drive to the Community Food Club on South Division, despite the rising gas prices.
She has ten great-grandchildren and likes to keep food handy for whenever they come over.
“I’m one of those people that don’t get food stamps or anything,” said Dutcher, a retired insurance tech of 30 years. “So, I come here to get whatever vegetables and stuff I can get.”
The one thing Dutcher's cut back on, she said, is meat.
“Meats and stuff like that are going so high,” Dutcher said. “So we eat less meat.”
The @BLS_gov reports:
— Lauren Edwards (@LaurenEdwardsTV) June 7, 2022
🥚 Food index ⬆️ .9% in April, the 17th consecutive monthly increase
🥚 Food at home index ⬆️ 10.8% over 12 mos - largest since 1980
🥚 Meat, poultry, 🐠 , eggs ⬆️ 14.5% over the last year@feedingwestmich & @commfoodclub feeling inflation pinch. // @FOX17 pic.twitter.com/SAdJUOpaPa
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the price of beef has been one of the highest price increases from 2021 to 2022.
A.J. Fossel, executive director of the Community Food Club, said meat and dairy are the hardest to get right now.
“Back in December a case of eggs for us was $23,” Fossel said. “It’s gotten as high as $94 for a case, and we go through six cases of eggs a day here at the food club, so, it’s a really a big impact.”
Community Food Club is a nonprofit grocery store that serves anyone in Kent County living at or below 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
Most members pay $13 a month and, in return, they get points to shop at the store. The store distributes points based on household size. Most foods, especially fruits and vegetables, cost one, two or three points, to keep it affordable.
However, Fossel says the club is seeing a rise in demand.
“Just even back in December we were averaging 850 households a month and that was somewhere in the neighborhood of about 1,600 people,” Fossel said. “Now, we’re serving close to 1,000 households a month. We just ran the numbers and it was 4,700 people that we served in April. And, we are here. We are here for the community. We are ready for this. This is what we do. Yet, it's a really tough time to run a nonprofit grocery store. ”
She said they’ve been able to stay afloat thanks to their partners and donors like Feeding America West Michigan (FAWM), but they are feeling the inflation pinch, too.
“We have seen lower donations. That means we need to purchase more food,” said Juliana Ludema, communications and marketing specialist with FAWM. “With the higher food costs and inflation everywhere that’s definitely expensive for us, which makes it harder for us to get to our neighbors in need.”
Ludema said they’re seeing more people experiencing first-time need now than at the beginning of the pandemic. And, as an organization they’re having to purchase more foods.
She said the best way anyone can help now is by donating money.
“Thankfully, we’re still able to turn every dollar donated into four meals,” Ludema said. “Even though we are seeing higher costs, we’ve still been able to do that. But, financial donations I think are more appreciated right now.”
Fossel added that they buy 40 percent of the food at the club, so, 60 percent is donated, and Feeding America West Michigan contributes to that.
She says she's grateful because it all goes to help those who need it most.
“I’ve been coming here two years I think now,” Dutcher said. “So, it helps out a lot when you have nothing else.”
***Click here to make a donation to Feeding America West Michigan or Community Food Club. ***