We’re hearing a lot about the rising cost of food these days. But we don’t need the newspapers to tell us we’re paying more for less at the grocery store. If you have a job or income coming in each month, the higher prices are painful, but not devastating.
That’s not the case for families already making hard choices between rent or medicine for the children, or electricity or food. Higher food costs can be the tipping point to eviction and homelessness. For people already on the streets, the high costs directly hit their ability to buy food with the little bit of money they might have coming in from unemployment or day labor.
When you and I feel the sting of higher prices at the grocery store cash register, less fortunate neighbors are having to put food back on the shelves. They’re going hungry. The U.S.D.A. recently reported a 27% increase in food insecurity since the beginning of the recession in 2008. Back then, 288,000 families struggled to afford their groceries. Today, it’s 367,000 . . . almost 1 in 7 households!
Add in all the cuts we are seeing to services that provide a safety net for the poorest of the poor, we are seeing more need for our services here at the Mission than I can ever remember. There are signs the recession might be turning around. I pray that’s true. But for a lot of our neighbors, it’s in full swing. Please keep the Mission and those who need us in your prayers!