Supply chain shortage impacting local food bank

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The ongoing supply chain shortage and the holidays right around the corner, The Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri is feeling the impact.

The food bank provides food to 100,000 people a month in 32 counties.

It has been more difficult for the food bank to acquire protein and dairy products and one specific item that has been hard to come by is canned fruit.

Lindsay Lopez President and CEO of The Food Bank of Central and Northeast Missouri says they first saw the supply chain be disrupted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic and they have seen a lot of fluctuation since that time.

Lopez says, "Even with the disruption in the food supply chain last year the food bank was still able to distribute more than 32 million pounds of food last year. This year we're down one million pounds of food."

As prices continue to increase it is costing the food bank more to operate all across the board.

"Food is costing us three times more than it used to, transportation is costing us three times more than it used to and fuel prices are increasing," Lopez said.

The food bank has been planning for a long time how they will plan to get holiday meats from their partners.

Thanksgiving is just three weeks away and the supply chain is affecting the number of turkeys the food bank will receive this year.

Lindsay says, "There is one vendor that last year we were able to acquire two truck loads of turkeys from them, two full truck loads. This year we have only been able to get one half of one truck load."

The food bank is depending on donations with rising food prices. Lopez said. "With one dollar we can take in it helps us to provide an equivalent of four meals."

If you are in need of food assistance you can visit one of the food bank's partnering agencies. You can find your nearest food pantry by following this link.