By Robert Pore
robert.pore@theindependent.com

According to the American Farm Bureau Federation, as a percentage of household expenditures, Americans spend 13 percent of their disposable income on food, which includes food consumed both in and outside the home.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported that food prices rose 4.8 percent last year.

But higher food costs are putting a strain on food pantries across the country.

Mark Merritt, social service director for the Salvation Army in Grand Island, said the combination of higher food costs, higher gasoline costs and higher home heating costs is putting a strain on many people's budgets and on food reserves at the Salvation Army's food pantry, which is located at 1818 W. Third St.

"It's squeezing people more than usual," Merritt said. "If they have to pay their gas bill to keep their gas on and they don't have the grocery money, then where do they come?"

He said the pantry's food reserves are down to two months.

"We normally have a lot more in stock than we have now," Merritt said.

He said the pantry serves about 150 families per month or about 500 people. Merritt said that's about 15 percent above the number of clients they normally serve.

For more information on the pantry, call (308) 382-4855.

America's Second Harvest is urging the U.S. Senate to include at least $100 million in additional funding for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) and increased funding for the Food Stamp Program.

Immediate investment in TEFAP would allow food banks and other hunger relief organizations across the country to meet what has become an unprecedented need as more and more struggling Americans arrive at their doors.

"Day after day, headlines across the country are reporting home foreclosures, increased unemployment, bankruptcies, higher gas and energy costs and rising food prices," said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of America's Second Harvest. "Middle- and low-income Americans are really caught in the squeeze, and food banks are scrambling to keep up with the need."

According to Escarra, since 2002, there has been a 70-percent decline in USDA surplus food. As a result, food banks and food service agencies have had to reduce the amount and variety of food available to the millions of people they serve. At the same time, demand has increased.

"The increase in demand for emergency food due to the economic downturn has only made our supply situation worse," Escarra said. "And, given current economic forecasts, demand for emergency food is likely to increase in the coming months."

Data released in November 2007 by the USDA in its annual study of hunger in America indicated that the number of people living at the margins of hunger has increased from 35.1 million to more than 35.5 million, including 12.6 million children.

According to a recent USDA publication, Amber Waves, recent hikes in oil prices have raised serious concerns in low-income countries, both because of the financial burden of the higher energy import bill and potential constraints on imports of necessities such as food and raw materials.

The report said higher oil prices also have sparked energy security concerns worldwide, increasing the demand for biofuel production. The use of feed crops for biofuels, coupled with greater food demand spurred by high income growth in populous countries, such as China and India, has reversed the long-term path of declining price trends for several commodities.

Worldwide agricultural commodity price increases were significant during 2004-06: corn prices increased by 54 percent; wheat, 34 percent; soybean oil, 71 percent; and sugar, 75 percent. But this trend accelerated in 2007, due to continued demand for biofuels and drought in major producing countries.

Wheat prices have risen more than 35 percent since the 2006 harvest, while corn prices have increased nearly 28 percent. The price of soybean oil has been particularly volatile, due to high demand growth in China, the U.S., and the European Union (EU), as well as lower global stocks.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimated that the high food prices of 2006 increased the food import bill of developing countries by 10 percent over 2005 levels. For 2007, the food import bill for these countries increased at a much higher rate, an estimated 25 percent.

According to Farm Bureau, consumers are noticing their food dollar stretched a little tighter lately, but it is due primarily to rising energy costs, which have led to higher expenses for processing, packing and transporting food for retail sale.

According to the USDA, food has been more affordable overall in recent years compared to several decades ago due to a widening gap between growth in per-capita incomes and the amount of money spent for food.

In comparison to working 37 days to pay for food, Americans worked 77 days to pay their federal taxes, 62 days to pay for housing/household operation, and 52 days for health/medical care, according to The Tax Foundation.