Second Harvest sees 32 percent increase in visits to food bank partners

Last year, Second Harvest Food Bank in North Central Ohio saw a 32 percent increase in visits to its food bank.

A study by the Ohio Association of Foodbanks shows that this trend is not only occurring locally, but across Ohio.

The results come from a survey of 2,301 people who visited food banks in Ohio in April and May.

The study shows that many citizens have to choose between buying food and paying for other important household expenses such as transportation, medicine and utilities.

Julie Chase-Morefield, president and CEO of Second Harvest, said access to food from Second Harvest and partner charities gives community members more food to eat and healthier food choices, allowing them to spend limited money on other necessities.

“We have distributed a million pounds more food to our neighbors than we did last year, but the need continues to grow,” Chase-Morefield said. “We must continue to help our neighbors and work with other organizations to find ways to help with the difficult decisions our community is facing.”

“I’ve been in the food bank for a long time, so I’m not surprised by the study results. I think they confirmed what we thought. It’s about having the data to confirm what we’re hearing anecdotally from the neighbors we serve, to put numbers behind it and then being able to communicate that to the public to say these are the actual numbers.

“These are the difficulties that are currently facing our communities and we need to take action to address these things.”

Record visits

According to the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, which commissioned the study, Ohioans are visiting food banks in record numbers after enduring more than a year of above-average inflation and rising costs for food and other essentials, coupled with the expiration of coronavirus pandemic-era Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits in March 2023.

Nearly two-thirds (65.2 percent) of Ohio Association of Foodbanks’ neighborhood households reported that adults in their households skipped meals in the past year because they did not have enough food to eat. More than a third (34.9 percent) reported doing so every month or almost every month in the past year.

Nearly three out of five households surveyed do not participate in SNAP.

Nearly two-thirds of participants report that their SNAP benefits run out in two weeks or less each month.

The results also highlighted that most of Ohio’s working-age residents are employed.

Households without current employment gave several reasons for their unemployment, some even gave more than one reason.

More than half (58 percent) said they were not working because they were sick or disabled. 40.9 percent said they were retired. Still others said they were taking care of the home or family (9.6 percent), going to school (6 percent), looking for work or having been laid off (4.5 percent).

Not enough money

Second Harvest does not believe the requests are due to poor financial management by families, but rather simply a lack of money, Chase-Morefield said.

“When you literally don’t have enough money — and I think some of the problems that were highlighted in the study are because people aren’t working because they’re sick or disabled,” she said. “We have a lot of seniors living on welfare; they can’t work, right, so those things, you know, create a lot of problems.

“And housing costs are exorbitant. We held several discussions with citizens in the spring, and every single one of them in all four districts was about housing, because it is so expensive and extremely difficult to find. Added to this is the massive increase in property taxes this year.

“Yes, absolutely all of those things create pressure. When you have to make decisions, 50 percent of people say housing, whether it’s affording food, rent or mortgage. You need a roof over your head, so what are you giving up? You’re giving up. You’re giving up food to pay your mortgage.”

When asked how often they expect to need help from Ohio food banks over the next 12 months, 89.6 percent said they would need help as often or more often than in the past 12 months. A third (33.7 percent) even said they would need help more often.

When Ohio Foodbank clients were asked if they had to choose between paying for food or other household expenses, the study found that 72.5 percent had to choose between food and transportation/gas; 65.2 percent between food and utilities; 57.8 percent between food or medicine/health care, and 49.5 percent between food and shelter.

“The harsh reality revealed by this study is a wake-up call for all of us,” said Joree Novotny, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks. “It is unacceptable that so many Ohioans have to make impossible choices between feeding their families and meeting basic needs like transportation and shelter.”

“Ohio’s food banks are operating at full capacity, but demand continues to rise. The fact that so many people are skipping meals and struggling to meet essential expenses underscores the urgent need for action.”

Last year, the local Second Harvest organization served 380,000 people in its service area — Lorain, Erie, Huron and Crawford counties — and clients used the food bank an average of five times per year.

“And that’s all we’re here for,” Chase-Morefield said. “We’re making sure that if someone is in a situation where that stress is happening and they’re wondering how they’re going to get enough to eat, they know they can get food from a local food pantry.”

About a quarter of the food provided by local food banks comes from state sources, and another quarter comes from the state of Ohio.

One-third comes from donations, such as local grocers, farmers and other small markets, including local orchards.

Second Harvest also partners with Feeding America and national sources nationwide.

Second Harvest continues to solicit and receive donations, spending nearly $2 million each year to purchase food that also supports local farmers and small-scale growers.

The survey results are being used by the Ohio Associated of Foodbanks to advocate for increased state-allocated spending for these and other similar programs, such as the Farm Bill and the Local Food Purchase Assistance (LFPA) program, known in Ohio as Ohio CAN (Community Agriculture and Nutrition).