In brief
Phylis Allen, director of Neighbor’s Cupboard in Winterport, Maine, has been sourcing food for her local pantry for 17 years. As food insecurity in the region rises, the pantry faces increasing demand coupled with dwindling supplies and an aging volunteer workforce. The USDA's decision to halt food insecurity statistics collection adds to the challenge. The pantry continues to serve all clients despite tightening restrictions from food banks, showcasing the dedication of its volunteers in a time of crisis.
WINTERPORT, Maine (AP) — Phylis Allen spends her days looking for things. She searches for potatoes at Sam’s Club, cheap beets and ginger at Walmart and a local grocery store. She studies the weekly inventory from Good Shepherd, Maine’s only food bank, for good deals on butter and cheese.
Every Monday morning, she shops at three different stores, keeping lists of prices in her head and remembering what particular clients want. On a recent trip to Sam’s Club, she was searching for affordable eggs.
The diminutive 78-year-old food pantry director found them in a huge cooler. Stretching, she pulled two huge boxes off the top shelf — seven dozen eggs each, $21 a box. “$2.82 a dozen,” she said. “That’s a good price for eggs.”
The eggs were destined for Neighbor’s Cupboard, the food pantry in Winterport, Maine, that Allen has helped run for the past 17 years. Every Wednesday, she and a tightknit group of volunteers provide 25 to 30 families with heaping bags of food.
Maine has long been one of the most food insecure states in New England. Directors of food pantries say the task of making sure people are fed is getting harder because of diminishing food supplies, increasing demand, and an overwhelming reliance on volunteers, many of whom are retirees with ages up into their 80s.
About one in seven people in rural Waldo County, where Neighbor’s Cupboard is, were food insecure in 2023, a rate that was similar to the state and national average, according to an Associated Press analysis of U.S. Census Bureau and Feeding America data.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture will stop collecting and releasing statistics on food insecurity after October, saying on Sept. 20 that the numbers had become “overly politicized.”
Federal Cuts Are Hurting Food Banks
In March, the Trump administration cut more than $1 billion from two U.S. Department of Agriculture programs — the Emergency Food Assistance Program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program. “I can watch the availability of federal food going down every month,” Allen said.
Charitable food networks brace for $186 billion in cuts for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP). Maine’s nearly 600 hunger relief agencies rely on volunteers. More than 75% operate without paid staff.
Anna Korsen, co-chair of the Ending Hunger in Maine advisory committee, said food pantries alone aren’t the answer to food insecurity. “If our goal is to end hunger in Maine… then we’re not going to do that through a charitable food network that’s run by volunteers,” she stated.
At Neighbor’s Cupboard, the community remains active and engaged with donations and volunteering despite the hurdles. However, Allen recognizes that funding cuts exacerbate the challenge of maintaining consistent volunteer support as many are elderly.
With increasing food demand and rising costs, Neighbor’s Cupboard strives to support all families in need, remaining steadfast in community commitment to combat hunger in tough times.
