Demand for local food banks ratchets up [Video]

The Thomas Jefferson Area Food Bank has been packed for the last month, its warehouse holding rows of pallets of canned goods stacked to be packed into kits for seniors or distributed to members of the community who need emergency food.

As of late, it’s also held lines of people.

“This is the one day this week where it hasn’t been crowded,” said the food bank’s partner engagement manager Joe Kreiter.

Higher prices at the grocery store mean more and more people in Charlottesville and Albemarle County are relying on food banks to feed themselves and their families. Rising food costs are being blamed. Prices swelled 11.4% between August 2021 and August 2022, according to the most recent Consumer Price Index report.

Michael McKee, CEO of the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank, which partners with the Thomas Jefferson Area branch, said the organization served 110,000 people in July, an increase from 106,000 in June. He expects the upward trend …