Madison food pantries struggle to meet demand as egg prices soar

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – Grocery stores aren’t the only ones feeling the impact of rising egg costs; food banks and pantries are also struggling to meet demand.

Eggs have always been a critical item at food pantries, even before the shortage.

“They’re a big item,” Ian Steele, food resources manager at Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin, said. “They’re very, very popular, they’re always requested, infrequently donated, and very, very expensive.”

Steele says in the last six months, the price of eggs for them has increased by about 66%.

“It has taken quite a lot of staff bandwidth from the food resourcing team to sort of locate eggs, source eggs, procure eggs,” he said. “And we’re sort of looking forward to perhaps dedicating a little bit more of that staff time just to really focus in on food donations moving forward and just continuing to source as much fantastic food for our community and our neighbors as we possibly can.”

Meghan Sohns, senior director of programming at WayForward Resources, says losing American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars, which subsidized the cost, hasn’t helped. She adds that they are now paying $10 to $25 per case.

“When we don’t have access to nutritious food, it places an additional barrier on health equity to folks in our community,” she said.

But Sohns says eggs are a key nutritious item, especially important for the vulnerable populations they serve, such as children and seniors.

“It’s also doing some education on how to use egg substitutions such as applesauce and yogurt, how you can use those to make different things without eggs? But again, of course, then you’re losing the protein and the nutrition of that product,” she said.

Both leaders say the demand for food is growing in general, and they will rely on community support to ensure they can serve those in need of food assistance.

You can learn more about Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin at this link. More information on WayForward Resources can be found here.

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